If Christ died for every individual, which He did not, then his blood was wasted and not able to save those that are condemned. That's a weak Christ. Not biblical. In no way is world referring to individuals, rather, it refers to groups of people in most cases.
Christ said Himself he gave his life for his SHEEP. Not for the whole world.
Do not conbine the shedding of blood with the death and resurrection.
Again, John is very specific concerning the blood was for all creation (kosmos), as such we preach the reconciliation between God and man as ambassadors of Christ.
Ultimately, the redemption is in belief as John 3 states.
The word world is used many different ways in the Gospel of John. A study of the book reveals that cosmos (world) is used ten different ways throughout the book.
the ONLY time it does not apply to the whole world is item #10
according to the Calvinist!
And THAT is why the Calvinists are slowly coming to recognize this error!
There is no reason to take a single verse out of 11 (for they left out John’s letter. ) in which the word means everyone in the world or everyone EXCEPT believers.
Calvinists need to get the error corrected and adjust their view of the atonement to make it biblical.
Well why would you think it always means every individual. You have to read things in context to get the proper meaning. But remember that you have to read things in context which is something you seem to have a problem with.
For the Calvinist, “If I asked you if Jesus died for the church you would say yes and point to Eph_5:25.
If I asked you if Jesus died for the sheep you would say yes and point to Joh_10:11.
If I asked you if Jesus died for Paul you would say yes and point to Gal_2:20.
But when I point out that Jesus died for the world in places such as 1Jn_2:2, you turn and deny this simply because your theology will not allow it and not because of your conviction from Scripture.” Again, Scripture is clear that Jesus died for the sheep, the Church, Paul, us, the world, etc. but not once do we find that He died only for the elect. This must be implied through doctrinal presupposition instead of Scripture.
For Whom Did Christ Die?
1Ti_2:6; Isa_53:6
all
Heb_2:9; 1Ti_4:10
every man
Joh_3:16-17
the world
1Jn_2:2
sins of the whole world
Rom_5:6 the ungodly
2Pe_2:1
false teachers
Mat_20:28
many
Joh_11:50-51 Israel
Eph_5:25
the Church
Gal_2:20
“me”
@Silverhair :
I'd like to make one more set of replies to you in order to help clarify something;
You make this statement below:
Respectfully,
and notwithstanding that I see a contradiction in the underlined that if God requires faith from us before He can save us, it makes salvation actually merited by our faith...
I agree that He was speaking of salvation in the passage that you've referenced ( John 6:26-29 ),
but I also see that you've connected faith as being the requirement that God sets before us, and you do so not realizing what the passage actually states:
"
Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them,This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
I see that the Jews here were seeking Him for the wrong reason:
Because they had their stomachs filled, and not because they recognized their need of Him spiritually or because they saw the miracles and believed on Him.
He is answering them according to what He says further down in John 6:63:
"
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the wordsthat I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life."
The words the Lord was speaking to them were spiritual, not carnal.
As His people, it is the Spirit that makes one alive, while the flesh profits us nothing.
Also, based on what He tells them later on in John 8:43-47, they ( for the most part ) did not hear Him, because they were not "of God";
Therefore, because they were not "of God" ( His sheep ) and were asking Him questions whose answers they would not accept or even understand, I see that they asked Him the wrong question in John 6:28.
He tells them in the previous verse not to labor for the "meat" that perishes, but for that which endures to everlasting life...which He would give them.
When they ask Him, "... What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?", they asked Him how they could do God's work...
But only God can do God's work.
We as men cannot do God's work unless He does those things through us ( see Philippians 2:13 ).
So, Jesus is not telling them how to do God's works in John 6:29, but that it is the work "of God" for someone to believe on Christ:
" Jesus answered and said unto them,This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
This agrees with the many passages that tell us that the Lord chooses someone and causes them to approach Him ( Psalms 65:4 ), that it is given to them to believe ( Philippians 1:29 ), that faith is a gift ( Ephesians 2:8 ),
and that He opens the heart so that someone will listen to His words ( Acts of the Apostles 16:14 ).
Again, you and I see this passage ( as well as many others ) very differently, as we ( undoubtedly ) see all of John 6 very differently.
Because of this, I feel that we must agree to disagree, and leave it at that.
That said, I wish you well, sir.
May the Lord bless you with both wisdom and knowledge, as well as many good and perfect gifts.
If you want to believe that God believes for you or causes you to believe then that is your choice. You can read the bible any way that you want but since God is the one that says we have to have faith, note WE have to have faith and since faith is not a work or merit. I will stick with what the bible says
and trust in Christ Jesus for my salvation.
As you say we will not be able to walk together on these matters. But I will pray that God opens your eyes to the truths of scripture. God Bless.
You are trying to trap me into seemingly saying two things. The answer is, of course, both, depending on what context you are talking about.
Stop playing semantics.
The bottom line is this, Christ did NOT die for every individual that ever lived and the Bible does not claim this.
There are a chosen few for salvation. Those are the ones He died for. The sheep.