Dear Friends,

I’m trying a new format; this post will be much shorter than recent posts.

We are halfway through Part 2 of this series. In Part 2, I am trying to prove that the common interpretation of John 3:16 simply does not stand the test of Scripture.

Today, I will start trying to show that nobody can gain a new, godly nature (i.e., become regenerated or born again) by making a decision for Christ. It has never happened and never will. The popular idea that “believeth in him” in John 3:16 refers to a depraved sinner becoming born again by deciding to believe in Jesus is unbiblical.

Series Outline:

• Part 1: John 3:16 might not mean what you’ve been told
• Part 2: John 3:16 cannot mean what you’ve been told
• Part 3:John 3:16 shows that you can live a victorious life now, that you can overcome those things that are gnawing away at your soul as you read this

Part 2 Outline:

• Part 2: John 3:16 cannot mean what you’ve been told
  • Part 2a: John 3:16 cannot mean that God loves every serial killer who ever picked up a butcher knife
  • Part 2b: John 3:16 cannot mean that God loves every serial killer who ever picked up a butcher knife…not even an eensy weensy bit
  • Part 2c: John 3:16 cannot mean that dead people are supposed to “believe” anything
    • (today: 2c1) Is this relevant to you? Yes.
    • (today: 2c1) Before the fork
    • (today: 2c1) Two roads diverged in a wood
  • Part 2d: John 3:16 cannot mean that God has 4 ways of saving people

Is this relevant to you? Yes.

Is your atheist cousin going to hell? Do all Muslims go to hell? Do all Buddhists go to hell? What about the mentally handicapped? What about stillborn babies? What about Israelites in the Old Testament? What about people in Old Testament times, who never even heard of Abraham’s God?

Yes. This is relevant.

It shapes our understanding of where people spend eternity. That’s important, just by itself. And our understanding of eternity, in turn, shapes our perception of God, and/or how much respect/interest we have in what the Bible says. This, in turn, can shape how much we are willing to trust God. To love God. This, in turn, can shape many important long-term outcomes in our lives and the lives of people we love.

Put another way: Our level of trust in God has a huge effect on how much peace is in our hearts.

Think of it like this: Do you have time to follow any of these interesting and/or important topics?

• First-round draft picks
• Trump/Clinton/Bernie Sanders/Robert Mueller/Fox/MSNBC/etc.
• Kim Jong Un
• ISIS
• The huge telecom merger
• Who Justin Bieber is dating
• The specs on the new iPhone
• Advances in AI (I’ll raise my hand on this one : – ) )

Then you have time to talk about the Bible’s teaching on how people go from being evil to being good, and the implications of that process for our daily lives and our forever lives, because this topic is even more important than the list above. Especially when I tell you that, in a nutshell, it’s good news! So let’s talk about it.

Before the fork 

Let’s start with the common ground. Yes, there is some common ground that a vast, vast majority of professing Christians would probably sign on to. Not as much as I would like (this is a topic for another post), but it is what it is.

When it comes to salvation, Christians generally believe that:

• As a result of eating the fruit in the garden of Eden, something very bad happened to Adam and Eve and all their descendants
• It was something that affected both the material and immaterial aspects of our being
• Our relationship with God was affected in a very severe way
• Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is a necessary component in the process of fixing the legal aspect of this problem
• The Holy Spirit’s work is a necessary component in the process of fixing the vital aspect of this problem

Two roads diverged in a wood

As I’ve said on this blog before (1), my views on certain important topics have changed over the years. But when it comes to how people are born again, I still believe what I was taught as a child with every fiber of my being. This is because I have looked at the verses myself and it makes sense to me. By contrast, I have heard the alternatives, I have looked at those verses, and I just don’t see it.

Now, let’s bring back those common ground bullets from above, but this time I will show you the two roads. I will bold all the parts that are different than the common ground bullets.

Note, for Road 2, I will be focusing on the doctrine of regeneration taught by Arminian-leaning Christians. I will not be addressing the beliefs of the more Calvinistic believers, because some of them would actually agree with a lot of my beliefs. There is a starker distinction between Primitive Baptists and Arminians when it comes to regeneration, so I will focus my efforts there.

Road 1 (taught by Primitive Baptists):

• As a result of eating the fruit in the garden of Eden, something very bad happened to Adam and Eve and all their descendants
  • They died spiritually
• It was something that affected both the material and immaterial aspects of our being
  • They became totally depraved: unable and unwilling to seek God
• Our relationship with God was affected in a very severe way
  • It died
• God the Father sovereignly chose a certain number of (evil) people (and called them the “elect”) and gave them to Jesus
• Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is a necessary component in the process of fixing the legal aspect of this problem
  • The sacrifice was only for the elect
  • The sacrifice is not just a necessary component, it is a sufficient component
• The Holy Spirit’s work is a necessary component in the process of fixing the vital aspect of this problem
  • For the elect only 
  • It is not just a necessary component, it is a sufficient component in the process of regeneration (fixing the vital aspect)

Road 2 (taught by Arminian-leaning Christians):

• As a result of eating the fruit in the garden of Eden, something very bad happened to Adam and Eve and all their descendants
  • They got spiritually sick
• It was something that affected both the material and immaterial aspects of our being
  • They acquired a strong tendency to rebel against God
• Our relationship with God was affected in a very severe way
  • We became estranged
• God the Father foresaw all the people that would choose Jesus, and called them the elect, and gave them to Jesus 
• Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is a necessary component in the process of fixing the legal aspect of this problem
  • Sufficient for ALL people
• The Holy Spirit’s work is a necessary component in the process of fixing the vital aspect of this problem
  • (this is where John 3:16 comes into play) The Holy Spirit’s work, when combined with a free will decision on the part of the sinner, resolves the vital aspect of the problem and guarantees the believer a spot in heaven 
    • Caveat, some influential Christians have claimed that some amount of works (beyond simply belief) on our part are also required in order to actually go to heaven 

Parting thoughts

See, I promised it would be shorter!

I would ask you to start thinking about the two roads I just mentioned. What Scriptures come to mind that sound like they support Road 1? What about Road 2? Is it possible to reconcile those two sets of Scriptures? Should we just believe both of them without insisting on some amount of logical coherency in Biblical doctrine? In the next few posts, we will probably spend a lot of time talking about that 2nd to last black bullet:

(this is where John 3:16 comes into play) The Holy Spirit’s work, when combined with a free will decision on the part of the sinner, resolves the vital aspect of the problem and guarantees the believer a spot in heaven 

Our goal will be to show that, despite the enormous popularity of this idea, it is just not the Bible’s position on regeneration. Long term, our goal is to show that the Bible’s position on regeneration is much grander, much more logical, much more comforting, and much more beautiful : -)

God bless you.

Links:

(1) Relax. Judgment Day is coming.