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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: Is God omnipotent? |
Bible Note: Dear Tim, Salvation is by grace alone. Faith is the means by which salvation is accomplished. We are saved by grace through faith. Paul who expressed this doctrine also said of the gentiles that "remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Eph 2:12 Excluded! Without God! No hope! Is Paul exagerating the condition of these gentile believers prior to their new-birth in Christ? Of course not. He was merely giving an accurate assesment of the condition in which fallen man exists. But Paul, your mistaken a young Ephesian cries, we always have had the ability to believe! No, I'm sure that they knew Paul was telling it like it is and like it remains up until this very day. In order to defend free-will theology, one must give hope to those who never have heard the gospel. They must invent another way to God, other than faith in Christ as proclaimed in the gospel. We are told that God gives everyone an opportunity to choose or reject Christ. Therefore, we must believe that the message is (somehow or other) provided through means other than the God's written Word being preached by His church. Maybe God speaks to their hearts inwardly? Maybe they are shown through the created order? Maybe, maybe, maybe...? Well, maybe, their right! OK. But where is the evidence from Scripture or from nature of faith in Christ florishing in the remote regions of the Earth? God did speak in divers ways, but for the past 2,000 years He has spoken tous through His Son. Prior to Christ we read in Scripture of relatively few people who were converted and they were those who had contact with the Jews. So, I believe the burden of proof rests with those who argue against God's choosing alone being the determining factor in salvation. Wheres the beef? John |