God desires for all people to be ‘saved’... and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4)

I remember having a conversation with another professing believer some time back who was telling me that it was not God’s will for ‘all to be saved’, but only the ‘chosen ones’. I was puzzled by that and mentioned the verse above and was told I was taking that ‘out of context’. I then asked them about 2 Pet. 3:9 where it states how God is ‘longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance’. Again, they said they would need to read that in context and get back to me. If left up to those who are of this belief, maybe it’s time to ‘edit’ John 3:16 and cross out ‘the world’ and ‘whosoever’ ...and replace with ‘the chosen ones’. But now I digress...forgive me.

Not only does God want us to be ‘saved’ (from His wrath- Rom. 5:9), but He also wants us to ‘come to the knowledge of the truth’. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he points out how many who ‘walk in a form of godliness’ tend to be always learning yet never able to come to the ‘knowledge of the truth’ (2 Tim. 3:7). Interesting...that repeated phrase, ‘knowledge of the truth’.

You’ll find that used again in Heb. 10:26...”For if we sin willfully...after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries”

Isn’t that interesting...his reference to ‘after we have received the knowledge of the truth’. Have you ever really wondered exactly ‘what truth’...he might be speaking about? I find myself drawn back to the discourse Jesus offered up to the Jews there in John 8:32-36, speaking about how the ‘truth will set us free’ (after we come to know it – vs. 32) before making it quite clear- ‘whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (34-35)

Funny thing about truth...and ‘light’- not everyone wants to know it, let alone come to it (John 3:19-21). Jesus made it known that He was indeed...the ‘way, the truth, and the life... and no one comes to the Father except through Him’...(John 14:6)...and they still ‘turned away and followed Him no more’ (John 6:66). In other words...not everyone ‘wants to be made well’, which is why Jesus was known to ask before setting people free (John 5:6).

Yes...I’ve found myself swimming against the current of lies these past few years because many in the ‘church world’ have a hard time accepting and embracing the simple truth that Jesus can, will...and does set us free from sin, completely. Most people will admit and agree that we don’t have to, nor should we remain...as ‘murderers, rapists, and thieves’. But then the messaging can get cloudy and blurred...fast. We can be strong on railing against the ‘homosexuals’ but go a tad easier on the ‘fornicators’. And those ‘anger issues’ and roots of bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness that we hold on to...yeah...we ought to do better, but those are not ‘deal breakers’ when it comes to our 'salvation', or so you would think based on how people try to ‘explain’ it.

When it comes to those ‘everyday sins’, like gossip, backbiting, fault-finding, along with grumbling and complaining...well they don’t even really fall into the category of ‘serious sin’...probably since most people ‘do it’ anyway. Just look at what many professing believers ‘post on social media’, while forgetting how God dealt with a bunch of complainers back in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:8-11). And dare I even touch on ’foolish talking, obscenity, coarse language or crude joking’...and how such things should ‘not even be named among the saints’ ? (Eph. 5:3-5; Col. 3:8) And yet we consume hours of it on our ‘screens’...and call it ‘entertainment’; go figure.

No wonder we are warned to “exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). Sin is always ‘crouching at the door’ and ‘desires us’...which is why God has been saying from the very beginning we better learn to master it...or else we shall ‘surely die’ (Gen. 4:7; 2:17; Rom. 8:13; 6:23). And it’s not like God is trying to be some ‘holier-than-thou-stick-in-the-mud-Deity’. Sin simply ‘gives place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27) who ‘goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour’ (1 Pet. 5:8) with one sole purpose which is to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’ (John 10:10).

Now you might be wanting to ask- “Why doesn’t God do something about that old devil’? Guess what...He did, through Jesus (Luke 10:18-20). And when anyone enters into covenant with Jesus, it comes with many promises...along with...‘conditions’. The first and most important ‘condition’ is that we surrender to His Lordship and begin to follow and/or ‘abide’ in Him. (John 10:27; 15:1-8; Luke 6:46). Have you memorized 1 John 5:18 yet? I do like the word picture of ‘getting into the ark’ (of His presence) if you want to escape the ‘wrath of the enemy’s flood’, which is only getting worse and more destructive (Isa. 59:18). And tragically...just as it was in the days of Noah...most don’t even recognize what is happening. (Luke 17:26-27; Matt. 7:26-27). Hence, the candid admission by God that ‘His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge’ (Hosea 4:6).

Which leads me to another area of ‘temptation’ which we can all relate to, and it has to do with two specific ‘needs’ when it comes to ‘physical bodily appetites’, like food and sexual intimacy. I think it’s time we should look at that as well...and we’ll dive in...tomorrow, Lord willing.