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How To Know Can a Christian Lose His Salvation? What does John 1:1 say about the Trinity? The Development of the Name Jehovah Does Ephesians 2:8-9 Teach that Faith is a Gift? Rules of Biblical Interpretation
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Q "If Christ be
lifted up I will draw all men to myself." We
were discussing this passage in church . How do you interpret
this passage? I'm not sure of chapter and verse. Is Christ lifted
up by our personal witness and testimony and christian walk—others
will see us and be drawn to Christ? A The statement you are talking about is John 12:32, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." We can find the explanation in John 3:14-16: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In the wilderness wanderings of the nation Israel, the people complained about the food they were getting and, as a punishment, God sent deadly fiery serpents among them (read Numbers 21:4-9). Went they repented, God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole where everyone could see it so that they could look at it when they were bitten and not die. Numbers 21:9 says, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” In John chapter 3 Jesus is using this incident, something the Israelites of His day were familiar with, as an illustration of Him being lifted up on the cross. When someone looks at Christ on the cross in faith, his or her life is saved from sin. In John 12:32 He is simply referring to that concept.
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