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TWO NATURES The Scriptures give us numerous lessons and
examples of the existence of two types of human natures found in God’s
creation. There are no indications of
any more than these two. One follows
the desires of our inherent sinful nature and the other is controlled by The
Spirit [Romans 8:5-11]. Paul and the
apostle John throughout all their writings stresses the transition from the
“old” inherent sinful nature into the “new” Spirit controlled nature is an uncompromising
process that The Spirit controls and manages [John 16:13]. In addition, Paul continues, directly and
indirectly, to develop, in a number of ways, the contrast between the old and
the new nature. This contrast is
made, in order, to help us understand
that the world we live in is all a part of God’s plan, and it is being used
in the believer’s conforming process to bring His children into His eternal
family [Romans 8:28-30]. This planned
separation between the old and the new nature is necessary for us to
appreciate His goodness, grace, and mercy.
The old nature with all of its evil is necessary in God’s creative
process [Hebrews Many well-meaning interpreters of
God word either imply or promote the existence of a third nature. When we hear about the good that is
resident in all humans, this is a third nature; it is neither completely the
sinful nature nor a nature born by God’s Spirit. Many philosophies in the wisdom of this
world subscribe to this their nature theory.
This third nature, according to the philosopher’s wishful thinking,
has the ability to control our desires and to do the right thing; through an
inherent power, they call self-control.
This pleasant thought is, of course, contrary to God’s word, “There
is no one righteous, not even one” [Romans Therefore, there are two natures in
this creation, an old and a new. God
is responsible for the creation of both of these natures, one through the
human birthing process, and the other through the work of His Spirit [John
3:6]. The question that naturally
arises from this definition of these two natures is what happens to the old
nature that is never given the gift of grace.
The Scriptures do not specifically tell us. We are told about the objects of wrath
[Ephesians 2:3] and the withholding of mercy [Romans Before we rush off and try to
defend God’s word on this subject, we must remind ourselves that God is
Sovereign and thereby He knows what He is doing. In addition, we acknowledge that no one
understands God’s ways or has ever counseled Him in goodness or justice [Job
38:2]. How God handles the theoretical
problem of those who are lost is none of our business. Those who choose to defend God and
His judgments take one or more of four approaches. The first is the most common; (1) it is
claimed that salvation is dependent upon a person’s belief. This is true in one sense but false in
another sense. The truth in this
statement all depends upon the source and the nature of the belief. Everyone believes something, even the
demons believe in Jesus and shudder [James The second defense is to make the
claim that (2) it is God’s “will” that all should find salvation. “In the same way your Father in heaven is
not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” [Matthew If God is Sovereign then certainly
He has foreknowledge and He is able to plan beforehand the whole process all
by himself, without any contingency plans allowing for human actions and
stupidity. God’s will is always done; we humans who have to learn to recognize this fact. We pray “thy will be done” in order to
teach us that this is important to our belief structure so that God’s will
becomes more important in our lives than our willful desires. The third approach used to defend
God’s goodness and loving nature (3) is to make an untrue assumption about
such words as “lost” and “perish.”
Such an assumption is ignoring God’s goodness and loving nature found
in His justice and in His wrath, it seems necessary to some to stress part of
God’s plan and to ignore the rest.
Matter of fact, if it was not for God’s justice and wrath then His
goodness and loving nature would be meaningless, without contrast. How could love be real without wrath? Those who try to use the Scriptures to in
the attempt to ignore God’s wrathful nature tend to redefine certain words as
“lost” as meaning eternal damnation. Jesus
said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man,
too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son
of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" [Luke 19:9, 10] is
an example where another verse is taken our-of-context to prove a narrow
point. Jesus knew beforehand that Zacchaeus was of the seed of Abraham, which means he was
already saved according to the promise [Galatians [Abraham]He is our father in the
sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and
calls things that are not as though they were. [Romans 4:16] When the context is distorted
attempting to make an irrelevant argument, the deeper meaning of the passage
is lost. The context is not about
salvation. The context is about the
way God works in specific lives. This
passage should not be extrapolated into some Universalist principle. God promises are for those to whom God has
given faith, which is God’s work [John The word “perish” is another one of
these misused words. This word is too
often used in connection with the assumed contingency requirement of
believing or not believing. The destruction
specified in the verse using this word is directed towards a preexisting
condition and is not dependent upon any contingency. This destruction occurs because of a
predetermined plan and because of some human error or stupidity. John
Notice in this context phrases
like, “born again,” “heavenly things,” “truth comes into the light,” in this
entire context God is in control and is the prime mover. Another example of the misuse of this word,
He
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance [2 Peter 3:9] is the interpretation of “perish,” which is
defined in the Greek as a wandering away.
The context is about living a holy life and not about losing ones
salvation. In addition, “repentance”
is only possible after the new birth. The fourth approach is an emphasis
on the obedience game. In this, (4)
there are specific things a seeker of eternal life must do in order to
qualify for salvation. This approach
mixes the other three approaches together into a set of rules that must be
met in full compliance before salvation can become a reality. Belief, seeking God’s will, focusing on key
words, obeying the entire prescribed set of rules before salvation can be
assured. The complexity of the
obedience game comes relative to an individual’s circumstances and
environment. It is no wonder that many
people have doubts about their salvation.
Major concerns about repentance, baptism, service, and worship becomes
sources of anxiety and doubt. God does not keep His intentions a
secret. If anyone is concerned about
there eternal salvation all they have to ask God, and He will give them an
answer. There are simple questions we
can ask ourselves like, “Am I becoming more loving over time?” Do I enjoy now
hearing about God’s ways than before?
Am I losing my doubts about the promises and
truths found in the Bible? If all
these questions can be answered in the affirmative then stop worrying about
your salvation. It is time to focus on
the author and perfecter of your faith. The presences of the inherent
desire that is battling in your minds and emotions are not an indicator of a
malfunction in your salvation or in your relationship with your loving
Father. God fully understands who you
are and where you are. You cannot do
anything to cause God to love you any less or for that matter, you cannot do
anything to cause Him to love you any more.
God’s Spirit has been tasked to train you up in the way you should
go. Jesus calls this guidance “into
all truth” [John The two natures can be identified
with three states. First, there is the
state where The Spirit has not yet given life. The second is the state subsequent to the
new birth and coming after the first state.
The third state is where The Spirit will never give life. The difference between the first and third
is indistinguishable to our mortal measurements. The second state represents a progressive
growth starting from a condition identical to the first and third state
growing slowly into a wonderful human being.
In this second state, the encouragement of God’s Spirit is the
guarantee [Ephesians Those who are members of the third
state cause us the most concern. Due
to this concern, many and complicated theories and doctrines have been issued
over time. It seems that these
theories are all meant to protect God from being judged by people as being
unjust. It may seem to be logically
unfair that God would never give His grace to some. The thought that some are destined to the
lake of fire because of divine will is repulsive. Yet, the Scriptures seem to indicate such a
consideration is true [Romans There have been numerous articles,
books, essays, and presentations made by well-credentialed authorities and
theologians concerning our concerns about this third state. Some attempt to bring the Scriptures into
the debate and quote various passages with a dubious success. The following is a list of several passages
used to discredit the suggestion that God has a separation policy between His
remnant and His objects of wrath, the two natures. John 1:9 “… that
comes into the world.” This “comes,” erchomal, in
used in the middle voice. The light is
acting on every man that comes into the world for the interest of the light. In other words, the light, God, is acting
on every man for His own purpose, as in Romans 9:21. This does not support universalism in the
sense it is commonly used. John 1:29 The “take away” here is airo, meaning
to rise up to elevate, as an airplane lifts above the ground. One of The Spirit’s tasks is to “convict
the world of guilt” [John 16:8] or to elevate sin to a level it can be seen
for the evil it is. This has nothing
to do with universalism. John 3:17 The context is about salvation
being a product of the new birth [John 3:6], which The Spirit gives according
to The Spirit’s will [John 3:8]. This
sounds like a selective process in this context. This world, kosmos, is a general
arrangement of order and not necessarily a specific total population of all
humankind. John 12:32 The context is about serving and
following Christ as an indicator of the living seed and the dying seed. The voice of the Father is for the benefit
of those listening to this lesson. The
“all” here is used in a relative sense, and not as a universal term,
signifying a limited definition of the, pas,
word. Notice in that there are those
who walk in the darkness and while some walk in the light [John John 12:47 The context is again about the
difference between staying in darkness and coming into the light. The difference is determined by an endowed
faculty of hearing, akouo,
which is God given and not self-determined.
The phrase “to save,” sozo, has an interesting
meaning --- to preserve, to make safe for a time, from destruction, and since
the objective of this saving is the world and not anyone’s or everyone’s soul
it is difficult to classify this verse as grounds for “universalism.” The verse that is missing from this
list is John 10:7. Jesus said, “I am
the gate for the sheep.” It does not
make mush sense to have a gate when there is no separation. Romans 3:23, 24 The contextual theme is about
having faith in Jesus Christ. This
faith is the conduit through which grace flows [Ephesians 2:8, 9], and,
therefore, the source of faith becomes essential in understanding this
verse. John tells us that faith is
God’s work [John Romans 5:18 This conclusion is completely out
of context. God provides grace and
faith and this is independent of anyone’s act of righteousness [Ephesians
2:8, 9]. God’s given faith will produce
righteousness [Romans Romans 11:32 There is a difference between mercy
and grace. Mercy is a compassionate
treatment, a clemency, before the application of judgment [Revelation 1 Corinthians 15:22 The prepositional phrase, “in
Christ,” is functionally necessary in this verse. God makes “us alive with Christ even when
we were dead in transgressions” [Ephesians 2:5]. This is another example of God working
according to His will, which we cannot assume to be a universal action. 2 Corinthians 5:14 The context surrounding this verse
is very significant in drawing any conclusions concerning the meaning and
scope of the “all” word used here. The
liberal use of the personal pronoun “we” strongly suggests the “all” is
limited to “we all.” In addition, the 17th
verse is referencing “anyone” who is “in Christ” is the boundary around the
general subject of reconciliation. It
does seem rather extreme to attempt to use this verse in a support of
universalism. 2 Corinthians 5:19 Skipping down to verse 19 and
ignoring the first part of 18 is also going a bit far in the attempt to
establishing this text as a reason to believe universalism. Notice the use of “you” and “us” in the
verses 16-21. This context limits the
scope to include specific individuals God is acting. Philippians 2:10, 11 This passage opens a little
different approach to acheive the objective of
supporting universalism. Rather than
taking a truncated set of words out of its context, here there is an attempt
to confuse the temporal and the eternal.
First, this 10th verse does not use the verb “will.” The Greek uses the word, kampto, or an equivalent to “should-be-bowing,” in a
present tense, which is the eternal clock, not some future time. Colossians 1:20 This verse and context does give
the impression of universal supremacy of Christ over “all things.” However, universal supremacy does not
necessarily mean universal salvation. This
contextual passage starts with a restrictive audience, “He rescued us from
the dominion of darkness” [Colossians 1 Timothy 2:6 This verse literally states that
Christ became a ransom for all in due seasons. The due season is an uncertain affinity,
the right time, implying an individual specific time. It is a stretch to extrapolate this to some
sort of universal action. The meaning
of this verse is more of a mystery than contributing any helpful evidence. 1 Timothy 4:10 This verse is incongruent with the
first ten verses of this chapter, but it certainly indicates universalism of
some kind. It is hard to know the
meaning of the phrase “all men” here since it seems to contradict the phrase
“some will abandon the faith” in verse one and is inconsistent with 1 Timothy
2:4. Either God saves all men or He
wants to save. Both of these paths cannot
be true. One explanation may be found
in the use of the “all men” here, which could mean, “all types of men,” which
would be consistent with the Greek.
The addition of the phrase, “especially of those that believe,” is
problematic in that it seems to be redundant.
Belief is well founded as a necessary component of salvation and this
additional phrase implies it can be only complementary. One explanation for the confusion may be in
the assumption that Savior is an absolute term and not a relative name
assigned to God who “preserves” people for His purpose. The children of Titus The context is centering on
teaching and growing God’s family, not about saving unbelievers. Assuming this partial sentence is inserted,
as a statement on grace is being inconsistent with the rest of the
message. The sanctification of the
believer is the hope for the future of the believer. The universalism trust is not supported here. The use of the “all types of men”
translation is consistent with the context.
“The Message” interprets this passage as,
11 -14God's readiness to give and forgive
is now public. Salvation's available
for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our
backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled,
God-honoring life. This new life is
starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when
our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free
us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people
he can be proud of, energetic in goodness
This is about growing up and not about salvation. Hebrews 2:9 The “everyone” comes from the same
Greek word, pas, which is used in
other passages and is translated as “all,” but it can mean many things, from
the absolute everything to a limited scope of all types in a specific
group. The writer of Hebrews is
addressing believers in this context, which is a specific group and trying to
make an absolute and general statement. 1 John 2:2 The reason this verse has
appeal to those who are promoting universalism is the use of the phrase “the
whole world,” which is assumed to mean the absolute total world. The Greek, kosmos, is much more relative in its
definition of this phrase. It can be
referring to any aggregate or collection of particulars of any sort or
set. This passage begins with the phrase,
“My dear children,” tends to give us an indication of whom John is addressing,
certainly this is not “the whole world.” The lack of specificity in these passages
does not bode well in any attempt to support the theology of
universalism. Our desire to embrace
the popular hope that everyone can find peace with God tends to influence our
objectivity. The reliance on two
hundred year old theories without supporting Scriptural evidence smacks a
desire to follow some alternative gospel.
If it were important that we believe these convenient theories then
surely God would have given us some reason to do so. It seems more prudent, therefore, to ignore
all of theory as unfounded assumptions.
This means simply to leave God’s business up to God. “Don't I have the right to do what I want
with my own money? Or are you envious
because I am generous?’ [Matthew
20:15] |