I'm not too familiar with the history of these Articles, but I'm curious if I'm understanding them correctly. Are XXXIII and part of XXXIV actually implying that a minister (or any other Christian for that matter) should not encourage (in a loving manner, and not forcefully) non-believers to accept Christ as their savior? I do agree that no one can accept Christ except those that are called by his Spirit. And those who are called are also those who were chosen by God before the creation of the world, and the Holy Spirit is completely effective at bringing to Christ the elect. But it doesn't follow in my mind that there is then no reason to encourage non-believers to repent and accept Christ. Also, calling on a non-believer to repent doesn't necessarily imply that one is "implying creature power" or "denying special redemption". When I share the Gospel with non-believers, I firmly believe that whether they will be saved or not has already been completely decided by God, but that doesn't stop me from sharing it anyway. I'm sure God has many purposes for sharing the Gospel. Often I feel that he is using an opportunity to share the Gospel more to change me than to change the other person, and He has promised that when His Word goes out, it will accomplish the purpose he had for it (even if we don't see it). If I completely misunderstood the intent of the two articles please let me know. I am curious what churches use these Articles. It seems that in every church I have attended, evangelism was encouraged (to differing extents).

John