GOD witholds His Persuasion for ALL so that He may Pardon ALL (Romans 11:32)

For your consideration: Romans 11:32

Poorly translated and interpreted NIV Study Bible for this scripture: "For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all."

Greater understanding by drilling deeper into the Greek: "For God has shut up (closed) ALL men into absence of persuasion/faith ("apeitheon" from apo-away from & pistos - His persuasion) that to ALL He may show pardon/pity/forgiveness/compassion/mercy.

First, the Greek word, "apeitheon", that the NIV translates as "disobedience" is incorrectly translated as "disobedience".  It can be literally translated from the Greek as: "away from persuasion".  In other words, God has "shut up" ALL men away from His persuading them into understanding/accepting Him - so that He can pardon ALL [at His appointed time].

The NIV Study Bible footnote for the verse loosely agrees with the Greek but not accurately, and puts its own "spin" on the Greek - BUT then jumps to an unsupported conclusion and states that "Paul is in no way teaching universal salvation."  Even the writer of the footnote recognizes that is what the scripture appears to say!  Again, he gives no support/justification for his conclusion that "Paul is in no way teaching universal salvation."  What do you think it sounds like Paul is saying?

It seems to me that it is saying that God has intentionally NOT revealed Himself clearly (persuaded) to any of humanity [all men] so that He can reveal Himself clearly to ALL humanity at His appointed time.

Check out another support scripture that it is GOD's job (in Christ) to persuade each human being to believe He exists and to know His nature.

Hebrews 12:2 "Jesus (Hebrew -I AM Saves), the author (beginner) and finisher (completer) of our persuasion/faith (from pistos - to persuade)

The following states it this way on the website: gotquestions.org: Question: "What does it mean that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)?

Answer: Jesus is described as the author and perfecter, or finisher, of our faith in Hebrews 12:2. An author is an originator or creator, as of a theory or plan. The Greek word translated “author”  [or beginner - June] in Hebrews 12:2 can also mean “captain,” “chief leader” or “prince.” Acts 3:15 uses the same word: “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (KJV), while the NIV and ESV use the word “author” instead of “prince.” From this we can deduce that Christ is the originator of our faith in that He begins it, as well as the captain and prince or our faith. This indicates that Jesus controls our faith, steers it as a captain steers a ship, and presides over it and cares for it as a monarch presides over and cares for his people.

The Greek word translated “perfecter” in Hebrews 12:2 appears only this one time in the New Testament. It means literally “completer” or “finisher” and speaks of bringing something to its conclusion. Putting the two words together, we see that Jesus, as God, both creates and sustains our faith. We know that saving faith is a gift from God, not something we come up with on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that gift comes from Christ, its creator. He is also the sustainer of our faith, meaning that true saving faith cannot be lost, taken away or given away. This is a source of great comfort to believers, especially in times of doubt and spiritual struggles. Christ has created our faith and He will watch over it, care for it, and sustain it. "

Comment by June: Interestingly, although this web site's statement of belief includes that God is the one who gives and sustains each person's belief/faith/persuasion into Him, they also  include in their belief statement, the contradictory idea that someone who is an "unbeliever" will be punished eternally for not believing.  So, whose responsibility is it to persuade and whose to be persuaded? This contradiction completely turns from the truth that it is God's job to bring that person to belief and His job to sustain that belief...making the idea of condemning them for a lack of belief ridiculous and illogical.

Hope you find these thoughts on these scriptures useful.  June