To begin with, the Bible tells us that God is a God of LOVE and not hate (1 John 4:7-21)…
John 3:17-18 (TPT)
The Passion Translation
17 “God did not send His Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!
[in verse 17, the Aramaic is “so that they shall live by His hand” – of power]
18 So now there is no longer any condemnation FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM, but the unbeliever already lives under condemnation because they do not believe in the name of God’s beloved Son.”
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God is not a harsh, cruel ruler anxious to pour out His anger on mankind.
His heart is filled with tenderness toward man, and He has gone to the utmost cost in order to save men.
He could have sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but He did not do so.
On the contrary, He sent Him here to suffer, bleed, and die in order that the world through Him might be saved.
The work of the Lord Jesus on the cross was of such tremendous value that all sinners everywhere could be saved if they would receive Him.
Now all mankind is divided into two classes: either believers or unbelievers.
Our eternal destiny is determined by the attitude we take toward the Son of God.
The one who trusts the Savior is not condemned, but the one who does not trust Him is condemned already.
The Lord Jesus has finished the work of salvation, and now it is up to each individual to decide whether he will accept Him or reject Him.
It is a terrible thing to reject such a gift of love.
If a man will not believe on the Lord Jesus, God can do nothing else but condemn him.
Believing in His name is the same as believing in Him.
In the Bible, the name stands for the person.
If you trust His name, you trust Him.
Jesus is not here to condemn you, but to rescue you!
Rescue you from sin, from sickness, from guilt and shame.
He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and to convince you of your true identity, righteous (Through Christ)!
The Bible is our “Operations Manual for Life” and also it’s our Roadmap” in order that we may find Salvation.
Scripture first tells us to rightly divide the Word of Truth (see 2 Timothy 2:15).
Also in 2nd Peter, Peter also speaks about the inerrancy of God’s Word.
2 Peter 1:20-21
Expanded Bible
20 ·Most [First] of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in the Scriptures ·ever comes from the prophet’s own interpretation [or is a matter of one’s own interpretation].
21 No prophecy ever came from ·what a person wanted to say [L human will/intention], but people ·led [carried; moved] by the Holy Spirit spoke words from God.
[C True prophecy originates with God, and not with the prophet.]
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The way I view this is that God speaks over a wide bandwidth, covering 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation.
And I believe what He is emphasizing here is that we don’t take just one scripture and establish a doctor around that one scripture unless we can verify it throughout the rest of the Bible.
The Bible is its own best commentary, and before we establish doctrine we have to first check and see what other parts of the Bible say on whatever the subject is that we’re looking at.
The fact of the matter is the bandwidth of God’s truth is spread over the entire 66 books of the Bible,
So the Bible tells us to study the whole Counsel of God’s Word so that we can correctly discern the truth.
“The sin, both of men and of angels, was rendered possible by the fact that God gave us free will.”
— C. S. Lewis
God gives to each individual a free will, which He does not tamper
with.
However the term “Free will” is not found anywhere in scripture. But we can see verses that describe the very heart of man, the core of his will.
We understand that man’s will is limited by his nature.
Man cannot flap his arms and fly, however much he wills it.
The problem isn’t with his will – it’s with man’s nature.
Man was not created to fly like a bird. Because it is not his nature, he is not free to do it.
The Bible is clear that man, in his natural state, is utterly and completely depraved.
At the Fall of Man, man’s nature became fully and totally corrupt.
Man is completely depraved. There is no good in him whatsoever.
So, by his nature, man can not choose to do anything completely good.
A depraved man can do something nice – like walk an elderly lady across the street.
But he does it for selfish reasons.
It makes him feel good about himself.
It makes her think well of him.
He doesn’t do it for the only truly GOOD reason, which is to bring Glory to Christ!
The Bible also makes it clear that Man, in his Post-Fall state, is not free.
He is a slave to sin.
Man’s will in and of itself can not be free.
This unregenerate man’s will belongs to his master, Satan.
And when a Man has been Regenerated, he belongs to Christ.
He is under a new owner. So even now, man’s will is not entirely free in the same regard as the secular humanists use the term.
Jesus makes it very clear that we have to use our will to choose to pick up our cross daily and follow Christ.
We have to learn to live by faith and not by sight, and in the process of doing that everyday, we must reckon the following scripture as true for each of us, every single day.
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these)
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