Does Scripture really support calling all people to come to Christ? Some argue that preaching the gospel broadly contradicts divine sovereignty and election. Let the Bible answer this question. The passages below demonstrate that from Genesis to Revelation, God Himself calls all people everywhere to repent and believe. These aren’t isolated proof texts—they represent Scripture’s consistent witness that the gospel offer is both genuine and universal.
1. God’s Heart and Character
Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!'”
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'”
Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
1 Timothy 2:4 “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2. The Universal Call
Isaiah 1:18 “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'”
Isaiah 45:22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David.”
Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Luke 14:17b “Come, for all things are now ready.”
John 7:37 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.'”
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
3. Divine Commands
Mark 1:15 “and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'”
Luke 13:3, 5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish… I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'”
Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”
Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
Acts 17:30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Acts 20:21 “testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
1 John 3:23 “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”
4. Christ’s Promises
John 5:40 “But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Acts 16:31 “So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'”
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
Romans 10:8-9 “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'”
1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
5. The Urgency of Response
Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 6:2 “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Hebrews 2:3 “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.”
Hebrews 3:7-8 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness.'”
Hebrews 3:15 “While it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'”
Hebrews 4:7 “Again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.'”
6. Come As You Are
Numbers 21:8 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.'”
Luke 14:21 “So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'”
Luke 15:7 “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
7. The Life of Faith – Trusting God Alone
Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Psalm 37:3-5 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
Psalm 40:4 “Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”
Psalm 62:5-8 “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”
Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”
Hosea 14:2 “Take words with you, and turn to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.'”
