11
Jan
A Hardened Heart
Is it God’s desire for all people to be saved; to surrender their lives and not reject Him?
Tags: Christianity, doctrine, faith, love
Is it God’s desire for all people to be saved; to surrender their lives and not reject Him?
Tags: Christianity, doctrine, faith, love
Brennan
Amen! God loved Jacob and Hated Esau. Jesus said that he that does not believe is condemned already. It’s kinda like trying to add 2+2, it’s always going to equal 4. Likewise ,God knows the heart of every man and no decision of man will ever take God by surprise or even let Him down. So God is looking on the SUM of their heart from an eternal perspective and knows that no matter what He does in your life you will always love Him unto eternal bliss or deny His sovereignty unto eternal damnation.
Ryan Benitez
John 6:37 states; However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
Does God have to give those whom He wants saved only?
John 6:39a says: And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me…it seems that God is the one who gives those whom He wants saved.
Then John 6:40 says For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life-that I should raise them at the last day.
It is our choice if we want to soften our own hearts and let God come in and change us…although maybe God hardens peoples hearts to use them as an example…such as Pharoh; God showed us that even though Pharoh softened his own heart God knew what was truly inside him. … See More
John 6:40 states at the end… that I should raise them at the last day… Does that mean God will bring everyone to Him before He raises everyone up…Please explain your thoughts.
Pastor Dan Hickling
Great questions Ryan…I think the best and most concise way of boiling this entire issue down is in a quote I once read by C.H. MacIntosh, “Everyone in Heaven will have only God to thank, and everyone in Hell will have only themselves to blame.” Anything outside of that understanding is going beyond biblical bounds.
Paul Roquet
God cannot violate His Word or His nature. He will judge each person’s sins without partiality (Rom 2:11) but because He is love (1 Jn 4:8) He will show compassion to all in Christ’s atoning death, but forgive only those who receive His Son. He will not force His love on any. The compassion Paul speaks of is a quote from Exodus 33:18-23 when Moses seeks to see God’s glory. No one can see God’s glory and live, so God covered Moses with His hand, so He does now by covering our sin in Christ!
Karen Masood
AMEN! Excellent way to put it! Muslims believe that their god is aloof and makes some for hell and some for paridise. We know that God wants all to be saved as you said. As He also states in scripture, John 10:16, that He has other sheep too, that are not of this sheepfold,, that He must bring them also, and they will listen to His voice…We, Steven and I of “Jesus to Muslims”, were there in “The Faith Forum” event doing the Q & A with Lt Col Allen West after the documentary “The Third Jihad”.
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Linda Blessitt . . love it
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Joy Reynolds PASTOR BOB, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE U♥
Peter
In order to sustain the integrity of sound interpretation it is a good practice to cross reference a verse between different translations. Every other translation besides the NLT uses the word ‘All’ rather than ‘those’ in the opening verse of John 6:37. The reason is because the original manuscript uses the Greek word ‘Pas’ which literally means the whole or everything. The word ‘come’ in passage is the Greek word ‘Heko’ which literally means ‘shall be arriving’ or shall arrive. So let’s fit together the first half the verse with its definition:
Peter
(Pas) Everything that the Father have given me (heko) shall be arriving,The second half of the verse says “and the one who comes to me”. That word ‘come’ in here is a different word than the word ‘come’ used in the first half of the verse. This word is the Greek word ‘Erchomai’ which means to come from one place to another. So this is a rough translation of how the Scripture would read if we take into account the definitions of the words used in the original language. (Pas) Everything that the Father have given me (heko) shall be arriving, and the one who (Erchomai) come from one place
Peter
(that is where a man is before he encounter Christ) to another (that is where a man arrives when he come to faith in Christ) to me I will by no means cast out.
The “everything” given to Christ in the first half of the verse is what establishes the premise upon which a man is able to come to Christ. What is that “everything” you ask? Well let us cross reference John 6:37 to Matthew 28:18-19 which reads:
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Peter
The word “all” here, in reference to authority, is the same word in the Greek used in John 6:37 which mean ‘the whole’ or ‘everything’. But notice how Jesus said” has been given to me”. We know that the One Who has given Jesus all authority is the Father; the question is for what purpose? Look at verse 19 which reads: “Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations..” You see all authority was given to Jesus by the Father that men might now be able to come to Jesus and be saved. This is why He told to Apostles “go therefore”. The word therefore means for that reason.
Peter
Now jumping back to John 6:37, we see that the “everything” the Father has given Christ was not referring to persons per se but rather to the authority that would consequently arrive to Him after His resurrection. That is, so whoever should come to Him in faith He by no means shall cast out as an outcome of this Authority.
Peter
By the way Ryan, here is John 6:37 in a couple other translations:
John 6:37 (New King James Version)
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
John 6:37 (King James Version)
37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37 (New International Version)
37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Dedrick R. Briggs
Hey, Peter you really broke it down there, great discussion EVERYONE. I am most familiar with Pastor Bob’s ministry because of the Marriage CD my older brother let me borrow, by the way it has helped me in my marriage alot. it’s kind of late and I was watching TV but I got convicted being reminded that I am suppose to meditate on the word day and NIGHT. I really did not want the last thing i closed my eyes too to be about the trash on TV, so I googled Pastor Bob’s ministry and found your site…
Dedrick R. Briggs
After viewing the great discussions you guys are having I will definitely be saving this site to my fav’s. you guys not only discussion relevant issues but you do it with the scripture and not your opinions. I think this is great and how issues should be discussed. I will definitely be checking in again. Thank you
albert777
That verse is kinda misleading – it is not taken with the rest of the Bible so it sounds so bad. The truth is the Bible also says He allows and sometimes pushes people in the direction they have chosen to go (II Thes 2:15, Rom 1:24). So when it says “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened”, for instance, he was already living a life of pride and entitlement before he made the decision to not let God’s people go. God just pushed Pharaoh in the direction he already chose to go – God was glorified in it and Pharaoh could then see God’s power and have a chance to turn to him