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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: why would God withhold the gift of faith |
Bible Note: Dear Parable, For the time being, I am assuming that you have been unable to think of an alternative to my proposition. Am I correct? My point is this. A study of the unrengerate heart reveals that fallen man, left to himself, is unable to choose spiritual good because his strongest desires are, congenitally, oppossed to the reign of God over his life. Mark 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." Therefore, if anyone at all is to be saved, a change in heart must take place! Being that man cannot change his own heart (which would entail a desire for spiritual good), God must step in to change it for him. Ezek 36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Those who reject Christ do so out of the freedom to follow the desire of their hearts. The same is true of those who recieve Christ. What makes the difference between the two groups? Their hearts! The rejecters still have the hearts of stone which with they were born. The recievers have experienced a "change of heart" (spiritually speaking, of course). Their new hearts have a new desire, and that is to lose their lives, so that they may be spared from His righteous judgement, and to submit to His rule as God, Saviour and King. John 1:11-13 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The inabilty of man (due to his own lack of desire for Christ) is witnessed to by Jesus in John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." (Notice that the one drawn comes "believing", for he is also raised up on the last day!) I would appreciate your comments, friend Parable. John |