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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: Are we ever "worthy" of God's love? |
Bible Note: Hello Hank, Please read my last post to Tim. You are far more knowledgable in English grammar than I am and I need your opinion. As you know the controversy surrounding 2 Peter 3:9 is focused in the identification of the pronoun "any and adjective "all": ( but is patient toward You, not wishing for ANY to perish but for ALL to come to repentance.) Tim and I are agreed that the "you" in the preceeding clause refers to christians. They are his immediate audience. We disagree on the identification of the "any and "all" in the following clause. Tim states:"...we find an unmodified indefinite pronoun which every translation translates as 'any'. This is further defined in the next clause with the adjective 'all'. Unmodified by 'you', 'any' and 'all' refers to each individual grammatically." I do see Tim's point. But believe it is a leap to then identify "any" and "all" as mankind universally. I believe (given the context of the entire book) that "any" and "all" identify christians universally, those (past, present and future) who will not perish but who will have repented before the return of Christ to the Earth. Peter is not dealing directly with salvation in this chapter but with the controversy over the "delay" of Christ's return! 2 Peter 3:9 is used with regularity as a proof verse by arminians to support their doctrine of "free will" as opposed to the calvinistic doctrine of "election". As christians both sides should be more concerned with the correct interpretation of Scripture than they are in defending their doctrines. It is easy for me to sit here and pontificate, it is difficult for me to actually do that which I require of others. Nevertheless, as christians, we must humbly rely on the Spirit to illuminate the eyes of our understanding. The truth is the truth whether it agrees with our doctrines or not. God give us all the grace we need to be faithfull to His Word. Brother John |