Results 1 - 3 of 3
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | 2 Cor 4:4 | 2 Cor 4:4 | Morant61 | 136177 | ||
Greetings Xmikx! I am so irritated at myself right now! :-) I had just finished a very well written response to your question, and I lost it! Oh well, here I go again! ;-) You asked me in a private e-mail why God would blind anyone. Allow me to answer that question here on the forum. My answer will involve looking at several passages in their context. 2 Cor. 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The same word for ‘blinded’ is also used in John 12:40. In John 12:40, John is trying to explain the inability of people to believe in Jesus (John 12:39). His answer was that their inability to believe was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Is. 6:10. In Is. 6:10, God deliberately causes the people to be unable to ‘see’, or to ‘hear’, or to be able to ‘understand’ (eyes, ears, mind), so that they will not respond to Him. The same point is made in Rom. 11:8, where again it says that Israel was hardened by God. This hardening is described in three ways as an inability to see, as and inability to hear, and as a spirit of stupor (an inability to understand). However, both Is. 6:11 and Rom. 11:25-32 make it clear that this hardening is not permanent, but temporary. The result of the hardening is that all men may now receive mercy (Rom. 11:32). How does this relate to 2 Cor. 4:4? Simple! The same theme is being discussed in 2 Cor. 3-5. Look at the similar words that are found in 2 Cor. 3. 2 Cor. 3:13 speaks of Moses ‘veiling’ his face to hide the glory of God. Paul then goes on to use that imagery of a ‘veil’ as a metaphor for being unable to see, or to hear, or to understand either the Law or the Gospel. 2 Cor. 3:14 states that the Israelites minds were made dull and that a veil remains to this day whenever the old covenant is read. He also describes their hearts as being veiled in 2 Cor. 3:15. The only time this veil is removed is when someone comes to Christ (2 Cor. 3:14 and 16). It is in this sense that the Gospel is veiled to unbelievers in 2 Cor. 4:4. They can not see, hear, or understand the Gospel or see the glory of God. However, God’s glory is being reflected by those of us who have come to Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). And, He has made us His ambassadors to reach out to this world of darkness with the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:20). God’s grace is reaching more and more with the light of the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:15). So, to answer your question as to why God would blind anyone – He blinded them so that He might extend His grace out to all the world, not just to physical Israel (Rom. 11:25-32). I hope this clarifies why I believe that the ‘ho theos’ of 2 Cor. 4:4 is none other than Jehovah Himself, and not Satan. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
||||||
2 | 2 Cor 4:4 | 2 Cor 4:4 | STTIL | 137532 | ||
["why God would blind anyone – He blinded them so that He might extend His grace out to all the world"] That's like saying, "I'm a doctor so I'm going to shoot you so I can save you." God is Light and in Him is no (no, none, nada, zilch, absolutely zero) darkness. If everything that Satan does was ascribe to Satan by name instead of the figures of speech that are used both in Old and New Testament, then the bulk of the Bible would be about Satan instead of God and Christ. There is a documented figure of speech used ascribing to God the acts of Satan. Context helps us to determine whether the Word means God our Father, or if it is a figure of speech. |
||||||
3 | 2 Cor 4:4 | 2 Cor 4:4 | Morant61 | 137543 | ||
Greetings Sttil! What does Scripture say my friend? Rom. 11:8b - "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." It does not say that Satan gave them eyes that could not see! In fact, no where does Scripture say that Satan has any such power. He can certainly lie to us, tempt us, or deceive us! But, nowhere does Scripture say that he can blind us! Why did God blind some? Read the entire context of Rom. 9-11! Because Israel was blind, they killed Christ! Because they killed Christ, our sins were paid for by Him! Now, salvation is offered to everyone, Jew or Gentile! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
||||||