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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: Dear Hank, Thanks so much for your aid in helping us get to a correct interpretation Hank. I tuly appreciate your input. I sure wish I had paid more attention in High School! Howevever, I would like to explore further why the object of the pronoun "any" must necessarily refer to the universe of men and not the universe of believers. 2 Pet 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." There are two groups mentioned in chapter 3. The "beloved", whom are also identified to by the pronoun "you". The second group are the "mockers who are identified as "them" in that they are spoken of in the third person (their). Now, if we were to remove the clause " patient toward you (The beloved)" then the pronoun "any" would have to apply to both groups. And if Peter wanted to identify "any" as applying to all men, then why does he use "you" in "patient toward you"? He could have just as easily said "patient toward all". It would appear that he wrote the clause as it is for a pupose. That is, to identfy the group he had in view. Hank, you said: ". Now he follows with this phrase, "not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentence.".... For "any" and "all" in this construction of Peter's phrasing to be understood as referring to the beloved i.e., believers, is not possible inasmuch as believers stand in no danger of perishing and have already come to repentence." But what of those believers like you and me and Tim. Is it not possible, nay, even likely that that was the reason he said "patient toward you"? Considering the topic is a defense against "mockers" vain accusations regarding His 2nd coming, it makes perfect sense for Peter to comfort and explain to the "beloved" why it is that Jesus has not yet appeared. And he does so by informing them that God is patient and does not wish that any of those ordained to salvation would perish but all to come to repentance. I realize that both sides of the debate can reasonably argue this issue, but because Peter inserts "patient toward you" as a modifier to the rest of the verse I contend that I have the strongest arguement. If you care to comment I would be gratefull Bubba John |