They also show that all of those who receive mercy repented. The prodigal son realized his error and returned to his father and repented. The woman at the well repented and said, "give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." Hebrews 4 states that we must "draw near to the throne of grace" in order to receive mercy. The woman caught in adultery is a disputed text and it just so happens to be the odd one out that does not mention any sort of repentance necessary for mercy. Coincidence?
And I do not claim that God does not show mercy to sinners. God shows mercy to His elect, who are all sinners. Well, actually, God shows mercy to everyone in the sense that it is a mercy that anyone is alive here and not already burning in hell and receiving the wrath of God (I suggest reading some of Jonathan Edwards writings). As it pertains to salvation, God only shows mercy on His elect.
I am aware. It was also originally written on papyri, but I am not expecting you to mail me fragments. When you tell someone to look up a passage, how do you do it? Do you not give them the name of the book, the chapter(s), and the verse(s)?
And I know why you cited them, but you did not bother to actually comment on them. It would be like me providing all of the passages that I did in my previous post without actually opening up a discussion on them. It would be confusing to the reader and really lazy on my end.
Right. I meant the context of John 3:16 as it pertains to this discussion.
Yup, hammer on head!
Yes, but that does not exclude the fact that we are to rebuke sinners. We can follow the commandments by loving the Lord our God and loving our neighbor as ourself. That does not mean we cannot fall into the traps of other sins or that we should ignore all sins.
No, not everyone can accept. It is not a free choice. Consider the following passages:
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:9-12; ESV)
Tell me, how can a person "accept if they choose" when "no one seeks for God?" How can someone come to God, which is by all stretches of the imagination a good thing, when "no one does good?"
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23; ESV)
As is clearly shown in this passage, man is a slave to sin. It is only by Christ that we have been set free from slavery to sin and become slaves of God. So, unless someone is a slave to God they are a slave to sin. If someone is a slave to sin then they cannot break away from it to become a slave to God.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-15; ESV)
How can a person "accept if they choose" if "the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God?" How can a person "accept if they choose" if "he is not able to understand them [the things of the Spirit of God] because they are spiritually discerned?"
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8; ESV)
How can a person "accept if they choose" if they are "hostile to God" and "does not submit to God's law." In fact, "it [the mind that is set on the flesh] cannot." How can a person "accept if they choose" if they "cannot please God?"
The answers to all of these questions are quite simple. They can't. It all is a gift from God based on His sovereign will:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13; ESV)
Regarding 1 John 2:2, it is not the only verse to say that Christ died for the "whole world" (John 1:29; 3:16; 6:51; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9). Now we must consider what the "whole world" actually is in reference to.
The question that needs a precise answer is this: Did He or didn't He? Did Christ actually make a substitutionary sacrifice for sins or didn't He? If He did, then it was not for all the world, for then all the world would be saved. (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 47.)
If Christ genuinely died for every single human being in the whole world then you only have two options:
- Everyone in the world is saved regardless of whether or not they accept Christ (as the sin of unbelief would be covered on the cross).
- Christ died for everyone, but it was insufficient without extra work on the part of man (synergism).
So, which is it? Or is there another option? Of course there is. It is the "L" in TULIP. That is, Limited Atonement.
Let there be no misunderstanding at this point. The Arminian limits the atonement as certainly as does the Calvinist. The Calvinist limits the extent of it in that he says it does not apply to all persons [...] while the Arminian limits the power of it, for he says that in itself it does not actually save anybody. The Calvinist limits it quantitatively, but not qualitatively; the Arminian limits it qualitatively, but not quantitatively. For the Calvinist it is like a narrow bridge that goes all the way across the stream; for the Arminian it is like a great wide bridge that goes only half-way across. As a matter of fact, the Arminian places more severe limitations on the work of Christ than does the Calvinist. (Lorraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, p. 153.)
So which option is most accurately described in Scripture? We know that Christ came to save, not to try and save (Luke 19:10; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Timothy 1:15). So who did Christ come to save? Was it the whole world? This is clearly not the case, as is seen in Scriptures:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. [...] Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:31-33; 41; ESV)
Obviously the goats are not saved by Christ's work on the cross. So Christ came to save His sheep and not the goats (John 10:11-15). Consider, for example, what is written in Matthew 20:28. It is in this passage that we read that Christ came "to give his life as a ransom for
many," not for all (cf. Isaiah 53:11). How can one be a sheep? In light of Romans 3:9-12; 6:20-23; 8:7-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14-15, we know that it is not by the choice of man. I already cited John 1:12-13, which teaches that it is by God. But it is explicitly stated by Jesus in John 6:37 that all "the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." The sheep are those that are of God while the goats are those who are not (John 8:47).
Just stop for a moment and actually consider the whole analogy of the sheep and the shepherd. Does a sheep choose its own shepherd or does a shepherd choose his sheep? The answer in real life observation is quite clear. It is also quite clear that it works the same way in Scriptures.
One more passage I want to point you toward is in John as well:
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. (John 17:8-9; ESV)
Could the Scriptures be more clear? Man cannot come to God on their own. Christ did not die for the whole world, rather, He died for His sheep. Those who are His sheep are elected by God by His own sovereign will and are given the gift of grace to have faith.
Who are the "all?" All does not necessitate all of humanity. Christ died for all who he came to die for. No more and no less. Christ's sacrifice was perfect and complete.
Yes, "taste death for everyone" who believes. He obviously did not taste death for unregenerate individuals (the goats).
Not everyone is "welcome to be apart of the select few." I highlighted this above.
