ArchivedIs John 3:16 actually an invitation open to all?Hogcaller,
Your thesis is very well put together - I applaud the work you have done in putting it together. I do not believe I can refute it.
However, if what are saying is true, can you help me understand some puzzling portions of Scripture?
The Bible seems to indicate in a few places that all those who will become saved have been chosen before the creation of the world.
- Eph 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
2 Thess 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
Rev 17:8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
How do these verses jive with the idea that God does not know who will be saved? The only way I can reconcile these verses with what you are saying is if the verses are not to be applied individually, i.e. when Paul says "He has chosen us", he doesn't mean "He chose me, and He chose you, and you, and you, ....", but rather that he means He chose the group as a whole, without knowing who would be in that group, and He set them aside for salvation. So before the foundation of the world, God said something like "Alright.... everyone who is going to be saved will be holy and blameless before Me, and they will be saved through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, and I'm gonna write their names in this book". Would this be a proper interpretation? I'm no Greek scholar, so I don't know if this interpretation would fit in with the original texts.
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