AJCServant said in post 207:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. - - John 3:17
Amen.
John 3:17a means God didn't send Jesus into the world to condemn the world before Jesus' 2nd coming, when Jesus
will condemn the world (Revelation 19:11-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, Luke 12:49). Also, even some saved people at the judgment of the church by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 2:6-8, Luke 12:45-48, Matthew 25:19-30) at his 2nd coming (Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27) will lose their salvation because of such things as unrepentant sin (Luke 12:45-46, Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27), unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a, Romans 2:6-8), or apostasy (Mark 8:35-38, Hebrews 6:4-8; 2 Timothy 2:12b). That's why saved people know the "terror" of the coming judgment of the church by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:10-11), why they must remain in fear of being cut off the same as unbelievers if they don't continue in God's goodness (Romans 11:20-22, Luke 12:45-46), why they must be careful to work out their own ultimate salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b; 1 Peter 1:17, Romans 2:6-8).
John 3:17b doesn't require God sent Jesus into the world to save everyone in the world, just as saying someone has come to save TV wouldn't require he has come to save every show on TV. In the Bible, "the world" doesn't have to mean everyone in the world. Just as "the world" in John 15:18 and John 16:8-9,20 doesn't include believers, so "the world" in John 3:16 doesn't include the nonelect (Romans 9:11-22). And in the case of, for example, John 18:20, it doesn't include the vast majority of the earth's inhabitants at that time, who didn't hear Jesus speak to them during his preaching before his arrest.
AJCServant said in post 207:
So that with this eternally fruitful theology now being highlighted via this thread concerning our Shekhinah Creator's obvious infinite love for us all . . .
Do you mean all us humans? If so, note that God doesn't love everyone: he hates the nonelect (Romans 9:11-22). During their lifetime, God hardens the nonelect in their sinfulness instead of showing them his mercy (Romans 9:18), because he created them to be vessels of his wrath (Romans 9:20-22, Proverbs 16:4). They were of old ordained to condemnation (Jude 1:4). They were appointed to disobedience (1 Peter 2:8, Acts 2:23). But God never forces them or anyone else to commit sin. He never even tempts anyone to commit sin (James 1:13-15). All people will justly be held accountable for their deeds (Romans 2:6-8), for neither election nor nonelection takes away the free will of people.
God created nonelect people to be vessels of his wrath instead of vessels of his mercy so he might eternally make known his wrath and power (Romans 9:21-22, Proverbs 16:4, Revelation 14:10-11). And God created elect people to be vessels of his mercy so he might eternally make known his mercy, glory, and wisdom (Romans 9:23, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 1:8,11).
God wants these aspects of his nature to be made known to both humans and angels (Ephesians 3:10), neither of which group yet knows experientially the full extent of God's qualities and abilities (1 Corinthians 2:9; 1 Peter 1:12b). For example, the full extent of God's wrath won't be known to humans and angels until Satan and his fallen angels and all of unsaved humanity are cast into the eternal suffering of the lake of fire and brimstone (Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11), and saved humans and holy angels go forth from the city of New Jerusalem on the new earth to witness the suffering of the unsaved in the lake of fire (Isaiah 66:24), the eternal hell (Mark 9:45-46), and realize by seeing it not only the extent of God's wrath, but by it, by way of contrast, the extent of God's mercy toward them (Lamentations 3:22-23). Just as "up" can't be eternally known for what it is without the eternal coexistence of "down", so God's mercy can't be eternally known for what it is without the eternal coexistence of his wrath.
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AJCServant said in post 208:
The results of Jesus' prayerful efforts would be that His children would have learned to work in concert with His Spirit to bring forth a best-case fulfillment of all apocalyptic prophetic-scripture, i.e. a best-case fulfillment of the Greek word katargeo in 1Corinthians 13:8, e.g. katargeo concerning Isaiah 17, Nahum 1:1&15c, Zephaniah 1:2,18c and 2:9.
1 Corinthians 13:8 doesn't mean any prophecy in Revelation will fail to come to pass, for it must all come to pass (Revelation 1:1-3, Revelation 4:1, Revelation 22:6). Instead, 1 Corinthians 13:8 is referring to the future cessation of the Spiritual gift of prophecy, which gift is referred to in the context (1 Corinthians 13:2,9, 1 Corinthians 12:10,11,28).
In 1 Corinthians 13:8, in the original Greek the difference in the "voice" of the verbs relates to the difference in how the Spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues and the word of knowledge operate. The cessation of prophetic messages and words of knowledge is in the passive voice because it will be God who will cause prophetic messages and words of knowledge to cease at Jesus' 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). For when people receive the gift of prophecy or the word of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8,10) they still have to wait passively for God to give them prophetic messages or words of knowledge to speak forth (1 Corinthians 14:30-31). The cessation of tongues is in the middle voice because it will be tongues-speakers who will cease speaking in tongues on their own accord at the 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). For when a person receives the gift of a tongue, he usually receives a prayer (1 Corinthians 14:2,14) and it's usually a set prayer (like how the Lord's prayer is a set prayer) which the tongues-speaker can pray or not pray on his own accord (1 Corinthians 14:27-28) whenever he wants.
AJCServant said in post 208:
The results of Jesus' prayerful efforts would be that His children would have learned to work in concert with His Spirit to bring forth a best-case fulfillment of all apocalyptic prophetic-scripture, i.e. a best-case fulfillment of the Greek word katargeo in 1Corinthians 13:8, e.g. katargeo concerning Isaiah 17, Nahum 1:1&15c, Zephaniah 1:2,18c and 2:9.
Regarding Isaiah 17, Damascus is said to be the oldest continually-inhabited city on the earth. But it could be nuked by Israel during a future all-out war (Isaiah 17:1). Yet this war will also break the power of Israel (Isaiah 17:4).
Regarding Nahum, he prophesied the fall of ancient Assyria with the sack of its capital Nineveh in 612 BC.
Regarding Zephaniah, he prophesied the destruction of the land of ancient Judah and neighboring countries by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.
AJCServant said in post 208:
As Paul was duped to do prior to his seeing Christ Jesus, and immediately he became a converted-universalist.
Paul the apostle never taught universal salvation, because he knew that not everyone will be saved (Matthew 25:41,46, Matthew 13:38-42), but only a relatively few people (Matthew 7:14, Matthew 22:14) compared with all of humanity.
AJCServant said in post 208:
Matthew 28:19-20 - - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Amen.
While the gospel of salvation is preached to everyone (Mark 16:15), nonelect people can't be saved, for they can't believe in Jesus (John 8:42-47, John 10:26).
The elect are those individuals who were chosen (elected) and predestinated by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), before they were born (Romans 9:11-24), to become initially saved by faith at some point during their lifetime (Acts 13:48b). This initial salvation is possible only because of Jesus' sacrifice (Romans 3:25-26), which was also foreordained by God before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:19-20).
Everyone on his own is wholly corrupt (Romans 3:9-12), and so it's impossible for people on their own to ever believe in Jesus and the gospel and be initially saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, John 20:31; 1 John 5:13) through their own will (Romans 9:16, John 1:13, John 6:65) or their own intellect (1 Corinthians 1:18 to 2:16). Unsaved people can't understand the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 1:18) because only initially saved people, who have received the miraculous gift of some measure of God's own Spirit, can understand it (1 Corinthians 2:11-16).
The nonelect can't ever believe in Jesus and the gospel and be initially saved, even when they're shown the truth (John 8:42-47, John 10:26, Matthew 13:38-42), because the ability to believe in Jesus and the gospel comes only to the elect (Acts 13:48b) wholly by God's grace as a miraculous gift from God (Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 3:5b, Romans 12:3b, Hebrews 12:2) as the elect read (or hear) God's Word the Bible (Romans 10:17, Acts 13:48, Acts 26:22-23), just as the ability to repent comes only as a miraculous gift from God (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18). Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers so that on their own they can't repent and acknowledge the truth of God's Word (2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:25-26).
AJCServant said in post 208:
Titus 2:13 - - Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious (i.e. fruitful) appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The blessed hope (Titus 2:13) is the hope of eternal life: "In hope of eternal life" (Titus 1:2), "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13), "the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7), by which is meant the hope of obtaining an immortal physical resurrection body (Romans 8:23-25, Philippians 3:21, Luke 24:39) at Jesus' 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6), which won't occur until immediately after the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6). Also, Jesus himself is the hope of believers (1 Timothy 1:1b), for he himself is eternal life (John 14:6) and only by believing in him can people have eternal life (John 3:36).
