Problem: Some interpreters claim that we do not need Bible study or instruction from fellow Christians, because we are each individually instructed by the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul writes, “You have no need for anyone to write to you” (1 Thess. 4:9) and why John writes, “You have no need for any­one to teach you” (1 Jn. 2:27). Is this the case?
Continue reading →

Problem: John writes, “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2). However, regarding 1 John 2:2, Calvinist James Montgomery Boice writes,

John may be stressing the universal application of Christ’s work. Since ‘sacrifice of atonement’ is a strongly Jewish term and something associated in Jewish minds with the propitiation made at the temple on the Day of Atonement, John may be saying, ‘Jesus made propitiation for our sins; but not just the sins of us who are Jews, which we might think since atonement is a Jewish tradition, but for all the peoples of the world. In that sense, he is a universal Savior.’[1]
Steele and Thomas write,

One reason for the use of these expressio–ns was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone… These expressions are intended to show that Christ died for all men without distinction (i.e., He died for Jews and Gentiles alike) but they are not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception (i.e., He did not die for the purpose of saving each and every last sinner).[2]
John Piper writes,

The ‘whole world’ refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole world.[3]
Thus five point Calvinists argue that this passage refers to ethnic universality—not individual universality.
Continue reading →

Problem: Can you be forgiven of all sins or not? The Bible implies in some verses that all sins are forgiven but elsewhere says that some sins are not forgiven. How do we reconcile this apparent discrepancy?
Continue reading →

Problem: John writes, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). This passage makes forgiveness contingent on confession (“If we confess our sins…”), which contradicts once-for-all salvation based on grace. Is forgiveness conditional on constant confession?
Continue reading →

Problem: Peter writes, “[We are] looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:12). Open theists argue that God’s knowledge of the future is uncertain, because future events are contingent on human agency—specifically the agency of the Church. For instance, Greg Boyd writes, “So too, it is not clear how Scripture could encourage us to speed up the time of the Lord’s return by how we live if the exact time of his return was eternally set in stone (2 Peter 3:11-12).”[1]

Continue reading →

Problem: Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). This passage seems to deny Calvinism, because it claims that God desires “all” people to come to Christ. However, Calvinist James Montgomery Boice writes,

2 Peter 3:9 is not talking about the salvation of all men and women, but only of the elect. The issue is the delay of Christ’s return, and Peter is explaining that God has delayed it, not out of indifference to us and what we may be suffering, but because he wants to bring to repentance all whom he has determined in advance will be gathered in.[1]
Does this passage describe the desire of God to save the elect, or all people?
Continue reading →

Problem: Some critics of the Bible believe that Peter was using ancient Greek philosophy to describe the existence of the world (Thales of Miletus).[1] Is this the case?
Continue reading →

Problem: Peter affirms in this passage that God cast the fallen angels “down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (cf. Jude 6). However, it is evident from the NT that demons roam freely over the earth, oppressing and even possessing people (cf. Matt. 12:22; 17:14–17; Acts 16:16–18; Rev. 16:14).
Continue reading →