Category Archives: Questions and Answers

Understanding 2 Peter 2:1

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Question: Pastor John, I have very much enjoyed reading your insights in the series “The Divine Intention of the Cross” but while I do not deny what you have written, still have a lingering question. In 2 Peter 2:1 it speaks of false teachers who deny the Master that “bought them.” Is this not a clear verse teaching universal atonement – that Christ died for everyone?

Thanks for your question. 2 Peter 2:1 reads:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

In this passage, Peter is giving a warning to the church in just the same way that Paul and Jude do elsewhere. The message is that false teachers will arise seeking to steer God’s people into error – such error in fact, that they are called destructive or “damnable heresies.” (KJV)

Some false teachings are worse than others. It is never good to miss the mark on any theological point, but there are some errors that are so bad, they cross the line between orthodoxy and heresy to the point that if they are believed, they damn the soul. These are big issues rather than small ones: things such as the deity of Christ (Jesus said, “unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins” John 8:24); the Gospel itself (Gal. 1:8,9); or the denial that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4).

So Peter is writing to alert God’s people concerning the false prophets who will inevitably come in amongst the flock. Old Testament history often records the fact that God’s people have endured far more grief from the enemy within rather than the enemy without. God, in His wisdom, has allowed many false prophets and teachers to have a voice, while always protecting His elect people from their deception.

Jesus in fact made similar warnings. In Matthew 24: 24 we read, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Thankfully, the “if possible” statement alerts us to the fact it is not possible for God’s elect people to be deceived by these false christs and false prophets. The elect will not fall for the grandiose worldwide deception, but not because of their great natural wisdom and insight, but because God preserved them as His elect people. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him and a stranger they will not follow (John 10). Continue reading →

Understanding John 3:16

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How can you reconcile belief in Divine election with John 3:16?

Actually, if we carefully take a look at the text and not just assume its meaning, 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. Continue reading →

Context, Context, Context!

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Pastor John, in your article about rules of interpretation you mention context as being vital in terms of obtaining the correct interpretation of a text or passage. Can you expand on that a little more? What I do is look up a word’s meaning in a dictionary. Isn’t that enough?

Thanks for your excellent question. Actually my short answer is “no, that is not enough.” First of all, we need to make sure we move beyond using an English dictionary to either use a Hebrew dictionary for the Old Testament words or a Greek dictionary for New Testament ones. That might be an obvious thing to say, but it should not be assumed that all people realize this. The words in our Bibles are translations from the original Hebrew and Greek and to be sure of a word’s meaning, we need to go to the source language for an accurate definition.

But even this is not enough. I am all in favor of looking up the meaning of words. Indeed, this should be our starting point. However, what happens when we go through this process is that we find that each word has what we call a “semantic range.” That is simply a technical term to say that each word has a range of uses and meanings. A word can be used in many different ways.

This is true in English as well as the Biblical languages. For instance, lets take the word “fox.” If you go to an English dictionary and look up the word “fox” you will find a number of meanings (not just one). It can mean a four legged animal with a bushy tail; a type of car (made in the 1980’s) or it can be a slang term used for a very pretty woman. So, when you are reading a book and you come across the word “fox”, what is it referring to? Does it mean an animal with four legs, a car, or a fine looking lady?

The answer is found by checking the context in which you find the word. Importantly, you can actually be sure of the answer. It is not mere guess work.

Let me illustrate this by giving you an example. Imagine then that you are reading a magazine article about the British Royal family and come across the following sentence:

“The male members of the Royal family often spend their summer days fox hunting in the English countryside.” Continue reading →