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NASB | 2 Samuel 12:11 "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Samuel 12:11 "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will stir up evil against you from your own household; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. |
Bible Question:
Does this mean, then, that God is in fact the author of sin? This verse was cited to me in another discussion (Gal 2:17) about this same subject (see the message "Bob: What did you think of my view th... Reformer Joe Fri 08/24/01, 8:57pm"). I have done some preliminary reading from my rather limited library, and have come to no satisfactory answers. What this verse (and verse 12) say litterally, or so it would seem to me, is that God Himself would directly cause sin to take place. Granted, it was in judgement of previous sin. But if two wrongs don't make a right for humans, it certainly wouldn't for a holy God either! How can God do this and still be called holy? |
Bible Answer: Bob: I wondered where you had been off to! I took some time before responding to read some of the answers from others on this forum, and I imagine that you were not terribly satisfied with most of those explanations, either. Your post does bring me to something I had wanted to fit in earlier: whether using the words "author," "cause," and "source" synonymously is correct here. Here is my understanding: Q: Where does sin originate? A: The sinful hearts of human beings. Before we have performed a single sinful act, we are sinners in our hearts. Jesus made this clear in the Sermon on the Mount regarding sinful acts: "'You have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY"; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.'" --Matthew 5:27-28 Even those who lack the opportunity or fear the earthly consequences of carrying out this act still have sinned; Christ even used the word "already" to indicate that as far as God was concerned, the act had been carried out in the sinner's heart. That answers the question of the authorship of sin. It is the sinner himself. ------- Q: What choices will the unregenerate make? A: Every thought and act of those who are not followers of the Lord Jesus Christ is marred by sin and selfish motives, and their every act is tainted by sin and displeasing to God. Paul says that they are slaves to their sin, and will produce nothing but sinful acts: "because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." --Romans 8:7-8 Therefore, God continually brings into existence people who will, from birth to death, rebel against Him. He knew this from eternity past; this is no "cosmic accident." ------- Q: So how can God decree sin (along with all other things) without being the author of it? A: Here is what I come up with: ...by bringing sinful people into EXISTENCE (seen above; that includes all of us before we place our trust in Christ). ...by providing the ABILITY and OPPORTUNITY to sin. For example, an invalid could be a rapist in his heart, but God has not allowed him the capability to allow that already-existant sin to be carried out. Others, however (such as Absolom), have not been limited in their capacity to carry out this sin. Again, sin exists in the mind of sinners. They are the authors of it, notwithstanding any external reason(s) preventing them from carrying it out. This should be a very sobering thought for individuals who think that the fact that they do not act on their sinful impulses somehow makes them better than those who do. Many times the only thing keeping sinners from committing very heinous crimes is cowardice. ...by limiting the EXTENT of the expression of the sinful act. Absolom was brought into existence by God; he was born a sinner, so that he was bent toward evil. That evil heart constantly will reject what is of God and selfishly seek its own ends. God, having judged David for his sin with Bathsheba, made it so that Absolom would have the ability and opportunity to carry out the sinful desires of his heart. All of this, even though perpetrated by Absolom and arising from the sinfulness in his own heart, was decreed by God to serve His ends (i.e. judgment upon David). Absolom was still sinning even if he hadn't slept with his father's concubines. God, through external means, merely gave form to how Absolom's sinfulness found expression. A very crude analogy is how the water of a river will inevitably flow downstream, but it is the shape of the riverbanks which determines the path it takes. Re-direct the river, as God does with human beings and their opportunities and empowerment, and the water will still flow, only in a different direction. The good news is that God eventually limited the extent to which Absolom's rebellion would occur, just as He limits the extent to the damage which sin does to the world in our day. As bad as the world is today. imagine how horrible it would be if the expression of sinfulness was not checked! Therefore, God brings sinners into existence when and where He wants them to exist. He gives all individuals a certain amount of power and opportunity within the spheres of their existence, and all unregenerate people will continually use the power and oppurtunity they have to act out the sin they have already authored in their hearts. God in his wisdom controls and decrees all of the external variables so that the inevitable sinfulness originating within His creatures is carried out only in the manner in which He decrees, to serve His eternal purposes. --Joe! |