Subject: How did sin originate |
Bible Note: Hello New Creature, you wrote: Concerning John 3:16-18 What is meant by the word "world" is clarified in verse 18 "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead because their deeds were evil. This is clearly the whole fallen world. You did not address my conclusions, New Creature. My main point was to illustrate, from Scripture, that the meaning of the word should be determined by, firstly, its immediate context and, secondly, in light of God’s revelation as a whole. I have pointed out to you that interpreting the word ‘world’ to mean ‘every single human being’ brings at least 3 difficulties that cannot be reconciled with the rest of the Scripture. You didn’t address those conclusions at all and simply keep insisting that your interpretation is correct. As for the verse 19 to which you now draw my attention to (not 18 BTW) I would have no problem in agreeing with your understanding of the word ‘world’ there, in verse 19 that is. But this is further strengthens my point, namely that the meaning of the passage, or the word for that matter, should interpreted in its context first. The ‘world’ in verse 19 does not pose any difficulty but it does pose some serious problems in John 3:16-18 if taken to mean ‘every human being’ but this has been already addressed by me and ignored by you. You wrote: Scripture says "When he the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. (John 16:8) Certain denominations theology demands that "world" and "all" don't really mean all. It is painful to watch the logic of many denominations, respond by claiming the Bible uses the words "world" and "all" in a restricted limited sense. If all does not mean all fallen human beings, then what does it mean in Romans 3:23 when it says: All have sinned. Using the logic that all doesn't mean all would then mean that in this verse the word "all" means that only all the elect have sinned, which I am sure you will disagree with. OK then, if “world’ in the scriptures, particularly in John, always means what you say it means then John 7:7 teaches that Chinese peasants hated Christ in about 30 AD, John 8:26 teaches that Christ spoke the truth to the North American natives in about the same time Chinese peasants hated Him and John 12:19 teaches that Pharisees believed that Australian natives have gone after Christ when they said among themselves “Look, the world has gone after Him!”. The nonsense like this disappears when proper exegesis is applied to the word of God to discern the truth it reveals. You wrote: Also: How do you get around this verse? 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and NOT FOR OURS ONLY, BUT ALSO FOR [the sins of] the whole world. I do not get around verses, I simply compare one scripture with another to determine what God is teaching me here or there. 1 John 2:2 does not pose a problem for me as you might think it does. If scripture everywhere teaches that Christ has propitiated for the sins of his church, his people only, then 1 John 2:2 cannot teach the contrary since God is the Lord of truth, not of lies. If 1 John 2:2 teaches that Christ propitiated for the sins of every human being, then 1 John 5:19 teaches that every human being is under control of the evil one since one and the same word, kosmos is used but we know that Christians are not under the evil one but under God as 1 John 5:19 teaches. Your insistence on one and only meaning of the word ‘world’ just makes nonsense out of scriptures. Tell me, if you believe Christ has propitiated for the sins of all human kind, why some are in hell? Because of their unbelief? Now I ask (together with John Owen), is not unbelief a sin? If yes, then did not Christ propitiated for all sins of all men, including the sin of unbelief? Did He or did he not? Any answers? You wrote: Finally, I don't believe that salvation is universal. It is only universal in it's offer, but is only made actual for those who by faith receive it. But surely a great number of the human kind have never ever heard of either God of Abraham or Son of God Christ Jesus or that there’s salvation offered and available. How can it be universal if it’s not truly universal? You wrote: Neither do I believe than God ever fails or failed in any mission. But if Christ was sent to save the world, the human kind but did not save it, then He surely failed the mission His Father has assigned to Him. John 3:17 clearly states that Christ was sent that the world might be saved and John 4:42 calls Christ the saviour of the world. If your meaning is attached to these verses then you can say you don’t believe Christ failed in his mission as long as you like but clearly this is what you testify with your own words you think he did – He intended to save the world, the human kind but failed. |