Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
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: God--the "loving Father" of whom? |
Bible Note: I agree with you. There is no way for our finite minds to know who the elect of God are. I guess this is one of those questions that clearly draws the dividing line in the sand between Arminians and Calvinists. It is not as much an issue of the nature of election or predestination as much as it is an issue of Biblical sequence and chronology. I believe some things have to happen before others can occur. For example, you proposed the hypethetical that asked whether or not we are born saved and then lose that status by our own actions. I don't believe anyone is born saved because that would mean that people are in Christ at birth without being spiritually born-again. To be saved one must be born again (John 3:3), which is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9) that does not come from the will or desire of man but purely by the will of God (Romans 9:16). To be born saved would mean you would have to be redeemed at birth (Gal. 3:13), given to the Son by the Father (John 6:37) never to be lost by Him (John 6:39-40; John 10:28-29; 1 John 5:13) thus being guaranteed of eternal life. From this, you can see that if anyone is born saved, then we should all be universalists because no one can be saved and end up in Hell. However, I think we are all born deserving of eternal punishment (Ps. 58:3; Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:10-11). Therefore, as you and I both believe, for God to save children is not a matter of Him being just and giving them what they deserve, but rather that He has mercy upon them despite their sinful condition. Being saved for an adult is no different. We aren't saved simply because we choose to be saved. We choose to be saved because he has mercy on us and delivers us from the bondage of sin upon our entire being. That's how I see it anyway. Looking forward to hearing back from you! Alive in Jesus, JibbyJee |