WHOSOEVER

When ever I see the word "whosoever" in the Bible, I immediately think about the positive aspect of God's offer of salvation to "whosoever believeth...." I suppose it has to do with the fact that I am New Testament oriented. My total relationship with the Father is based upon His offer to adopt as His child, any and all who believe in or trust in His Son Jesus (Jn. 1:12; 3:15-16; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). I praise God that the offer is not restricted to the Jew, but is available for all of humanity. God is not a respecter of persons; His offer of salvation is to everyone as Peter found out in Acts 10:9-34. That means His offer is to you, too!

As I did a word study on "whosoever," I discovered that it does not always indicate the positive. In fact, it appears approximately seventy times in the Old Testament, and apart from four verses which speak of an individual's willingness to make an offering (Ex. 35:5; Lev. 22:21; Num. 15:14; Joel 2:32), it is always used as a warning. Whosoever breaks the Law will be punished severely.

In the New Testament, the word appears over ninety times. The positive to negative ratio is far more positive, which is logical since the Old Testament deals with the Law and its warnings, and the New is focused on forgiveness for failure to keep the Law. Most of the negative references in the New Testament have to do with those "whosoevers" who reject Jesus and His Church. There are at least nine instances, in Matthew alone, where Jesus promises blessing upon the "whosoevers" of obedience (Matt. 5:19; 7:24; 10:32; 10:42; 11:6; 12:50; 13:12; 16:25; 18:4). An offer of forgiveness, salvation, and a relationship to God as Father is to any and all who will accept it.

Some key verses are:
John 3:15-16 "That WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Romans 10:13 "For WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
1 John 4:15 "WHOSOEVER shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1 John 5:1 "WHOSOEVER believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God...."

I guess the only question I would ask you is this: Which WHOSOEVER are you? Are you the WHOSOEVER that needs warning of pending judgment, or are you a WHOSOEVER who has accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? God's offer is available and you can either choose to accept it, or you can reject it. It is totally up to you.