Born Again (41)

John 3:16 (G)

Both items can be quickly resolved. First, the language itself does not warrant the inferences made. I can say, "Whoever becomes a fish can breath under water." The statement is true, but it does not mean that a person can become a fish anytime he wishes. In fact, any inference about one's ability is strictly invalid, since the statement contains no information about ability except for the fish's ability to breath under water. Whether or not it is possible for a person to become a fish, one can infer nothing about it from the statement itself, but it only informs us as to what would happen to a person who turns into a fish.

Moreover, even if it is possible for a person to become a fish, the statement says nothing about how this is possible, or whether it is within the person's own power to do so. God is certainly able to turn a man into a fish, but a man "cannot make even one hair white or black" (Matthew 5:36). A statement like the one that I have made tells us nothing about a person's ability, but information about ability must be obtained elsewhere.

Whenever we are talking about something that is impossible with man – such as for a man to turn himself into a fish – it means that it will either never happen, or God must make it happen by his omnipotence. One episode in Jesus' ministry makes exactly this point:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:23-26)

We only have time to note what is relevant to our discussion. Jesus says plainly that it is impossible for such a man to be saved, except if God makes it happen, since all things are possible with him. But what has happened to "whoever believes"? Jesus never said that everyone can believe, or that it is up to the person to believe, but only that whoever believes will not perish, but will have eternal life. Whether this person in Matthew 19 believes depends on God, not on him, since only God could make it happen.

In any case, the Gospel of John explains itself on this point, and does not leave us guessing. In John 10:26, Jesus says, "You do not believe because you are not my sheep." So a person is Jesus' sheep before he believes, and it is because he is his sheep that he believes. How does one become Jesus' sheep? Verse 29 says, "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." Jesus' sheep are what they are because they have been given to him by the Father, and remember, this is why they believe.

However, according to our opponents' theology, we freely decide to believe, and anyone can do it. Applying it to this passage, Jesus would have to say that we are the ones who give ourselves to him, and that we are the ones who make ourselves his sheep. Needless to say, this contradicts John 10, and therefore it is false doctrine.

(to be continued)