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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Are we ever "worthy" of God's love? | John 3:16 | John Reformed | 52005 | ||
Dear NewLump, I know you do not wish to discuss the doctrines of election or God's soveriegnty, but I wwould like to answer your question from the Reformed perspective. You asked: "So there are whole segments of the creation that God isn't concerned about and doesn't care if they are saved? God does not act carelessly. All that He does is part of His eternal plan for His creation. We learn from Scripture that even the wicked sins of man God has predestined for good: Acts 4:27,28 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur." Is 40:12-17 "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless." God does not seek our opinion of His works. Our response is to believe His word and praise Him. John |
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2 | Are we ever "worthy" of God's love? | John 3:16 | NewLump | 52022 | ||
I want to apologize for my earlier response. I was rushed and should have answered very differently. I appreciate your patient reply. I am not sure that I don't want to explore some doctrines. I feel that we often build a belief system, get comfortable in it and start interpreting the Word from the perspective of our system rather than looking at the Word and dealing with everything that's there. I have looked again at 1Tim.2. I don't agree with your characterization of the passage. Vs.1-6 are a teaching of Paul to Timothy to petition God for the salvation of all men. Because He is the ransom for all. This is good and acceptable to God. This is affirmed in 2Pet. 3:9. Concerning the use of the word 'want'. NASB translates it 'desires'; NIV 'wants' the greek seems to imply a desire of the heart, the will or preference There are numerous scriptures that speak of choice in salvation and in discipleship. There are also numerous scriptures on the supremacy and sovereignty of God. All I am saying is that we can't discount either. |
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3 | Are we ever "worthy" of God's love? | John 3:16 | John Reformed | 52059 | ||
Dear NewLump, Thank you for your kind response. At times my zeal for God degenerates into personal rancor against a brother. I am then guilty of self-righteousness and need to repent and ask for forgiveness. I agree that we must guard against placing our doctrines above the written Word. However,I also believe that avoidance of troublesome teachings is a great mistake. I love to discuss the doctrines of our faith. In fact, if it were not for my desire to learn the truth, I would still be mired in a false gospel. A gospel that was not a gospel at all! There is no way we can avoid forming a system of beliefs. The Bible itself is such a system. We read it and form ideas in our minds as to what it means. We come across a difficult passage and read and reread it. What does it mean? perhaps we need to look again at the context or look at related verses to bring light to the verse in question. Commentaries and Bible dictionaries can be helpful. All the while we are building our own personal system of belief. I find that this forum is an excellent tool for confirming and correcting my own belief system. The Reformed faith is a minority position in our modern age. The doctrines of the fathers of protestantism are spurned and derided by many. Were they right about everything they taught? Of course not. They were sinners the same as we are. But they did recover the gospel and for that we should praise God. I have to go to work. I will continue later, God willing. Your Brother, John |
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