Round the Sphere Again: Explaining the Text

…or how not to interpret it.

Owe No One Anything
I’ve known Christians who use Romans 13:8 to teach that it is wrong to borrow money, including some say, taking out a mortgage or a loan to purchase a car. D. A. Carson explains why this verse, read in context, doesn’t say that.

For all kinds of reasons it may be best to avoid fiscal debt of all kinds. But that is scarcely the point the apostle is making here.

(For the Love of God)

Might Not Perish
Back in the olden days, I knew someone who insisted that “that whosoever believes in him might not perish” meant that there was a real possibilty that a believer could wind up perishing after all. But the text isn’t saying that at all. Bill Mounce explains that the above quoted phrase from John 3:16 is a purpose clause telling us that

the purpose of giving his Son was so that believers will most certainly have eternal life.

(Koinonia)

You’ll notice that some versions choose to translate it as “shall not perish” or “will not perish” in order to reflect this certainty; or, to put it more correctly, in order to not introduce an uncertainty that isn’t there. (My general use translation, the ESV, goes with “should not,” which is a little “iffy.”)