For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Save the world? Arminians always grasp John 3:16 to “prove” God loves everyone but rarely are they questioned on John 3:17.
If God loves everybody and always did, and if “world” means everybody, and if He sent Jesus into the “world” to save everybody, here’s the $64,000 question. Did Jesus (A) save the whole world, (B) did He fail, (C) did He lie, or (D) did He save every man, woman, boy and girl He intended to save?
I know the Arminian will say, “Yes, He came to save everybody but most people will say no.” I’m sorry but God is sovereign and if the creature can say “No” to the Creator, that is not a Sovereign God. I mean, just imagine this dialogue between Jesus and a lost man.
I’ve come to save you, let’s go.
No.
I died on the cross for you, it’s already done, follow me.
Get out of my face with that religion stuff.
I came to save everybody and that includes you, all you have to do is believe. C’mon, let’s go.
Leave me alone or I’ll call the cops.
So did Jesus come to save everyone in the world or not? If He did, then He failed, didn’t He?
The Arminian will say, “God gave us a free will.” Again, I’m sorry but that is a myth created by the mind of man. Free will exists neither in the spiritual real life application nor in God’s Word. As I’ve written before, Paul wrote in Romans 6:17-18 that we are slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness - and slaves have no free will. Every lost man believes he has free will and the Christian who thinks he has free will has simply not yet let go of that belief of the flesh.
- God orders the steps of man (Proverbs 16:9), no free will there.
- A man may think he makes plans but it’s God’s purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21), no free will there.
- God directs our heart like a river wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1), no free will there.
- Not only are our steps directed by the Lord, our very life is not our own, it’s God’s (Jeremiah 10:23), no free will there.
- God, when speaking through Jeremiah to His CHOSEN people, and by application to His Elect, said that the thoughts He has toward us were of peace and not evil, to give us an EXPECTED END (Jeremiah 29:11), no free will there.
- We become children of God NOT by human decision. (John 1:13), no free will there.
- A man can’t even believe in Jesus Christ until God works in him and MAKES him believe (John 6:29), no free will there.
- God is working in us to will and to do according to HIS good pleasure (Philippians 2:13), no free will there.
- We were created for His good pleasure (Revelation 4:11), no free will there.
- We were created for His good pleasure (Revelation 4:11), no free will there.
So where is this “free will” to which Arminians cling?? If you ever find a verse, it will contradict at LEAST the previous 11 verses.
The only thing that the Arminian can do is point to passages like the encounter Jesus had with the rich ruler (Matthew 19:16-22) who made a “choice” to walk away from Jesus. I agree that he made a decision to walk away but first of all, and as I’ve written before: walking away sad is exactly what God wanted because His Word will ALWAYS accomplish what He wants (Isaiah 55:11); and second, the decision he made was in no way indicative of his so-called free will or “ability” to make a righteous choice. He made the decision that was natural for a lost man since a lost man hates the Light and will not come into the Light (John 3:20). God hadn’t yet quickened his dead spirit. And as a side note, I DO believe he was saved later because the encounter as recorded in Mark has written, “Jesus loved him” (Mark 10:21) and Jesus loves only His Elect. (Bible Truth #66)
A verse in the positive is Luke 10:42 in which Jesus confirms to Martha that Mary has chosen what is better, that being to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn. Again I say that she chose what is natural for her. It does not prove free will, it proves God was working in her to think, believe and act according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Since she was a believer, one of God’s Elect, this passage only proves John 3:21 - Mary was living by Truth and came into the Light because God had already worked in her making her a believer (John 6:29). Can it be more plainly seen that what she has done has been done by God working in her? NO!
Look once more at Lydia in Acts 16:14. With her physical ears she heard what Paul was saying but could do NOTHING until the Lord opened her heart (another way of saying quickened her spirit) so that she could attend to the things spoken of by Paul. Could she open her own heart? NO! And neither can any lost man, woman, boy, or girl - whether they are a “worshiper of God” or not.
How about a few more examples of “world” not meaning everyone on the planet. John writes that the Pharisees were perplexed and said to one another that the whole world has gone after Jesus (John 12:19). Was the whole world following Jesus? Of course not! He also writes that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Does the whole world lie in the power of the evil one? Of course not, believers don’t. Over and over again John uses the word “world” in the context of not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, i.e. “world” = Jews & Gentiles.
Finally the Arminian will say without any Scripture to back it up, “Man has the ability to believe when confronted by the Holy Spirit of his sinful nature.” I say again, this is without Scriptural support. A lost man cannot understand ANYTHING from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14) so how does that give him the ability to believe? And as for believing, Jesus said in John 6:29 that it is God’s work, not man’s ability. So without God working in a man and making him believe, he never will. Belief is given to us (Philippians 1:29), and not “them.”
Please go back to Bible Truth #66 in which I explain how the Holy Spirit cleared up John 3:16 for me.
Bottom Line - Jesus was sent to save His chosen people from among BOTH the “Jews and the Gentiles,” i.e. the “world,” NOT all people. (Revelation 5:9)
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