THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT JOHN 3:16

By: Ave D. Matriano

I read something like this: Truth is “stranger than fiction”

I also read something like this: “It is easy to believe a lie”

Believe it or not the Holy Scripture declares without hesitation that human beings is evil
and has a lying and deceitful heart in so far as God is concern (Jeremiah 17:9 : Romans
8:7). That is why he is prone to believe a lie and refuse to accept the truth.

And do you know that God does not love everybody? And anybody who insist that this is
a biblical truth will experience condemnation & harsh criticism. The author of this article
is ready for this.

Let us go to John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’

Many thoughtful Christians and theologians have done their God-ordained assignments
by doing an exegesis of this most popular scripture in the world and have found out that
this scripture instead of showing that God loves every single human beings on earth is
telling us that God only loves a specific group of people. Therefore harmonizing with the
most offensive doctrinal truth in the Bible which is about election. Election is a teaching
that God is only saving His church or His ‘elect’ who is the bride of Christ in the Bible.

You go to Google search or yahoo search engine and you will not find any single
“exegesis article on John 3:16 that shows that the WORLD in that specific verse is about
“all human beings.’ This is a short article and I encouraged all who will be reading this to
do their own research on the internet on John 3:16 which has a billion entries in search
engine if I am not mistaken.

The Bible interpret itself. The Bible also never contradict itself because it is the Word of
God Who is Jesus Christ Himself Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

If John 3:16 is a plain declaration that “God loves everybody” it must be affirmed by
other scriptures and it must not conflict with the doctrine of election which has volume
upon volume of support through hundreds of scriptural verses like Ephesians 2:4 telling
us (Christian) that God chose us before the creation of the world. No! God or Jesus is
telling us in John 3:16 that the only people who will be save are the believers or the
Christian church. Careful Biblical research will show us that the word “world” there is
about the church or the elect (world of believers).

If you are a followers of Jesus Christ who violently disagree with this article and
sincerely believe the author is wrong please pray for the author of this writing that God
will open his eye to Biblical truth. I am also praying that more and more Christian will
be corrected in their false understanding of John 3:16 and the doctrine of election. By the
way, I also encouraged those who will be led by God to read this article to exert effort
and do their own research on the most offensive (to the proud human heart) doctrine in
the Bible which is “The Doctrine of Election.” I recommend the writing of Arthur S.
Pink.

There is nothing we can do against the truth.

Disagreeing with this article does not make you a false Christian or second class one. It is
possible that you are much more spiritually mature than the author of this piece of
writing. It is possible that you have a much more intimate relationship with Jesus than
me. But please pray and ask the Holy Spirit of God to show you if this is really a sound
teaching back by sound hermeneutical principle of Bible interpretation.

Prove all things. Be like the Bereans in the book of Acts 17:10-11 – And the brethren
immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into
the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily,
whether those things were so. I would like to imitate the Bereans and search the Bible
and the writings of the godly men of God whether God’s love that never fails in John
3:16 is indeed focus only on the believers (world of believers).

God loves never fails (1 Cor. 13:8). If God loves every single human being that ever
exist on earth everybody will be going to heaven when they die including Hitler, Esau,
Cain and perhaps even Satan himself. Because if God loves everybody and desire
everyone to be saved no one will perish because God loves never fails. But not everybody
is save! Does that that means that God loves fails and that God experiences
disappointment because many people rejected His “offer of love or forgiveness?”

No! God does not offer His love or forgiveness to sinful human being like us! God
simply gave to us His love and forgiveness when we heard the gospel of salvation.

No! We are a slaves of Satan and a slave of unrighteousness. We are not free to accept
God’s offer of forgiveness (which in reality is not an offer because a spiritually blind or
dead person cannot even see what forgiveness or salvation is all about because he is
dead).

The Bible is written specifically for all followers of Jesus Christ and its spiritual message
of redemption can only be understood by those whom God has given His Holy Spirit. If
God indeed love all humans He must give them His Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is
the evidence of those whom God really love. Let me add here that the love I am referring
here is that kind of love that lead to salvation which is experience only by the elect or
those who receive the Spirit of the Living God. All humans being has experience God;s
common love because even this physical life is a gift from the Lord but not all humans
has experience God’s grace or God’s special love.
John 3:16 is all about God’s sacrificial love which is not given to all otherwise all will be
save because God’s love (sacrificial love) will never fails. Please read my other Scribd
article entitled “God’s Love That Never Fails.”

In John 17 Jesus said I do not ‘pray for the world”. This is another evidence in the Bible
that the object of God’s love is indeed His flock of or the church.

If God loves everybody it will not appear also in the Bible that God hated “Esau”.

God’s love is “holy love”. It cannot love evil because one of the character of God is that
He hates evil. Apart from God’s Holy Spirit in us God will never ever see anything good
in us even our ‘human righteousness” which to God is like filthy rags as mentioned
somewhere in Isaiah. Also somewhere in Romans Apostle Paul said: “For I know that in
my flesh dwells no good things. The Bible never told us that God’s love His enemies.
What we are told in the Holy Book is that God reconciled us His enemies through the
blood of Jesus. “While we are yet sinners Christ died for us.” We only become lovely in
God’s sight when He makes us beautiful through the precious blood of Jesus Christ and
because of the Holy Spirit that He gave us.

If we accept the teaching on election we will see that John 3:16 is about those people who
were the recipient of God’s love. And those people were chosen by God not because they
are worthy to be chosen but simply it is God’s plan. God has the right to do anything or
God is doing anything ‘according to the good pleasure of His will’.

The parallel or similar passage of John 3:16 is in 1 John 4:1-2. It reads “In this the love of
God is manifest toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that
we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins.”

Like John 3:16, what we have just quoted verses of 1 John 4:1-2 is address primarily to
the believers and it is talking about God’s sacrificial love that never fails. That letter was
written by Apostle John to the believers or God’s elect during his time. Jesus purchased
all who will be saved (elect of God) by His precious blood. Logic will show us that if
Jesus died for everyone it means that He purchased and paid the sin of everybody and
therefore all will be saved because His sacrificial love on the cross will never fails. God
has never been a failure in all of His plan.

Here is part of the article about John 3:16 by Pastor John Samson and I quote “The most
famous verse in the entire Bible is John 3:16. Here Jesus says, "For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish, but have eternal life."

When hearing the biblical teaching on the subject of Divine election, some seek
immediate refuge in a traditional and may I say, unbiblical understanding of this verse.
They say this: "God can't elect certain ones to salvation because John 3:16 says that God
so loved the world that gave His Son so that WHOEVER believes in Christ would have
eternal life. Therefore, God has done His part in offering the gift of salvation in His Son
and just leaves it up to us to receive the gift through faith. Amen. Case closed!"
(emphasis theirs)

Or so it might seem... Though this is a very common tradition, and one I held to myself
for many a year, it needs to be pointed out that in spite of the emphasis made by many
people here on the word "whoever", the text does not actually discuss who does or who
does not have the ability to believe. Someone might just as well be quoting John 3:16 to
suggest that all churches need to have red carpets in their sanctuaries! Why? Because that
also is not a topic addressed in the text. The verse is often quoted, but actually it has no
relevance to the subject.

For the understanding of a text in the New Testament, we need to check the original
language in which it was written, namely koine Greek. It may come as a big surprise to
learn that in the original Greek of John 3:16, there is no word "whoever." The word
"whoever" is expressing a phrase in Greek which is difficult to express smoothly in
English.

Literally, the text reads "in order that every the one believing in Him, not to perish,
but have everlasting life." It says "every" or "all the one believing..." That's hard to
express in English, but in essence, it is saying "all the believing ones." That's what is
being communicated. It is saying that there is no such thing as a believing one who does
not receive eternal life, but who perishes. Though our English translation says "whoever
believes" the literal rendering is accurately translated as "every believing one" and the
emphasis is NOT AT ALL on the "whosoever" but on the belief. The ones BELIEVING
will not have one consequence but will have another. They will not perish but will have
everlasting life.

Why? Because of the main verb - because God GAVE His Son. God gave His Son for the
purpose (Greek: hina) that every believing one should not perish, but that every believing
one should have everlasting life.

The text (John 3:16) actually speaks of a limitation of a particular rather than a universal
redemption, for clearly, not everyone will be saved, but only those who believe in Christ.
The Father gave His Son for the purpose of those who believe. The Son is given so that
the believing ones will not perish, but opposite to that, have eternal life. That is the
purpose of the giving.

So, what John 3:16 teaches is:

ALL who do A (believe in Him)

will not B (perish)
but will have C (everlasting life)
What does this text tell us about who WILL believe or who CAN believe?

The answer is: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The text does not address the issue of who
WILL believe or who CAN believe.

However, if you do want to know John's view on who CAN exercise faith, he does deal
with that question - just not in this text. If you go back a few verses in the chapter to John
3:3, John quotes Jesus as saying "unless a man is born again he CANNOT enter the
kingdom of God." That's clear isn't it?

Jesus said that a pre-requisite, a necessary condition, that must be met before someone
can enter the kingdom of God is that they are born again. We enter the kingdom of God
through faith, but in order to enter the kingdom, we must first be born again, or made
spiritually alive. If we are not FIRST born again, we CANNOT enter the kingdom of
God.

This same issue is certainly addressed by Jesus 3 chapters further on in John 6:44, when
He said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I
will raise him up on the last day." (we should note that the one drawn by the Father to
the Son is also raised up on the last day to eternal life). (John 6:39, 40). In John 6:65,
Jesus said, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it
has been granted him from the Father."

Of course, all who exercise true faith will certainly be saved. John 3:16 clearly teaches
that anyone believing in Christ will not perish but have everlasting life. But what we need
to ask is "who WILL have faith?"

The Augustinian, and I believe biblical view, is that only the elect will be brought to faith.
No one can come to Christ unless God does something to enable that person to come.

So why do people miss what John 3:16 teaches or read into it (eisegesis) what is not
actually in the text?

That's easy. It is because of how they have heard John 3:16 used over and over and over
again. They have an ingrained, preconceived notion of what the verse says, and fail to
question that assumption and read the text for what it actually says.

It's a TRADITION and if you dare question it, you might be accused of questioning the
very word of God, rather than their traditional interpretation of the word of God, and that
can create a whole lot of emotion.

This text, of course, is just one example of many that could be quoted, but it does show
us how powerful our traditions can be. We need to continuously expose our traditions to
the light of God's Word. If they can be confirmed by detailed study of the text of
Scripture, we can be sure that the traditions are valid. If not, then we need to dispense
with them. Let God be true and every man a liar... even if the "man" here refers to our
own firmly held beliefs, but not the testimony of Scripture itself.

Here is the article of Arthur Pink on the word world which is “kosmos” in Greek.It may
appear to some of our readers that the exposition we have given of John 3:16 in the
chapter on "Difficulties and Objections" is a forced and unnatural one, inasmuch as our
definition of the term "world" seems to be out of harmony with the meaning and scope of
this word in other passages, where, to supply the world of believers (God’s elect) as a
definition of "world" would make no sense. Many have said to us, "Surely, ‘world’ means
world, that is, you, me, and everybody." In reply we would say: We know from
experience how difficult it is to set aside the "traditions of men" and come to a passage
which we have heard explained in a certain way scores of times, and study it carefully for
ourselves without bias Nevertheless, this is essential if we would learn the mind of God.

Many people suppose they already know the simple meaning of John 3:16, and therefore
they conclude that no diligent study is required of them to discover the precise teaching
of this verse. Needless to say, such an attitude shuts out any further light which they
otherwise might obtain on the passage. Yet, if anyone will take a Concordance and read
carefully the various passages in which the term "world" (as a translation of "kosmos")
occurs, he will quickly perceive that to ascertain the precise meaning of, the word
"world" in any given passage is not nearly so easy as is popularly supposed. The word
"kosmos," and its English equivalent "world," is not used with a uniform significance in
the New Testament. Very far from it. It is used in quite a number of different ways. Below
we will refer to a few passages where this term occurs, suggesting a tentative definition in
each case:

"Kosmos" is used of the Universe as a whole: Acts 17:24 - "God that made the world
and all things therein seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth."

"Kosmos" is used of the earth: John 13:1; Ephesians 1:4, etc., etc.- "When Jesus knew
that his hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." "Depart out of this
world" signifies, leave this earth. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the
foundation of the world." This expression signifies, before the earth was founded—
compare Job 38:4 etc.

"Kosmos" is used of the world-system: John 12:31 etc. "Now is the judgment of this
world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out"— compare Matthew 4:8 and 1
John 5:19, R. V.

"Kosmos" is used of the whole human race: Romans 3:19, etc.—"Now we know that
what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
"Kosmos" is used of humanity minus believers: John 15:18; Romans 3:6 "If the world
hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Believers do not "hate" Christ, so
that "the world" here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers
who love Christ. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." Here is another
passage where "the world" cannot mean "you, me, and everybody," for believers will not
be "judged" by God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers
which is in view.

"Kosmos" is used of Gentiles in contrast from Jews: Romans 11:12 etc. "Now if the fall
of them (Israel) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches
of the Gentiles; how much more their (Israel’s) fulness." Note how the first clause in
italics is defined by the latter clause placed in italics. Here, again, "the world" cannot
signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!

"Kosmos" is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12:47; 1 Corinthians 4:9;
2 Corinthians 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note,
carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of "the world" in each place.

Thus it will be seen that "kosmos" has at least seven clearly defined different meanings in the New
Testament. It may be asked, Has then God used a word thus to confuse and confound those who read the
Scriptures? We answer, No! nor has He written His Word for lazy people who are too dilatory, or too busy
with the things of this world, or, like Martha, so much occupied with "serving," they have no time and no
heart to "search" and "study" Holy Writ! Should it be asked further, But how is a searcher of the Scriptures
to know which of the above meanings the term "world" has in any given passage? The answer is: This may
be ascertained by a careful study of the context, by diligently noting what is predicated of "the world" in
each passage, and by prayer fully consulting other parallel passages to the one being studied. The principal
subject of John 3:16 is Christ as the Gift of God. The first clause tells us what moved God to "give" His
only begotten Son, and that was His great "love;" the second clause informs us for whom God "gave" His
Son, and that is for, "whosoever (or, better, ‘every one’) believeth;" while the last clause makes known why
God "gave" His Son (His purpose), and that is, that everyone that believeth "should not perish but have
everlasting life." That "the world" in John 3:16 refers to the world of believers (God’s elect), in
contradistinction from "the world of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 2:5), is established, unequivocally established, by
a comparison of the other passages which speak of God’s "love." "God commendeth His love toward
US"—the saints, Romans 5:8. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth"—every son, Hebrews 12:6. "We
love Him, because He first loved US"—believers, 1 John 4:19. The wicked God "pities" (see Matt. 18:33).
Unto the unthankful and evil God is "kind" (see Luke 6:35). The vessels of wrath He endures "with much
long-suffering" (see Rom. 9:22). But "His own" God "loves"!!

How about 2 Peter 3:9 “….. not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance.” Here is the response again of Pastor Samson:

Without doubt, 2 Peter 3:9 is the single most popular verse used to dismiss the
reformed doctrine of election, bar none. Usually the meaning of the verse is
assumed without taking any time to study it, which is the very hallmark of tradition. In
fact, traditions are so strong that many do not even see the need to study the verse
because they believe there is no need to do so. I have to admit that I did this for many
years. Those most enslaved to their traditions are those who believe they do not have any.
First of all then, let us read the verse in its context.
2 Peter 3:1-9 - This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both
of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should
remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord
and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in
the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where
is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are
continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately
overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out
of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the
world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word
the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day
of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact,
beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance.

The first thing we notice is that the subject of the passage is not salvation but the second
coming of Christ. Peter is explaining the reason for the delay in Christ’s second coming –
He is still coming, and will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night (v. 10).

The second thing to notice is the clear identity of the people he is addressing. He speaks
of the mockers as “they”, but everywhere else he speaks to his audience as “you” and the
“beloved.” This is very important because the assumption that is usually made is that the
“you” the “any” and the “all” of 2 Peter 3:9 refers to everyone on the planet.

But surely "all" means “all,” right? Well usually, yes, but not always. This has to be
determined by the context in which the words are found. For example, when a teacher is
getting ready to start a class and asks his students, "Are all here?" he is not asking if
every last living person on planet earth is present in the room. Rather he is referring to all
the students enrolled in the class. It is context that provides the basis for a sound
interpretation.

So, the question in 2 Peter 3:9 is whether "all" refers to all human beings without
distinction, or whether it refers to everyone within a certain group. The context indicates
that Peter is writing to a specific group and not to all of mankind – “to those who have
obtained a faith of equal standing with ours” 2 Peter 1:1. The audience is confirmed
when Peter writes, “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.”
(2 Peter 3:1)

Can we be even more specific? Yes, because if this is the second letter addressed to them,
the first makes it clear who he is writing to. 1 Peter 1:1 - “Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, To those who are elect…” So Peter is writing to the elect in 2 Peter 3, saying:

“This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.... But do not
overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some
count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should reach repentance.” (v. 1, 8, 9 - emphasis mine)

If the "any" or “all” here refers to everyone in human history, the verse would prove far
more than Arminians would want to prove - it would prove universalism rather than
Christianity. (Universalism is the false doctrine that teaches that everyone will ultimately
be saved, with no one going to hell). If God is not willing that any person perish, then
what? No one would ever perish! Yet, in context, the "any" that God wills not to perish
must be limited to the same group he is writing to, the elect, and the "all" that are to come
to repentance is the very same group. Christ’s second coming has been delayed so that all
the elect can be gathered in. God is not willing that any of the elect should perish, but that
all of them come to repentance.

Rather than denying election, understood in its biblical context, it is one of the strongest
verses in favor of it.

But is God not fair for not loving everybody? Is the doctrine of election unfair or is it
Biblical? Le us see the response of John McArthur. And I copy and paste: “ Among the
most hotly contested and persistent debates in the history of the confessing church, the doctrine
of election is perhaps the greatest of all. The question goes like this: Does God choose sinners to
be saved and then provide for their salvation? Or, Does God provide the way of salvation that
sinners must choose for themselves?

Where’s the evidence?

This question of choice is called “election” because of the Greek word for those who are chosen
—the Bible calls them eklektos. There are many such uses in the Bible (cf. Col. 3:12; 1 Tim. 5:21;
Tit. 1:1; 2 John 1), but one of my favorites is in Romans 8:33: “Who will bring a charge against
God’s elect?” The answer is, “no one,” but why? Is it because I chose God, or is it because God
chose me?

One passage that is critical to the discussion is in the opening chapter of Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians. Immediately after his customary greeting, Paul launches in Ephesians 1:3-14 with a
great song of praise. It’s only one sentence—but, with 200 words in the Greek, it may be the
longest single sentence in religious literature.

Paul touches on all the great biblical themes in that hyper-complex sentence—sanctification,
adoption, redemption, and glorification—and all of them rest on one foundational doctrine, the
doctrine of election. The most superlative spiritual blessings stand on Ephesians 1:4—“He chose
us [elected us] in Him before the foundation of the world.”

So the doctrine of election is biblical, but what does that passage really teach? I want to help you
get a better grasp of that by pointing out what Paul teaches about election. If you are a believer,
you can equip yourself for your next conversation on this topic. But more important, as one of His
elect you can rejoice in the astonishing kindness God showed you before the world began.

What does it mean?

Paul’s song is essentially his reflection on the amazing truth that God “blessed us with every
spiritual blessing … in Christ” (v. 3). And how did He bless us? “He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
God didn’t draw straws; He didn’t look down the corridor of time to see who would choose Him
before He decided. Rather, by His sovereign will He chose who would be in the Body of Christ.
The construction of the Greek verb for “chose” indicates God chose us for Himself. That means
God acted totally independent of any outside influence. He made His choice totally apart from
human will and purely on the basis of His sovereignty.

Jesus said to His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). And in the
same Gospel, John wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (1:12-13, italics mine). And Paul said, “But we
should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has
chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the
truth” (2 Thess. 2:13).

Those statements defining God’s sovereign choice of believers are not in the Bible to cause
controversy, as if God’s election means sinners don’t make decisions. Election does not exclude
human responsibility or the necessity of each person to respond to the gospel by faith. Jesus
said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly
not cast out” (John 6:37).

Admittedly the two concepts don’t seem to go together. However, both are true separately, and
we must accept them both by faith. You may not understand it, but rest assured—it’s fully
reconciled in the mind of God.

You must understand that your faith and salvation rest entirely on God’s election (cf. Acts 13:48).
And yet the day you came to Jesus Christ, you did so because of an internal desire—you did
nothing against your will. But even that desire is God-given—He supplies the necessary faith so
we can believe (Eph. 2:8).

Think about it—if your salvation depends on you, then praise to God is ridiculous. But, in truth,
your praise to God is completely appropriate, because in forming the Body before the world
began, He chose you by His sovereign decree apart from any of your works. The doctrine of
election demonstrates God being God, exercising divine prerogatives. For that we must praise
Him.

“But that’s not fair!”

Some are shocked to find that God didn’t choose everyone to salvation. Jesus said, “And this is
the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the
last day” (John 6:39, italics mine). God the Father chose certain individuals to form a Body as a
gift to Jesus Christ. Every believer is part of that love gift to Christ—a gift of the Father’s love to
His Son.

To those who say that is unjust, Paul answers: “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with
God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’” (Rom. 9:14-15).

So why does God still find fault in unrepentant sinners when He didn’t choose them? Doesn’t this
deny human responsibility? Is it fair for God to still hold them accountable?

Paul answers all such questions with a rebuke—“who are you, O man, who answers back to
God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it?” (v. 20).
Does the clay jump up and ask the potter why it looks the way it does? Not at all.
Some believe that is terribly cold and calculating. But that is only one side of God’s sovereign
election. Paul continues in the next chapter by saying, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved … for
‘whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (10:9, 13).

How these two sides of God’s truth—His sovereignty in choosing us (Rom. 9) and our
responsibility to confess and believe (Rom. 10)—reconcile is impossible for us to understand fully.
But Scripture declares both perspectives of salvation to be true (John 1:12-13). It’s our duty to
acknowledge both and joyfully accept them by faith.

Is this article truly shocking? Perhaps not, because it is a Biblical truth. And I do not think
Biblical truth should shock God’s children like us. All of us are in a spiritual journey and
this includes the discovery of the truth in the Bible that we have not yet discover or truth
that God has not yet shown to us. This article is a bold move and I know many of my
brothers and sister in Christ will have struggles internalizing this truth that has long been
ignore or rejected. If you are convince that what is presented in this writing is wrong and
does not please God please pray right now. Go on your knees pray for yourself and the
author. Perhaps if it will please the Lord Jesus He will speak to you clearly and directly.
To Almighty God belongs only all the praise and all the glory in the name of Jesus Amen!

Notes: If it will please the Lord this article will be revise again and edited and hopefully became a
book for publishing for God’s glory. 9/20/09
Sept. 15, 2009