Results 1 - 4 of 4
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is God somehow responsible? | Rom 1:20 | Morant61 | 70313 | ||
Greetings John! Good Morning my friend! I think that sometimes we are saying almost the same things but using different terms! :-) By 'determined', I don't mean 'allowed'. If I say that God 'determined' my every thought and action, then I'm saying that God said on Dec. 21, 2002, Tim will tell a lie! This is the kind of thing that I don't believe that God did. You seem to be saying the same thing since you say that He only permitted sin. To me, that is different, that would be like saying, "If I create Tim as a free moral agent, then on Dec. 21, 2002, he will tell a lie, but it is in my plan to create him so I'll allow it." Concerning Acts 15:18, I do notice that it says that His works are known from the beginning of the world. It does not say that our thoughts and actions are predetermined, since the reference is to God's works, not our choices. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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2 | Is God somehow responsible? | Rom 1:20 | John Reformed | 70328 | ||
Dear Tim, If God has (and we know He has: acts 4) prededestined some things, then, if we wish to say that " He has predestined some but not all", we must show from Scripture that He has not predestined all things. My interpretation of God's Word prevents me from seeing Him as a reactionery being. If all His works are known beforehand, it must be because He foreordained all the means by which His works would produce the fruit He intended they produce. The Great Question is "Why did God create man"? (this is not an attempt to escape, but to shed addditional light on our topic) Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for THY PLEASURE they are and were created. God is pleased, or recieves pleasure when men give Him all the glory due Him as their Lord and King. I fail to see how God is glorified when He is seen as failing to accomplish that which He has planned. Is He helpless in the face of a stubborn creature who refuses to bow before Him, and, is there nothing He can do to persuade this rebel? Then God is not Almighty, for He has failed to accomplish His desire. There is no glory in failure! I know you will say that God merely permitted man to exercise his free-will and that the failure lies with the man and not with God. But even as an a believer in free-will, I could not understand why I believed and why anyone else would not. Faith is a gift. Gifts (in human terms) are given at the will of the giver. Gifts may be refused. On what basis may gifts be refused? A person may dislike or be offended by a inappropriate gift,or, they may not wish to be obliged to the giver. But in the case of the gift of faith, we are speaking of an entirely different kind of gift altogether! Let's say that you present the gospel to an unregenerate person. They listen carefully, but when asked to place their trust in Christ, they politely say that they do not believe what you have told them. In other words they do not believe because they have not recieved the gift of faith! If they had recieved the gift of faith they would have believed. If you have sight you will see, If you have hearing you will hear (these are gifts that God has graciously bestowed on those who posess them). What is true of these two gifts is also true of faith. If you have been given the gift of faith, you will believe. It is impossible to refuse God's physical gifts! Sight, hearing, smelling, taste and touch etc. and yet we do not accuse Him of violating our "free will" by causng us to have them. God is not obliged to give these physical gifts to everyone because if He were they would not be "gifts". How then can anyone say: Man may refuse the gift of faith. How is it possible for man to refuse something, that he is not even aware of, until he expeiences the effect of it upon his being? And then it is too late, for the effect has changed him into a new creature in Christ. It was not his will that determined this miraculous rebirth but the will of God. God Bless You, John |
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3 | Is God somehow responsible? | Rom 1:20 | Morant61 | 70358 | ||
Greetins John! Everytime I think I just about have your position figured out, you confuse me again! :-) Two posts ago, you said that God only permitted the fall. I responded by saying that I agreed, that I make a distinction between ordaining something and permitting something. So, which do you believe? Did God will sin to happen in the sense that He scripted it out and made it happen? Or, did God will sin to happen in the sense that He permitted it to occur? Finally, based on Eph. 2:8-9, is 'faith' the gift of God, or is it the whole process? I ask becase, as you probably have heard before, the pronoun 'it' cannot have as its antecedents either 'faith' or 'grace'. They are both feminine nouns, while the pronoun 'it' is neuter. Thus, the common claim that one cannot repspond in faith unless God gives faith is not supported by the text. (This may be a whole new thread) :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | Is God somehow responsible? | Rom 1:20 | John Reformed | 70363 | ||
So, which do you believe? Did God will sin to happen in the sense that He scripted it out and made it happen? Or, did God will sin to happen in the sense that He permitted it to occur? I don't think that He has made us privy to that information. At least I have'nt found the answer in the Bible yet. It may not be a question of "either or". His ways are past finding out, you know. We do know that He created all things and that all He sets out to do He accomplishes. We know He commands knowing His commands will be broken.We also know He operates using a plan, and a perfect plan at that! So He must have planned that Adam and Eve sin but His plan also allowed for their freedom to not sin. Of course there was no doubt in God's omniscient mind. He knew they would sin. Hey! It's His creation afterall. He has mercy on whoever He wants etc. Our time would more profitably spent discovering what He has done and what He wants us to do rather than speculating on why He has done what He has done. Especially when we lack scriptural proof. I'm not a genious ya know!(do not feel compelled to answer that last remark) :-) Ihave Bible Study tonight. Must dash off! John |
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