NOTES for Act 13:48

Thus, hearing the word of the Lord the gentiles were glad. But it is only those who "were ordained to eternal life" believed. What does it mean: some are "ordained" and called to the eternal life, whereas some are not "ordained" and condemned for the death? Man and his choice have then nothing to do here at all. Why do we have then to witness about Christ to whoever may be, if nothing depends on us, neither on the preaching, or on the man listening?

But isn’t the Holy Scriptures that speak so often about the decisive role of human choice, that "we enter with strength into the Kingdom of God"! And what about the commandment given by Christ Himself concerning witness! How to coordinate all this? It is not probably about predetermination for salvation, but about the readiness of man to accept the Good News. God begins His work with every person from the moment this person comes into life (from fetation), and every person has his way, his rate of development of his relationships with God. At a certain moment, on this way appears a meeting with the Gospel, and a man may be already prepared for this meeting through his previous way, or may not be prepared yet. In the second case, preparation has to continue, and the meeting will be possible at any other moment. It is important to understand that having faith, coming to God is neither only the result of someone’s predication, nor the result of only a spontaneous human decision ("I am going to believe and that’s all!"), but it is the corollary of a long process of development of relationships between man and God, where the initiative belongs to God, witness – to the gospeller, and decision – to man.