This paper will defend what Christians should mean by 1Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This scripture has been interpreted many ways by many theologians, but I shall defend the scripture with the knowledge and understanding of what this scripture means.
(1) God desires that all men be saved because “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises as some understand slowness, instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 NIV). Bear in mind that our Lord patience means salvation.
(2) “I have no pleasure in death of him who dies says the Lord God: therefore turn yourselves and live (Ezekiel 18:32 KJV).”
(3) “Him who comes to me I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37 KJV)
Because God loves us, His desire is for us to be saved. Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life so that we might have a right to the tree of life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John3:16 NAB). God loved the world not, so why would St prosper think only the elect will be saved or why would St Aquinas and St Augustine think predestination and salvation are for some and the others are lost, what would be the point to obey the holy spirit if the elect was already chosen for salvation. Jesus had the sins of the whole world on his shoulders, God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21NIV).
St. Prosper of Aquitaine says only the elect or saved because God willed them to be saved, God had no respect of person. God gratu...
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...d “Do not think that I came to abolish but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17 NIV). Jesus came to make the law better for us. Let us therefore come body to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 KJV). God takes no pleasure in the death of sinners he wants them to turn. If one dies and have not yet received Jesus Christ into their life and repented for all their sins then it is too late. “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin (Hebrew 10:26-27 NIV). Jesus is saying repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, the truth is Jesus Christ he is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through him (John 4:16 NIV).
of children, rising up and teaching them. He says that salvation will come from the people
All responsibility for salvation is placed on Christ. 6.Every person has the ear of God. If only he or she would ask for it, and listen to the answer.
Saying yes to God will lead to fulfillment of his plan in their lives, while saying no to God as Judah and the world of today has will only lead to death and destruction. Though God is, our potter we also play an important role in our destiny this can be seen by our positive or negative response to God is calling and how everyone answers it. The ultimate good news in this is that sinners under God’s grace have hope, which will grant them a new lease on life through their repentance. The message of Galatians 4:4 just provides greater encouragement to the people of the world because in the right time God has sent his son to the world as a redeeming quality. Therefore, whoever will accept him will forever have everlasting life (Branson et al, 2006,
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
This paper is written to discuss the many different ideas that have been discussed over the first half of Theology 104. This class went over many topics which gave me a much better understanding of Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. I will be addressing two topics of which I feel are very important to Christianity. First, I will be focusing on the question did Jesus claim to be God? This is one of the biggest challenges of the Bibles that come up quite often. Secondly, I will focus on character development.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
... is playing favorites in whom he wants to grant salvation to while they are alive on Earth, there is no incentive for anyone to care. If God is so merciful, then these Calvinistic Puritan doctrines should not exist and everyone should be granted spiritual salvation and grace while they are alive on earth at all times. Edward Taylor’s arguments and symbolic imagery of the beauty of God and how gracious he is are highly questionable and shoddy – similar to God and Puritan theology.
Now, the King calls all those that are His. So, they may find life by sacrificing whatever they count as gain (Philippians 3:7). Including having this life work to be menders, part of His kingdom team (Malachi 4:1-3; Ephesians 2:10).
This is a hard question. How can one come to grips with what the Bible seems to teach and with the desire in our hearts? Does not the Bible teach that Jesus is a loving God that wants all to go to heaven? How can a loving God send anyone to hell? If Christ indeed sends some to hell how can we say He is loving? These are all great question and ones that are hard to answer but there is an answer. God does everything He does, for a reason (Romans 8:28), and God does want all to come to Him (John 1:12; Romans 3:10).
In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond.
Not to be confused with the doctrine of divine providence, which asserts that God is in complete control of all things. The Doctrine of Predestination is about God’s salvation plan to redeem mankind back to himself. Now arises a question, how does predestination apply to non-Christians and Christians alike? It is God’s desire that all come to repentance and receive salvation, we find that supported scripturally in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (KJV).” However, for non-believers, just as it is with believers, God love them too. He desires that they (non-Christians) come to know Him personally and develop a one-on-one relationship with Him. Now enters the role of the believer in this divine
The knowledge of salvation is not a subject to be determined. Salvation only has one way of process, but the scenarios of why people cry out to The Lord are numerou...
.... Salvation would be meaningless and hollow without a purpose. And indeed, salvation serves to fulfill a purpose in Electra and in Matthew. In Electra, Castor states that the gods rescue not "those whom murder pollutes but those who hold precious in life all things godly and just" (El. 1395-97), suggesting that salvation is not attainable for everyone. Only those who are judged to be godly or just are worthy of receiving the salvation of the gods—just like in Matthew. God, like the gods in Electra, offers salvation only to those who are worthy of receiving salvation. Jesus urges the people to "seek…ye first the kingdom of God" (Matt. 6. 33), because one can only enter Heaven by being truly prepared in terms of faith and goodness. The purpose of salvation for both the gods and God is to reward those who have met the conditions set down by the deities of being worthy.
The assumption is all professing Christians want salvation. Salvation is obtained when you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God sent His only son, Jesus to die for your sins and God raised him from the dead . (Romans 10:9-10 KJV) By this confession, you are saved from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and from the presence of sin.
Temptations are one of life’s most riveting tests or enticements that we face diurnal. Moreover, it causes us to yearn for something that we do not necessarily need or it causes us to sin. Furthermore, if we give into temptation, we may be blissful, but it will only be ephemeral. It is because of “The Fall of Man” that sin is second nature for us, which in turn makes it facile to give into temptation. In other words, as the verbal expression goes “we were born in sin and live therein.” As a result, our temptations can either make us or break us. The Bible states in Romans 7:19 that “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (King James Version). Strictly speaking, albeit we aspire to do good, because of our sinful nature, it becomes a struggle. However, it is for this reason, our nefarious nature that God sent down his son from Heaven, to give us hope. My definition of hope is “a positive anticipation of God’s promise.” It is this hope that gives us a reason to live, a reason to go on and vigor to surmount these temptations. Moreover, it is his death, burial and resurrection that gives us the hope of his saving grace. Nevertheless, despite the fact that hope is inexhaustible, temptation is inevitable, therefore, the Gospel according to Matthew 26:41 states” Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (King James Version).