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NASB | Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD. |
Subject: pleasestate your undestandingof verse |
Bible Note: Hello again, Doc You wrote, "Either God is in control of all things or something else has power over God." Either God is in control of all things OR something else has power over God? I think the answer is a bit more complicated. His ways are higher than our ways. Can anyone rightly put God's attributes into such a tiny box? Your either-or logic does not explain that I can have control over my own willpower in certain scenarios, such as if I go to church, or rather to sin. You say, "something else has power over God" ? To have power over God would be to have the ability to change or direct His will. God always retains the power to change and/or direct my will through the use of outside influences: And a voice said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? I do not possess such power, nor does any, other than God. ... thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, ....and thou preservest them all; ... (Neh 9:6) Otherwise, when I do sin, it is God that has ordained that decision for me. That is in contradiction to the info you provided: "thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein -1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith" Without a will that is totally free to choose its own course of action, how do you explain your statement, "the brothers of Joseph, chose -- of their own free will -- to violently treat their brother and sell him into slavery" -Can you tell me that this was God's plan, which started as plot to murder Joseph, but he was not, due to a reprieve that came through brother Reuben? There are many influences that are put in place by God, and the dreams of the famine was one of them, and coupled with the drought suffered by Joseph's homeland. So God is able to take what was meant for bad and turn it to good. But He could not have been the author of the plan to kill. This was initiated by man's nature, which is contrary to God's. -But, what was meant for bad was not authored by God, by your own admission. God turns bad to good, hence in my prior post to hopalong, "those circumstances that are arranged by God are the most fortunate occurrences of life." This is in contrast to what the flesh desires. This is backed up in Scripture often, but I will use Rom 8:5, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." You wrote, "Either God is in control of all things or something else has power over God." Are you intimating here that God chooses who walks in the Spirit and who walks in the flesh? Do I, or do I not have that power to choose a course of action to take?? If the flesh is contrary to the desires of the Spirit, does God control every movement of the flesh? By your line of thinking, as I understand it, those that exercise their own minds to make independant decisions are exercising power over God. I hope you can clarify your statement. I know that God has power over the nature of my socks and directs the way my eyes discern the color of them. Yet, If I am unable to choose to wear argyle socks with blue-jeans, then I do not have power of my own free will. I submit that I can wear anything I want, any day I want. Even though God is the provider of all materials, time, and energy to do so. And God has unlimited power to sway my decision, if and whenever He chooses. For if there is one maverick molecule, it would mean that God is not sovereign. -Sproul -This, my godly friend, has nothing to do with choice. It is exemplary of the vastness of God's presence and power. God made rocks but he did not give rocks the power to choose. God orders every molecule and atom in every rock to be a rock. (Scientists call this "molecular cohesion"). Otherwise, any 'maverick' molecules of any material would go their own way, choosing their own path, as God, in His ultimate wisdom, has given mankind the ability to do. God also empowers us to walk in the Sprit, for we are insufficient to do this on our own. Those that choose to follow His commands are given more power to do so. God's blessings to you this day, keliy |