I have posted so many scriptures throughout our talks but do you ever address them? No. Something as obvious as John 3:16 as a invitation all who will believe would be hard to explain away. All isnt a restrictive word. Believe isnt a word needed if God forces belief. So no I can defend with scripture and philosophy dealing with logic is also God created. Logically you dont call people to choose or believe if it wasn't up to them. See how stupid that sounds.
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I addressed John 3:16 already with you. There is nothing inconsistent with Reformed theology and John 3:16.
Perhaps you heard some reading of John 3:16 by some free-willer theologian who bellows out WHOSOEVER at a higher volume in order to make his free-willer claim.
Here's the verse:
John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV Strong's)
Of course I know that everyone who believes will have eternal life.
The real issue is, what causes belief?
The answer is: regeneration.
God causes the person to believe by giving them spiritual life through regeneration.
Additionally, have you ever read John 3:16 in context? It proves my point.
Note the preceding verses. Nicodemus comes to Christ and Christ tells him that he needs to be born again to see the kingdom of God. The man who is not born again cannot even see the kingdom of God.
It is obvious that Nicodemus wasn't born again. He could not even understand what Jesus was saying. He needed a heart of flesh to replace his heart of stone. Spiritual truth was not penetrating his thinking.
Sometimes I feel that way with you free-willers by the way. I suspect some of you are in the same position as Nicodemus. You claim I am confused, but in reality I think some of you may still be in spiritual blindness. Just because I don't accept your humanistic, philosophical positions like libertarian free will doesn't mean I am blind. I openly and knowingly reject them, because Scripture teaches that the natural man is enslaved to his fallen nature and Satan, and he needs to be freed. The Bible fundamentally denies libertarian free will, and any free-willer who believes libertarian free will is operating from humanistic, pagan presuppositions.
Anyways, John 3:16 is in light of this context.
By the way, I responded to you on this verse, so your claim that I did not is disingenuous. In fact, it is really a very easy verse to address.
And, the translation in English Bibles is influenced by free-willer presuppositions.
For instance, it could be rendered:
John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that everyone believing in him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV Strong's)
The word for "whosoever" is actually more like "all" or "every". All believing ones will not perish, but what causes belief? Regeneration.
The person needs this heart of flesh to believe.
It is not insignificant that Jesus is alluding to the need to be born again in the context of John 3:16, which involves receiving this new heart of flesh to replace the heart of stone. The man in Adam needs to have Christ as his federal head to experience new life (see Romans 5).
John 3:1-15 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
(ESV Strong's)
Notice that Nicodemus could not understand spiritual things. Why? He needed to be born again in order to understand these things.
Yet, the free-willer thinks that being born again results from understanding these things, and responding to them.
They have it all backwards, yet they claim they are the ones who have true spiritual insight.
By the way, what does it mean to be born of water and the Spirit?
This, too, is speaking about regeneration.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (ESV Strong's)
Yet, a lot of free-willers will claim this is talking about baptism or amniotic fluid or some other nonsense. Jesus was making clear allusion to regeneration, which is required both for salvation and understanding spiritual truths.
To get back to John 3:16, though, there is nothing inconsistent with Reformed theology and John 3:16, and it is typical free-willer rhetoric to claim this.
Everyone who believes will in fact receive eternal life. But, the issue is, what causes belief (faith) and repentance? It is God who causes it, through regeneration. It is a gift of God, and that is why boasting about one's salvation is silly.
As I have mentioned, free-willer Sunday School teachers are far more likely to praise little Johnny for being gracious enough to accept Jesus into his heart than to praise God for saving him. Or, they might even praise themselves for being the one who led him to salvation. But, I doubt very many of them would think to praise God for saving little Johnny.
There is a fundamental glory issue involved in this discussion. And, to be honest, free-willers are much more likely to be glory-hogs, robbing glory from God for his work of salvation.
And, it is brought out by Paul in Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(ESV Strong's)
And..by the way..before you say this, it is the entire package of salvation, including grace and faith, that is the gift. It is not only the faith, but my point is that it is all from God and man can take no credit for it.