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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Michael T. Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198177 | ||
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2 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198176 | ||
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3 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198173 | ||
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4 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198172 | ||
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5 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198168 | ||
Greetings Tim, This is part 4 of my reply: Concerning Gospel of John 17:2, You said: “You also assume that this is a reference to others other than the 12 disciples. The same phrase is used of the disciples in the rest of the chapter. Are these assumptions correct?” My reply: You’ve provided another example of the misconceptions which invariably occur whenever a verse of Scripture is held in total isolation; i.e. without any consideration of the contexts of each such verse. In Gospel of John 17:20, Christ says “Neither do I pray for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” So it’s obvious from John chapter 17 that those to whom Christ gives eternal life isn’t restricted to the first Apostles as you seem to imply. Christ has a much larger number in view, which is encouraging because if eternal life was reserved for only 11 people [The Twelve minus the traitor Judas Iscariot] Hell would be bursting at the seams, and Heaven would contain only 14 persons; i.e. the 11 Apostles plus the eternal triune Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Spirit! You said: “”All men”: You mention this theme again in a later post, so I will address it there. However, I would note here that any restriction of the word ‘all’ must come from the text itself not a theological assumption – otherwise we are engaging in eisegesis.” You’re inconsistent because although you insist that the correct understanding of Bible terms such as “all” and “all men” must only come from the Biblical text - with which I heartily agree – yet you persistently ignore your own advice and you always assume that the Bible terms “all” and “all men” must always only mean everyone in the entire human race without exception. Instead, you’re forcing your universalistic assumptions onto the Biblical text which produces eisegesis; not exegesis. Regards, Michael |
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6 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198155 | ||
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7 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198154 | ||
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8 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 198153 | ||
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9 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197974 | ||
Greetings again, Part 3 – Conclusion: You said: “Or when it says GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD??” My reply: It helps discussion if you always supply the Scripture references of each of the particular Scripture passages to which you refer. In this instance, I assume that you’re alluding to Gospel of John 3:16. The Bible isn’t a collection of individual verses flung together. Instead, the Bible is one entire inter-connected work of Divine revelation, consistent throughout, and designed by GOD its Author to be its own interpreter, by the Spirit of GOD. Therefore the proper meaning of any particular verse of Scripture can only be determined by always carefully considering each verse in its local context and also always in the context of ALL the Scriptures. There are *no short cuts* in this process of responsible and accurate exegesis. We need to have a working-knowledge of ALL the Scriptures if our conclusions are to be properly informed and consistent with the Scriptures. To err is to misrepresent the Scriptures, which is to misrepresent the Author of His Scriptures, Who is the LORD God. The local context of John 3:16 is John 3:1-36. In John 3:1-13, Christ is in dialog with Nicodemus, a religious leader from among the Jewish people. In John 3:14-15, Christ declares that salvation is conditioned on obedient saving Faith [believing] on the Son; i.e. Christ, and in John 3:16, it is confirmed that salvation is not restricted to believers from among the Jews but also to believers from among the Gentiles; i.e. the “world.” [refer also to John 4:22:24]. It is obvious that the term “world” in John 3:16 cannot mean ““every individual person of the entire human race in all generations from Adam and Eve until the end of the world without exception” because, as John 3:16 emphasises, salvation is always conditioned on saving Faith in Christ the only-begotten Son. And Gospel of John 3:36 declares that the righteous wrath of GOD continues upon all who do not believe [i.e. do not have saving Faith] in the only-begotten Son. Since we know from Romans 12:3, Acts 13:48, Acts 18:27; Hebrews 12:2; Galatians 5:22 etc, that saving Faith is itself the gift of GOD, and since without Faith it is impossible to please GOD [Hebrews 11:6], it is therefore blatantly obvious that in respect of all those who perish in their sin and unbelief [John 3:16b], that it never was the will of GOD that any of those perished ones should be saved. Thus it is evident from the Scriptures that the love of GOD which is spoken of in Gospel of John 3:16 is His love for all of His elect and pre-destinated people from among both the Jewish people and from among the Gentiles, but no more than these. It is obvious that GOD does not extend His love to those whom He willed from before Creation to withhold salvation. To assert otherwise, as many people rashly and ignorantly do, is foolish and also absurd because it implies that GOD is double-minded and self-contradictory, which is blasphemous. To sum up, the Scriptures deny and refute the heresies of “universal salvation,” “universal redemption,” “universal atonement,” and “universal propitiation.” You said: “I also wanted to apologize for my attitude in the last note that I wrote, this is a very emotional topic for me knowing that God's love and mercy is for any who will accept it,“ My reply: It’s not a matter of “accepting” but of having true saving Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ never asks people to “accept” Him; instead, as in Gospel of Mark 1:15: REPENT and BELIECE the Gospel!” Stick to what the Scriptures say. You said: “It bothers me that other people choose to believe that they are chosen and some have no hope b/c God just decides they will be punished no matter the heart.” My reply: Nowhere do the Scriptures require people to believe that “they are chosen.” Instead, saving Faith is to be in Christ. Confine yourself to all of GOD’s Scriptures. Let then be your lamp and your light [Psalm 119:105], in dependence upon GOD to enlighten you by His Holy Spirit. Regards, Michael T. |
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10 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197973 | ||
Part 2: You said: “1 Timothy 2:3-6; This is good and pleases God our Saviour who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men- the testimony given in proper time. :now how do you explain that God's grace is limited when it says Christ gave himself as a ransom for all men?” My reply: Many people hack verses or parts of verses out of the Scriptures and fling words such as “all” and “al men” and “world” about like confetti or like straws in the wind, but these same people who butcher the Scriptures always deliberately ignore the contexts from which those snippets have been hacked. They also avoid considering those fragments in the context of All the Scriptures. The result is always blatant misrepresentation of the Scriptures, and a * misrepresentation * is another word for a lie. You seem to be assuming that Christ died to save “every individual person of the entire human race in all generations from Adam and Eve until the end of the world without any exception whatsoever” but this is contradicted by the Scriptures, which teach [Romans 12:3, Acts 13:48, Acts 18:27; Hebrews 12:2; Galatians 5:22 etc.] that saving Faith is itself the gift of GOD, and without Faith it is impossible to please GOD [Hebrews 11:6]. Therefore it’s obvious that it is not the will of GOD that everyone of the entire human race should be saved, because GOD has deliberately withheld His gift of saving Faith from many people who therefore perish. Since the Scriptures teach that salvation is always by Grace apart from works, it is obvious that it is not the will of GOD that everyone of the entire human race should be saved, because the fact that that many perish in sin and unbelief – which fact is confirmed by Gospel of John 3:16b – is cogent proof that GOD has deliberately withheld His saving grace from all such people or otherwise they would not have perished in their sins. You said: “Or How can you say God's love isn't universal when He wants all to come to a knowledge of the truth? My reply: Gospel of John 6:39-45 states that the “all” whom GOD wants to come to a knowledge of the truth are none other than those which GOD the Father gives to Christ – as in John 6:44 and John 6:39. Why would GOD want the knowledge of the truth to be obtained by those people whom even before Creation He deliberately excluded from the number of His elect people? No reason at all. Why would GOD want the knowledge of the truth to be obtained by those people whom He has deliberately excluded from having their names written in His Book of Life [refer to Revelation 20:15 immediately below.]? No reason at all. Revelation 20:15 - “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 is but one of numerous Scripture verses which prove that the ideas of “universal atonement” and “universal salvation” are falsehoods and heresies. To be concluded in Part 3 … |
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11 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197972 | ||
Greetings, You said: “The Lord knows who are His because He is all-knowing; not selective.” My reply: You’re mistaken. One doesn’t have to read far in the Bible to discover that GOD is discriminatory and selective. And since He created the universe, He is perfectly entitled to act as He alone decides without any reference to His creatures. Obviously, the LORD God always acts righteously, but because He is the sovereign Owner and Ruler over all things, He decides and acts as He alone decides. Our part is to unconditionally submit ourselves to GOD’s royal will. Read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and Ephesians 1:3-11 to see examples of GOD’s sovereign and discriminatory choices. You said: “Yes, I realize unbelievers and such will be punished; Why? Because they chose to not believe and God knew they would not believe.” My reply: The Bible teaches that no one can come to Christ or have saving Faith in Christ or savingly repent of their sins unless GOD first grants them His grace to do so. Refer to Acts 13:48; Acts 18:27; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 15:5. Take particular note of Christ’s statements in Gospel of John 6:44 and 6:65 in which He declares “NO ONE can come to Me UNLESS the Father Who sent Me draw Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day.” Thus Christ declares that salvation is entirely by GOD’s sovereign grace. Human “free-will” has nothing to do with it. Salvation is by GOD’s grace throughout. As the prophet Jonah declared [Jonah 2:9] “Salvation is of the LORD!” You said: “I realize God is Just and Righteous, also merciful and full of Grace. How does the bible teach that God's Love is not universal or that it is exclusive? John 3:16 says clearly that God so loved the world, is that exclusive? My reply: Yes. Many people refer to John 3:16 who seem to have never realised what that verse actually says. John 3:16 in effect divides the entire human race into two groups: (a) those who believe on the Only-begotten Son; i.e. Christ, and who are thus granted eternal life; i.e. salvation, and (b) all the remainder who perish in their unbelief and sin. Since each individual verse of Scripture is not in isolation but is part of the particular book of the canon of Scripture in which it occurs, and is therefore also is an integral part of the entire Scriptures, we must therefore also consider John 3:16 in the context of the Gospel of John and then in the context of the entire Scriptures. When we do so, we discover the great truths of Election and Pre-destination unto salvation [Ephesians 1:3-11; 2 Timothy 1:9; John 10:26; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 8:28-30, etc., which state that GOD has from before Creation determined the practical extent to which salvation will apply, and that in every aspect and phase of salvation by grace, it is GOD [not Man] “Who works all things according to the counsel of His own will” [Ephesians 1:11b]. You said: “I am not saying that everyone will go to heaven regardless, what I am saying is that He has stretched out His Love and Mercy to any that will receive it. “ My reply: You’re mistaken. Christ Himself says in Gospel of John 6:37 that all who the Father gives to Christ WILL come; i.e. (a) GOD’s grace in salvation is irresistible, and (b) the operative choice of who comes to Christ is not of Man but of GOD. (c) So-called human “free-will” is not in view because (d) salvation is always only by GOD’s sovereign grace. Thus, GOD’s reserves His love and mercy in salvation to all whom He has chosen; i.e. elected and predestinated to be saved in Christ, and to no more than these. Christ is t5he Saviour of GOD’s elect people and of no others. To be continued in Part 2 … |
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12 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197962 | ||
Greetings Cheri, You said: “I did - the entire Hebrew Scriptures! From word one to the last word - it is a promise to "whoever will." My reply: In respect of the “whosoever will,” not all CAN come. Those who do come only do so because they have been impelled to come by the power of God’s irresistible grace. Have you ever considered the implications of Christ’s statement in Gospel of John 6:44, in which Christ [Who is GOD] declares: “NO ONE CAN COME TO ME UNLESS the Father Who has sent me draws him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Where then is human “free-will”? It is impotent, corrupt, and useless. All that human “free-will” does is to drive people to Hell. Furthermore, only GOD’s will is truly free. So the “whosoever wills” are none other than those whom GOD the Father draws by His irresistible sovereign grace to Christ. People are incapable of themselves of coming to Christ though many, in defiance or ignorance of the truths of the Scriptures, mistakenly assume that they can. You said: “God has prepared a feast but He won't force anyone to partake.” You’re mistaken. Since, as Christ and also His Apostles teach in the Scriptures, no one can of themselves come to Christ and be saved, those whom God has chosen to be saved are first, against their carnal rebellious wills, born anew by the Spirit of GOD [John 3:1-8] and then irresistibly drawn [dragged] to Christ by the power of God’s grace. If salvation depended upon the will of Man, no one would ever be saved; all without any exception would go to Hell where they all rightly belong because of their sins and transgressions. Thank GOD that He can and does overcome the will of human creatures to achieve His purposes! You said: “God has prepared a feast but He won't force anyone to partake.” This feast has been prepared for those whom GOD has chosen to partake of it. A guest does not choose; instead He is chosen to attend. Those who choose themselves are “gate-crashers” and are therefore unwelcome and unwanted. The Scriptures teach that salvation always depends on GOD’s Choice [i.e. Election and Predestination]; never on Man’s choice. You said: “All those before Yeshua were saved by their trust in the Promise to come, all those during and afterward are saved by their trust in the Promise fulfilled.” My reply: These are the elect and pre-destinated people of God whom from before Creation He chose to be brought to salvation by grace. But the non-elect; i.e. the Reprobate, are all excluded from before Creation. You said: “And if one had to be alive during Yeshua's lifetime (or afterward) to receive salvation by grace through faith, then please explain why not one apostle or disciple is named in Hebrews chapter 11 that describes the kind of trust it takes to please Abba.” The letter to the Hebrews, as its title implies, was written to Jewish people who were ostensibly believers in Christ but who were having difficulties in their transition to the faith of Christ. In Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer is reminding his audience of the great examples of saving Faith by the people of the past and in Hebrews 12, he challenges his audience to persevere by following those examples set out in Chapter 11. All of those referred to in Hebrews Chapter 11 who lived by Faith were – and are – GOD’s elect and predestinated people who lived prior to Christ’s Incarnation but were – and are – saved in prospect of the grace of Christ’s atoning work on the Golgotha cross which He wrought on behalf of all of GOD’s elect and pre-destinated people. Regards, Michael |
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13 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197872 | ||
Hi, John, You said: “Sorry; :-( ... I missed that connection, ... my apologies sir.” No problem. I'm glad to know that you now know what I was driving at. On reflection, I should have expressed myself more clearly. You also said: “And I agree! There is no such thing as universal salvation. And I'm pretty sure Brother Tim would agree too . . . “ I hope so. However, universalist-oriented misconstructions will often occur whenever Scripture verses containing, for example, the terms “all,” “all men,” “world” and “the whole world” etc. are taken in isolation without any consideration of the local contexts thereof, nor any consideration for the context of the entire Scriptures. Conversely, when exegesis of the Scriptures is consistently undertaken on a responsible contextual basis as described above, the theories of “universal redemption,” “universal atonement,” “universal salvation” etc. are always all exposed as fallacious and thus heretical. Regards, Michael |
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14 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197833 | ||
Greetings, Ben, You said: “I quickly scanned the Pelagian link. Interesting. The church I go to believes in the age of accountability. Is there any scriptural reference to this?" This idea of “age of accountability” doesn’t occur anywhere in the Scriptures so it should be ignored as a fallacy. Over 1,300 million people of all ages perished in the Great World-wide Flood in the time of Noah [Genesis chapter 7]. In that mass destruction, did the LORD God spare all children under “the age of accountability”? No, because we’re told in 2 Peter 3:6 that the world that then was, including the population, perished. The sole survivors were Noah and his family; eight people in total. Therefore I contend that this idea of “age of accountability” is a religious superstition, and a myth. You said: “According to the Pelagian link there is no such thing. I would believe that God is merciful to infants however.” It’s always preferable to believe what the Scriptures teach. If the Scriptures do not specifically teach a particular idea, it’s either irrelevant or untrue or both. Sola Scriptura! Regards, Michael |
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15 | Basis of election and predestination? | Eph 1:5 | Michael T. | 197829 | ||
Thanks. Michael |
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16 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197828 | ||
Greetings, You said: ”It's interesting that you are so quick to argue this topic. Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself??“ My reply: I'm not arguing. Instead, I'm pointing out the Biblical truths of this topic of Election and Pre-destination. Nor do I need convincing of the truths of the Scriptures because I'm totally assured of the truth and accuracy and reliability of all the Scriptures. You said: “How do you convince someone they are elected, "Oh hey by the way God chose you but maybe not your mother, maybe not your daughter,” My reply: But nowhere in the Scriptures are we ever commanded to “convince people that they are elected.” Instead, Christ’s requires His disciples to go into the entire world and proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Please note the difference. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy that “the Lord knows them who are His.” Therefore the issue as to whether any particular person is among God’s elect people or not is a matter which the LORD God has reserved to Himself, and we should not intrude on His prerogative. You said: “But he is a loving God.” The LORD God is also Just and Righteous and Holy and cannot abide sin in any of its manifold varieties, and as sure and certain evidence of this fact, He has provided a place of eternal punishment which is described in Revelation 21:8 - Revelation 21:8 - “But the cowards, and unbelievers, and the immoral and sexually-perverted, and murderers, and whoremongers and fornicators, and those involved in witchcraft, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” If your belief that “he is a loving God” implies that God overlooks all sin without any exception and pardons everyone without any exception, then that “god” is not the righteous holy LORD God of the Scriptures but an idol to be rejected as a product of human imagination. Although GOD loves, the Scriptures teach that God’s love isn’t universal; instead, it is particular, focused, discriminatory and exclusive. For example: Psalm 5:5-6 - “The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.” and, Romans 9:13 - “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Salvation by grace has never been universal in extent. God has never been under any obligation to save anyone. The fact that He has chosen to save many but not all of the human race is evidence of His mercy and grace, but nevertheless innumerable people perish in their sins, and are justly condemned in accordance with God’s standards of righteousness and holiness. Michael T. |
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17 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197823 | ||
Greetings Tim! You said: “Thanks for the detailed response. I have church all day today, but I should be able to respond on Monday.” Enjoy your day. My reply was lengthy because your original message raised numerous important points which needed to be addressed. Regards, Michael |
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18 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197822 | ||
Greetings John, You said: “Anyone that would refer to God as, he-it, is no Christian, has no relationship with God, and could not have even the slightest notion of what His word is talking about, that, sir, is blasphemy!” You’ve obviously missed the point which I made in my earlier message. I was replying to another person who erroneously assumes that God has promised to or is under obligation to save every individual person of the entire human race from Creation onwards without any exception. That theory is totally foreign to the Scriptures. The LORD God revealed in His Scriptures is the Saviour of al of His elect and predestinated people and of more than these. [Refer Ephesians 1:3-11; 2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:28-30.] A “universal saviour god” does not exist. It is a gross distortion and that is why I referred to that false deity as an “it.” Regards, Michael T. |
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19 | Predestination | Eccl 6:10 | Michael T. | 197819 | ||
Greetings Cheri, Michael T. said: "how do you reconcile your theory of “universal salvation” with the fact that in the centuries from Creation till Christ’s incarnation in 6 BC, innumerable millions of people perished in unbelief and sin and were justly condemned to eternal punishment in Hell to bear the penalty of their sins. Surely a god that according to you, wants everyone without any exception to be saved, could have and should have saved those sinners now in Hell. But he-it did not do so." Cheri replied: “I suggest you re-read the Hebrew Scriptures. You are highly mistaken!” My response: Please supply specific Scripture references which prove your opinion. Michael T. |
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20 | Not my will? | Rom 5:6 | Michael T. | 197804 | ||
Thanks for the advice. This topic may however generate some comments now because the theme is of ongoibg interest. Let's hope so anyway. Regards, Michael T. |
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