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NASB | 2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Peter 2:9 then [in light of the fact that all this is true, be sure that] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, |
Bible Question: I lead a bible study in my home each week. The other night one of the members read a passage that he felt said that there are people who are born that are not meant to be saved. He was saying, I believe, that they are inherently evil and God made them that way for a purpose. My question is, does anyone know what passage he was quoting? I wrote down most of his references but for some reason did not write down that one. I really need to find this passage again so that I can further study it. Thanks for your help |
Bible Answer: Hi, granny4jesus... Welcome to the forum! These are good questions, but the Scriptural answers are not popular. First of all, you need to understand that Adam's sin killed every single one of his descendants. The fall of our first parents condemned us all. (Job 14:4; Psalms 51:5; Romans 5:12-19; 6:20; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22, 45, 49; Ephesians 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 2:14-15) Do you ever sing "Rock of Ages?" See the line "Be of sin the double cure." Ever wonder what Augustus Toplady meant by "double cure?" By one man death entered the world (Romans 5:12), by one Man life entered the world (Romans 5:17, 19) I inherited the corrupt nature from Adam. However, I also have personally committed acts of rebellion which merit death (Ezekiel 18:4b, 20a; Romans 3:23; 1 John 3:4). The atonement of Christ accomplished two things ("cures" as Toplady put it, in 18th century English): (1) the remedy for the corrupt nature I inherited from Adam and (2) the remedy for the sins I've committed. Christ not only took care of the corrupt fruit, He took care of the corrupt tree! Hence, you need to understand, that every single one of us is guilty of transgressing the whole law (James 2:10). There are none that are righteous (Romans 3:10). Nothing whatsoever would be lessened in nature of Lord if He chose to condemn us all to eternal judgment. Yet, as the great theologian B. B. Warfield wrote, "The marvel of marvels is not that God, in His infinite love, has not elected all this guilty race to be saved, but that He has elected any!" This is the true wonder! There are sheep and there are goats (Matthew 25:33), there are the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:30), there are friends of Christ (John 15:14) and His enemies (Philippians 3:18), there are those known by Him (John 10:27) and those never known by Him (Matthew 7:22-23), there are the children of God (Galatians 3:26) and the children of the devil (John 8:44), there are the aliens without God (Ephesians 2:12) and fellowcitizens with the saints (Ephesians 2:19), children of promise and children of bondage (Galatians 4:24-31), etc. etc. You see, God actively seeks out His elect, insuring their salvation (Romans 8:30-39). He chose His own before creation (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 17:8). Nevertheless, the basis of that choosing was not any good in His elect, because there was nothing good in them (Romans 3:12). So, why does God actively seek out some, but simply allows others to continue on to judgment? This is a very good question, one that we must inevitably ask. For that is precisely what the Holy Spirit speaks about in Paul's epistle to the Romans: "What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" (Romans 9:14-21 ESV) Then we are given at least part of the answer: "What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory -- even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:22-24 ESV) In Him, Doc |