Dear Friends,

My God is big and powerful and awesome and his Spirit reaches into the deepest darkest jungle to regenerate his beloved children, without the help of any preacher or Bible. We have at least one more article to write about this important, comforting, awe-inspiring, exciting concept. God, please guide us through this study!

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
    • Part 2c1: Is this relevant to you? Yes.
    • Part 2c2: Do you need a band-aid or a resurrection?
    • Part 2c3: Were you consulted before the doctor gave your mother the Pitocin?
    • Part 2c4: Whoever drinks Starbucks has been born
    • Part 2c5 (today): Let it go
      • (today) Houston, we have a problem
      • (today) If you murmur you are going to hell! Wait, that can’t be right.
      • (today) Sometimes, Google really is your friend
      • (today) My dog ate my textbook
      • (today) Let’s try to land this thing!
      • (today) Oh, heaven yes
  • Part 2d: John 3:16 cannot mean that God has 4 ways of saving people

Let it go

It’s so ingrained in our thinking (perhaps even more so as Americans) that we are the masters of our destiny. Our will. Our works. Our plan. And, true enough, our choices do have significant effects on our long-term life outcomes. Even the residents of hell could claim credit for their eternal separation from God.

But…and this is really really important…the Bible clearly teaches that the residents of heaven will not and cannot claim any credit for their blessed eternal outcomes. At first, you might totally agree with me, but what if I asked you about your will? Does your will have any causal relationship with your eternal position in paradise? Most conservative churches will say yes. Christ does the dying, but you have to do the choosing. You have to make a decision for Christ. You have to exercise your will in order to be born again. But the Bible says….

[Jhn 1:13 KJV] 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, but of God.

Can you see why I reject the idea that there is some choice I have to make in order to be born again?

And, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, do you see how the very term “born again” suggests that this is not an act of the will of the person being reborn?

Houston, we have a problem

Some of you may be thinking, “Wait a minute! The verse right before the one you quoted totally contradicts your conclusion!”

[Jhn 1:12-13 KJV] 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, [even] to THEM THAT BELIEVE on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Yes, at first glance, I see what you mean. In fact, when my friend’s mom brought this up to me years ago, I didn’t know how to respond. But then, as I’ve discussed before on this blog, I started looking elsewhere in Scripture and simply thinking about how people talk in everyday speech. After you read the next few sections, I hope there is no doubt in your mind that I am simply letting Scripture interpret Scripture and carefully considering how various words are actually used in common, everyday speech.

****Spoiler alert****

My conclusion was that “become” in John 1:12 does not refer to people who are not children of God becoming children of God. It refers to people who are already children of God in a legal, vital sense becoming children of God in a more experiential, more full, more wonderful sense. It doesn’t refer to people believing something in order to be saved from hell fire. It refers to people believing something in order to be saved from misery here on earth to joy here on earth.

If you murmur you are going to hell! Wait, that can’t be right.

As we ponder the meaning of “become” in John 1:12, let’s look at a closely related word elsewhere in Scripture and see if we can’t all agree on a non-literal meaning for it.

[Phl 2:14-15 KJV] 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may BE blameless and harmless, THE SONS OF GOD, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Some questions for you: would you agree that Christians sometimes murmur? Would you agree that such Christians still get to go to heaven? Would you agree that the Philippian letter was written to Christians (read the first verse if not)?

Then, I’m pretty sure you will agree that “be” in the passage directly above is not meant in a binary sense. It is not saying that if you murmur, you are not in any way a son of God. It IS saying that in order to more fully exhibit/experience/live out your sonship, you should stop murmuring.

We can all agree on that, can’t we?

Or look at this one:

[Tit 2:1 KJV] 1 But speak thou the things which BECOME sound doctrine:

This verse does not talk about sonship, like John 1:12 but it does have that word “become” in it. Now, I ask you: is this verse an admonition to speak certain words that are initially unsound doctrine but that will somehow become sound doctrine over time?

No!

It’s not saying that at all, is it? It IS an admonition to teach various patterns of behavior that are appropriate for, that conform to, that are becoming of, sound doctrine. We should live in a way that harmonizes with our beliefs. Why do I think this is what the verse means? Because the next few verses get very specific about good and bad behaviors:

[Tit 2:1-2 KJV] 1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

I actually almost pasted the rest of the chapter in here. It goes into a lot of detail about how we should behave, and like I said, it links these practical admonitions to our system of beliefs.

And for the Greek scholars out there: I am aware that the Greek word for “become” in Titus 2:1 is different than the Greek word for “become” in John 1:12. If you want to argue in that fashion, then please scroll back up to the Philippians passage I quoted above. “ye may be” in that passage is the same Greek word (ginomai) translated “become” in John 1:12. Whether we go the Greek route or not, I have Scripture to prove my point. And since we are on that point, I should also mention that this word ginomai is described in Strong’s as being “used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.)” (1).

OK, one more Scriptural example, and then we will transition to how real people actually talk.

Can we all agree that when we loan people money without expectation of getting paid back, we are NOT earning our eternal salvation? Good, now read this verse:

[Luk 6:35 KJV] 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and LEND, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and YE SHALL BE THE CHILDREN OF THE HIGHEST: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.

So, again, I hope it’s clear in this verse…Jesus is not saying that by doing good you can legally, eternally transition from not being a child of God to being a child of God. That would be works-based salvation! When he says “ye shall be the children of the highest”, he is talking about degrees of sonship. He is saying that when you love others, you will go beyond just legal sonship (legal sonship is completely achieved for us by Christ and gets us into heaven, by the way) and achieve a kind of experiential sonship.

“Be” and “become” are not always binary, either-or terms in the Bible!

Nor in everyday life….

Sometimes, Google really is your friend

If you still think that “become” in John 1:12 means that people who are not children of God are becoming children of God by believing in Jesus, let’s dig into the word “become” a little further.

Try this experiment. Google “became a man”. Here are the first three non-redundant, non-ad hits I got:

The Summer I Became a Man – – The Good Men Project

When I Became a Man – YouTube (by the way this one was really good)

When I Became A Man: Men’s Bible Study: James Daughtry …

If you take a few minutes to dig into these, you will discover that not ONE of them refers to reaching the age of 18 or a certain stage of puberty. Not ONE of them refers to the legal or clinical aspects of being a “man”. ALL of them refer to people who are already “men” (in the legal or anatomical sense) achieving a higher, more noble, more productive, more meaningful experience of manhood.

My dog ate my textbook

When I and my college classmates showed up to freshman writing class one morning without having done the assigned reading, the professor was, um, not happy. He was from England and I will always remember his stern rebuke: “Start doing the reading, start keeping up with assignments, come prepared for discussion, and start acting in a manner becoming of undergraduate freshmen.” It’s not an exact quote because it was many years ago…but I know he used the word becoming.

He wasn’t telling us we needed to go through the application and admissions process all over again. We truly were already undergraduates, properly admitted, registered, and paid up. He was telling us to act like it. And hey, since the King James Bible was translated into English by British people, I think it’s fair to give my professor’s verbiage a little extra weight here. What do British people actually mean when they use this word? My old professor gives us a likely answer…

Let’s try to land this thing!

Today we looked at this passage:

[Jhn 1:12-13 KJV] 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

I tried to prove that the best way to reconcile the tension between verse 12 (it’s man’s decision to believe!) and verse 13 (man’s will is not a factor!) is to realize that verse 12 is talking about discipleship, whereas verse 13 is talking about regeneration.

I know, it’s so easy to get lost in all the jargon. Remember….we are talking about the salvation of billions upon billions of people here. This says a lot about the kind of God we worship every Sunday!! We’re talking about if and how people can go to heaven even though they’ve never heard the gospel. Instead of saying “Maybe, I guess” or “The Bible doesn’t address that” we are contending that the Bible does address it and the resounding, joyful answer of Scripture is yes!!!!! God reaches his elect children everywhere.

I will restate the theme of section 2c: John 3:16 cannot mean that dead people are supposed to “believe” anything.

In other words, people who are spiritually dead cannot do any thing to gain spiritual life. God has to do it unilaterally.

Making the same point with a different metaphor, John 1:13 confirms that the new birth works a lot like a natural birth….the will of the person being born is not involved!

Oh, heaven yes

I can’t wait to get to heaven and meet ALL of God’s children. This will be the party to end all parties. This is one reason John says, in the 2nd to last verse of the Bible:

[Rev 22:20 KJV] 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.          

Do you guys understand why I am so excited and passionate to tell people about God’s grace? I’m rejoicing with anticipation and I want to spread it!

If you want to share in this joy right now…if you are someone who (perfectly or imperfectly) loves his neighbor…if you feel guilty about your sins…if you would like to be on good terms with God…if you are afraid He is about to come down on you like a ton of bricks because of what you’ve done…then guess what? You are already a child of God, and you are going to heaven. Now, receive what I just said, receive Jesus, repent of your sins, and start being who you are. Be the real you. Not the you someone else wants you to be. The real you is so much greater and so much nobler than any other vision someone might have for you, no matter how much they care about you.

Go ahead…put on your party clothes.

Links:

(1) Strong’s on blueletterbible