Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Reformer Joe | 21048 | ||
Tim: You wrote: "Let me know what you think!" Haven't you learned by now what can of worms that opens? You also wrote: "I'm not trying to be a smart alex, but this seemed like a contradictory statement. Aren't decrees things that ultimately spring from God's sovereign will? Thus, how could God decree something that He knew would happen?" Not very precise, was it? That's what sleep deprivation does to Joe... God's sovereign will includes what He does Himself, what He orchestrates to occur, and what He permits from His sentient creation. This is indeed a tricky subject, because we have to take into account a lot of things: 1. God's omnipotence and omniscience 2. The responsibility of human beings for their own sin. 3. The fact that God in many places in Scripture declares that He is bringing about judgment upon this individual or that nation, and His decree that judgment will come by means of the sinful activities of another individual or nation (e.g. Absolom sleeping with David's harem as a direct result of his sin with Bathsheba; the conquest of Israel and Judah by Assyria and Babylon, respectively). 4. Our God is a God of purpose. Absolutely nothing that occurs in life is coincidence from God's perspective; and every action in creation, whether committed or permitted by God, has a direct connection to the entire plan of God. That is a lot of Scriptural truth to work into a coherent theology! Let's apply this to a woman who becomes a prostitute. 1. God has always known that it would happen, and God was able to stop it from happening. 2. The woman is responsible for each individual act of sin. 3. God has sovereignly placed the woman in the life situation that she is in, giving her an opportunity and perhaps even a life situation more conducive to a person becoming a prostitute. This is not to say that God TEMPTS the woman to become a prostitute, but one's upbringing makes certain sins more available and socially acceptable (or at least less socially unacceptable). Another example that demonstrates this is the fact that unsaved teenage boys in upper-class, gated communites and who attend private preparatory schools are much less likely to express their inherent sinfulness by joining a street gang than a teenage boy in the inner city. Both are sinful in the eyes of a holy God, and are incapable of pleasing him in anything they do. However, their life situations, ordained by God, give each of them different likely outlets for that sinfulness to manifest itself. In other words, God, though external means, directs our innate sinfulness in directions in which His purposes will be accomplished. 4. The prostitute's sinful decision in her God-decreed environment is decreed to occur (i.e. her sinful wish is permitted to be carried out), with effects reaching as far as God allows and no farther. All of this was included beforehand, in eternity past, as an included event in God's overall plan, along with its consequential effects on other things that He decrees. I agree that God exists beyond time, but he does "reach in" and interacts in a chronological, linear fashion with his temporally-bound creation. --Joe! |
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2 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Hank | 21057 | ||
Joe, being a self-proclaimed "mere Christian" and constitutionally shy about immersing more than a toe, and then only tentatively, into the deep waters of High Theology, I find myself easily in agreement with some of your views of the Reformed faith and equally as easily out of agreement with some of the others, and as often as not without in either case quite knowing why. I consider it not to be a key issue of salvation whether one sides with the Reformed or the Armenian views on election. Either communion can, and does, summon up an impressive body of Scripture to use in the defense of its stand on the issue. I've heard it argued that the Bible does, in fact, teach both views. Perhaps it does, but I am pitifully unqualified to make that call. I think, Joe, and please do not feel offended, that the subject, having had a most generous share of the lime-light, might have its cause served better if, at least for a season, it were allowed repose within the memory banks of the forum. Perhaps it may be my attention deficit disorder that prohibts my being able to focus so long and with continued rapt interest and zeal on this topic. You bring to this forum an enviably high level of solid biblical scholarship and I assuredly make neither an effort to discredit you nor to thwart in any way your continued fine contributions to it. I'm simply asking you to consider, for a season at least, a slight shift of focus to other topics. Yours in Christ Jesus, Hank. | ||||||
3 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Reformer Joe | 21066 | ||
Hank: Thanks for the compliments. Actually, I haven't started any threads in a good, long time around these parts. This thread, in my view, doesn't really have a lot to do with election, but whether God's plans are stymied by man's decisions. The original post to which I responded seemed to indicate that we can "mess God up" by doing the wrong thing, and my attempt was to clear up that biblical inaccuracy. I think Tim and I agree on this one. I would like a change of pace myself, but I am not terribly interested in the "Did Jesus REALLY have a beard?" type of posts, and the "Where does it say...?" kinds of posts really don't leave open a lot for discussion once they have been answered. In other words, what else is here that merits discussion at the present time? --Joe! |
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4 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Hank | 21074 | ||
Hello again, Joe. To my former kudo I append that you also have an uncommonly excellent command of the English language and express yourself with great felicity.... If you are in search of a topic to address, let me ask you first, How good are you with loose cannons? There's one rolling around all over the place having something or other to do with the rationality of animals. What its doing on the good ship "Study Bible Forum" is beyond me, but you might want to try your hand at containing it. Other than that, hmmm, let me think of another topic. Say, isn't it just about time for another wedding party featuring Cain and his wife, what's-her-name? --Hank | ||||||
5 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Reformer Joe | 21096 | ||
Cain had a wife? How is THAT possible? :) --Joe! |
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6 | God repented | Rom 1:18 | Hank | 21112 | ||
Joe, in absence of any hard evidence on how Cain got his wife, I propose that he proposed and she said yes. --Hank | ||||||