Election & Predestination -- Special Topic by Dr. Bob Utley, professor of hermeneutics (retired).
www.freebiblecommentary.org
If you want to debate I'm ready, I might look stupid, but I ain't.
Jesus didn't die for the WHOLE kosmos?
Praise Abba for this wonderful truth and let every man be found a liar--
Pro_30:6 Do not add to His words, Or He will reprove you, and you will be found a liar.
Rom_3:4 Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture], "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED [by sinful men]." [Psa_51:4]
ἠγάπησεν] The indefinite signifying the universal and eternal existence of that love which God Himself is (1Jn_4:8).
τὸν κόσμον, the world, in the most general sense, as represented by, and included in, man,—Gen_3:17-18; Gen_1:28;—not, the elect, which would utterly destroy the force of the passage: see on Joh_3:18.
The Lord here reveals Love as the one ground of the divine counsel in redemption,—salvation of men, as its one purpose with regard to them.
τὸν υἱὸν … ἔδωκεν] These words, whether spoken in Hebrew or in Greek, seem to carry a reference to the offering of Isaac; and Nicodemus in that case would at once be reminded by them of the love there required, the substitution there made, and the prophecy there uttered to Abraham, to which ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστ. so nearly corresponds.
ἔδωκεν—absolute, not merely τῷ κόσμῳ—gave up,—παρέδωκεν,—Rom_8:32; where as Stier remarks, we have again, in the οὐκ ἐφείσατο, an unmistakeable allusion to the οὐκ ἐφείσω, said to Abraham, Gen_22:16.
ἵνα …] By the repetition of this final clause verbatim from Joh_3:15, we have the identity of the former clauses established:
i.e. the uplifting of the Son of Man like the serpent in the wilderness is the manifestation of the Divine Love in the gift of the Son of God:—ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου of Joh_3:14, = in the strictest sense, ὁ υἱὸς αὐτ. ὁ μονογ. of Joh_3:16.
Jesus Calls All Men – In Joh_3:16-21 Jesus Christ makes His call to all men. This passage of Scripture contains perhaps the most well-known verse in the Scriptures, which is Joh_3:16, a verse that summarizes the ultimate theme of the Scriptures, and God’s call for mankind to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
When Jesus entered His public ministry, it is important to note that He never condemned the sinner of his sins (Joh_3:17).
For example, Jesus did not condemn the woman taken in adultery (Joh_8:1-11), nor the Samaritan woman who had been with five husbands (Joh_4:1-42).
Rather, He offered Himself to them as their Healer and miracle-worker in order that they might believe in Him as their Saviour. Although He rebuked the Jewish leaders because they despised Him and they looked down upon the sinners,
He did not come to condemn mankind for their sins.
He looked forward to His work of redemption on Calvary and loved them, knowing that their sins were about to be paid for on Calvary. God’s wrath was poured out upon Jesus Christ, so that He is no longer at war with sinful man, as we see in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Under the Old Covenant God dealt with His children Israel by using judgment for their sins. In a similar manner, we judge our children when they disobey simply because a child cannot understand the results of his sins. However, when our children become adults, we no long discipline our children; rather, we become friends, realizing that they understand the difference between right and wrong. We stand with our children when they become adults and are ready to offer advice.
In a similar way, God judged Israel as His children under the Law because they could not understand God’s ways in the manner we understand under the New Covenant by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Like spanking a child, divine judgment was the only thing that Israel understood under the Old Covenant when breaking the Law. When Jesus came upon this earth and paid for the sins of mankind, past, present, and future, pouring out His Holy Spirit into the hearts of those who believe in Him, God could then call them His “friends” (Joh_15:15).
Joh_15:15, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
The Author’s Commentary – Scholars popularly believe that Joh_3:16-21 contains a commentary on the discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus recorded in Joh_3:1-20. The author pauses from his narrative to give his readers the reason for God’s offer of eternal life, which comes from His love for mankind. John the apostle pauses a number of times in his Gospel to make such comments. For example, we see a similar commentary in Joh_3:31-36 as the author explains the words of John the Baptist recorded in Joh_3:27-30. Also, in Joh_18:9 the author makes comments in Joh_18:9; Joh_18:32 and Joh_19:35-37 of fulfilled prophecy in the midst of the narrative story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crufixion.
Joh_3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh_3:16 — “For God so loved the world” – Comments - One Sunday morning, a person that I had a crush on announced that she was engaged to a young man. So, with a broken heart, I drove home, lay on the floor and prayed these words, “Lord, it hurts so much to love.” The Lord immediately spoke this verse to me, “For God so loved the world.” In other words, God has felt the same hurt and rejection that I was feeling. I realized at that moment just how much God loved mankind, even every individual on earth. God loves people, and when we hurt other people, we are hurting the one He loves the most. I began to see people in a different way from then on and began treating them with much more thoughtfulness, now knowing how God felt about them, how much God loved them, and how dangerous it is to injure those whom He dearly loves.
Joh_3:16 — “that he gave his only begotten Son” – Comments - Here we see that giving is a natural result of true love. Giving comes from the heart of one who loves.
Joh_3:16 — “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – Word Study on “should not perish” – Strong says the Greek word “perish” (ἀπόλλυμι) (G622) means, “to destroy fully,” and reflexive, “to perish, lose.” BDAG says it means, “perish, die.”
Everett
Tired now.
J.
