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NASB | Acts 13:48 ¶ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 13:48 ¶ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying [praising and giving thanks for] the word of the Lord; and all those who had been appointed (designated, ordained) to eternal life [by God] believed [in Jesus as the Christ and their Savior]. |
Bible Question: What does "appointed" mean in Acts 13:48? |
Bible Answer: “How can I possibly say it?” That must be the question that a translator asks as he tries to convey what the Scripture says, to an English audience, or to any audience, for that matter. I think that is preferable to saying that it is a question God asks. But surely our Lord, who knows everything, does know that it is well nigh impossible to convey his thoughts to us by words alone. And it must be that it is totally impossible to convey a thought unambiguously with a single word. So what does the word “Appointed” mean? I would ask the Greek scholars. Is there such a thing as a synonym in that language? Is there only one set of words to convey the same idea? Or can one be saying the same thing even while using different words. We are not supposed to debate determinism or predestination on this forum. So those who want to establish the idea that God has chosen some people to be saved (while not choosing any to be unsaved, or even neglecting to choose them) can have free rein. But I wonder how else the Holy Spirit might have expressed this. He has told us everywhere that salvation is by faith. We must believe in order to be saved. We must trust the Lord. And now, if he wants to tells us that only some have this ability, specially given to some, to believe, could he have said here, “as many as had been appointed to believe and receive eternal life did so”? Could he have said, “as many as had been appointed to eternal life succumbed to it”? Could he have said, “as many as had been granted the ability to believe exercised that belief and thereby achieved the eternal life that God had predestined them to have“? Why does he leave the idea that they exercised their free will to believe (while others did not) and thereby sealed their destiny? By giving us “as many as were destined (appointed and ordained) to eternal life believed” the Amplified Bible is giving us the idea that there are synonyms in the original language. What if the only word was “destined” and there were no synonyms? Then the only idea we would have is that the ones who believe had a destiny, the result of their believing, not that either their believing or their destiny had been predetermined. This is not to reopen the age-old debate. What good would that do? It is to say that it is usually difficult, and often impossible, to determine a message by focusing on a single word. It is also not good to use this word or this verse to prove a point. We do well to look at the entire passage, and the entire word of God. Do that to determine whether the destiny of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is set, or whether both the cause and the effect have been preset. |