Seven Basic Bible Facts

[JM]

And if all men are drawn, then all will be raised up, as we read in John 6:44 "...and I WILL [as a fact] raise him up at the last day."

John 17 "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. pray for them, I pray not for the world."

"Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto." WCF and the London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689

Gen. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The penalty for disobedience of God’s command was death.

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Adam’s disobedience brought in the fail of mankind.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death [death of the body] by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Eph. 2:1 And you hath he quickened[made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Col 13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened[made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

+++The word dead is nekros and is defined by Strong’s as, "one that has breathed his last, lifeless." The Augustinian and Federal view understands sin to be imputed to human kind because of Adam’s sin, resulting in the spiritual bankruptcy of all people. This idea finds expressed by David in the following passges.

Psalm 51:5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Pslam 58:3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

We are born in sin, it’s for this reason our Lord Jesus Christ tells us we need to be born again to enter God’s kingdom. Also note, Christ’s words in John 3:3, "he cannot see." This is in direct relation to the kingdom of God, one must be born again to even see the offer.

John 3: 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

+++Ask yourself, can the carnal fleshy man bring about spiritual change? Not according to Christ’s words, "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Amen.

The heart of fallen man as a result of the fall:

Gen. 6:5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen. 8:21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Ecc. 9:3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Jer. 17: 9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Mark 7:21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

John 3: 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [This point is important for those who believe man desires to be saved, they don’t. Men are slaves to sin and love to sin, they harden their hearts to the Gospel offer for the reason stated above.]

Rom. 8: 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: [The fallen mind of man is hostile toward God.] for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

1 Cor. 2:14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. [The fallen man cannot discern spiritual things, as was pointed out above.]

Eph. 4: 17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: [And what is the reason for their blindness? Vanity of their mind, the understanding was darkened.] 19Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Eph. 5: 8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Titus 1:15Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Before God enables fallen man to respond, we belong to the Devil:

John 8:10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

John 8: 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Rom. 6: 20For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

Eph. 2: 12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

2 Tim. 2: 25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Titus 3: 3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

1 John 3: 10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1 John 5: 19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

 

[JM]

All are sinners:

2 Chronicles 6: 36If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

1 Kings 8: 46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

Job 15: 14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Psalm 130: 3If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Psalm 143: 2And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

Proverbs 20: 9Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

Ecclesiastes 7: 20For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Isaiah 64:5Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

Isaiah 53: 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Romans 3: 9What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

James 3: 2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

1 John 1: 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If man is left dead in sin, they are unable to repent:

Job 14: 4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. [and that is essentially what the Arminian claims to do.]
Jeremiah 13: 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. [The evil cannot change.]

Matthew 7: 16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Matthew 12: 33Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

John 6: 44 [This is a classic passge.] NO man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. [Those and only those who are called will be raised up. This passage is also teahing that being raised up is a fact. If all are called, then all are raised up. Man’s inability to choice the good, the spiritual is because of their nature. God the Father must call them.]

John 6: 65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. [Notice, ‘except.’ This is in reference to man’s inability.]

Our sufficiency is from God:

1 Cor. 2: 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God [which is why these topics are to be discussed with brethren and not the world.]: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Cor. 4: 7For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

2 Cor. 3: 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Faith and repentance are gifts from God:

Acts 5: 31Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 11:18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 13: 48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life BELIEVED. [They believed because God granted them belief.]

Acts 16: 14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, [God did it, not Lydia.] that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

Acts 18: 27And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

Ephesians 2 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. [Dictionary.com defines work as, "Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something." Work is something you do, if that’s true, then believing in the Gospel is an activity to accomplish your salvation.]

Philippians 1: 29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, [It was given to them to believe.] but also to suffer for his sake;

2 Timothy 2: 25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

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As you can see, God doesn't think so highly of fallen man, and in closing read the words of Romans:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

God bless,

jm

 

[JM]

So, what about:

Matt. 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"

Who is ‘Jerusalem’ in the context of this passage? Some folks believe Jerusalem to be in reference to individual Jews, but this can’t be. Starting at the beginning of Matthew 23 we find our Lord speaking of the leaders of Jerusalem, the Scribes and Pharisee, those who killed the prophets:

v. 2 “...Pharisees sit in Moses sit...”
v. 6 “...chief seats in the synagogues...”
v. 7 “...Rabbi, Rabbi...”
v. 13 “But woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees...”
v. 14 “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees...”
v. 15 “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees...”
v. 16 “Woe unto you, ye blind guides...”
etc, etc. I think you get the picture.

Another look at Matt. 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Jesus isn’t calling the leaders to gather He is calling the ‘children’ or believers, ‘Jerusalem’ or the leaders and rulers of Jerusalem are not being called to gather at all. The leaders wouldn’t allow the faithful of God to come together, God wasn’t seeking to bring together those who ‘killest the prophets’ but the faithful. The unwillingness comes from not allowing the faithful to come together, not rejecting an offer of salvation.

Those Christ would gather are not represented as being unwilling, but not allowed by the ruling class in Jerusalem to come together.

and

2 Peter 3:9? Many folks will claim this means God is trying (but not able) to save all men, but this passage isn’t speaking of salvation it's speaking of bring men to repentance (v. 10 the day of the Lord is in view). Many assume that ‘you’ includes the world and this idea is based upon presuppositions about salvation and God in general. This is natural, but we need to 'think God's thoughts after Him' as we conform to the word of God. Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Peter is speaking to those who have ‘obtained’ the gift of God already, this epistle is not written to all mankind but to the saved. The context then should be viewed in light of the audience to whom the epistle is written. As the Geneva Bible states, “A reason why the last day does not come too soon, because God patiently waits until all the elect are brought to repentance, that none of them may perish.”

or


1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

What does “all men” mean? Well, I believe it refers to all kinds of men as we see in the context of the chapter, the subject of that prayer is mentioned in v. 1 (kings and those in authority). This same idea is upheld by Titus 2:11 where we see that the Grace of God has appeared to all men, but this can’t mean everyone that has ever lived has heard the Gospel, the meaning is, God’s Grace has appeared to all kinds of men regardless of their station in life. If you view Titus 2 and 3, you’ll soon see my point. God is no respecter of persons. Those who believe in an unlimited atonement (still limit the atonement in power but that’s besides the point), have to answer this: If God did in fact supply an atonement for the whole world (meaning the whole mass of mankind), how is it that God failed to supply a means for the whole world throughout history to hear the Gospel that gives them that offer? This would mean God did not give to everyman equally the chance to accept or reject the Gospel offer.

1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

In the broader context of atonement passages, this is easy to explain, but those who believe in unlimited atonement (still limit the atonement in power but that’s besides the point), want us to isolate this passage. Where the rubber hits the road…if Christ wants all to be saved and is a ransom for all (meaning every single person in the whole world) then Christ must be the mediator. We know this because of Hebrews 10 “this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” If unbelievers reject the Gospel offer then Christ’s work as mediator fails and the “will” of God spoken of in 1 Tim. 2:4 is over ruled by fallen sinful man with the unregenerate mind. This robs God of His status as “savior” and turns Him into the “great assister.” This cannot be true if Heb. 10:14 means what it says, simply this, the offering ALWAYS RESULTS IN THE PERFECTION OF THOSE WHO THE OFFERING WAS MADE.

If Christ is the mediator for the whole world (because He’d have to be if His offering was made on behalf of the whole world) then why doesn’t He pray for them? “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” That’s interesting to know, Christ isn’t praying for everyone, just those who the Father has given Him. Did the Father give the Son ALL men? No, if so then all are going to be raised up on the last day as we read in John 6:39 and the context is to everlasting life in v. 40.

Reformed exegesis is the only true exegesis of scripture and the only possible way to make sense of scripture.

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Works referenced: Potter's Freedom, James Whte; Reformation Study Bible, editor R.C. Sproul; Reformed Dogmatcis, Herman Bavink; The Five Pionts of Calvinism, Steele.