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NASB | Acts 8:13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:13 Even Simon believed [Philip's message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
Subject: How do I make sense of the context? |
Bible Note: You wrote: "Prayerful?s example of Lydia?s salvation in Acts 16:14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Certainly doesn?t say God ordained her to accept what Paul said but on pay attention to what Paul said" It would seem that that is exactly what Luke is referring to. In the very next verse her whole household is getting baptized. Was God acting against her will to "open her heart"? What if she was determined to keep her heart closed? You see, even Arminians pray that God will "open people's eyes" and "make people see" or "cause them to fall in love with You" or something to that effect. Even if we are only praying that God bring the gospel to them, we are praying that God direct the steps of another human being to bring that message. You wrote: "I still and probably will always believe our life is mapped out. On that path God has placed forks or junctions. At each we must make a decision, how we chose is based on our relationship with God. God knows each choice before we make them and steers that fork once again to the place he would have us meet an new and different fork." Oh, we are not "puppets" or "robots"; we are "lab rats"! :) Your example still falls short, because you are suggesting that even before salvation it is our decision to follow "forks" that lead us TO the gospel in the first place. If God truly and purposefully sets His agenda on the salvation of as many as possible, why doesn't He arrange the forks better so that people will be in more convincing situations? We both know that there are people in this country, saturated with "evangelical" churches, who have been led away FROM, not toward, the truth of Jesus Christ. That doesn;t even factor in the unreached people groups or folks in countries hostile to Christianity. The view does not promote a view of a sovereign God, but rather a somewhat distant, hand-wringing God who is "doing everything He can," putting up the "forks" as best as He can, but not being as successful as He would like. "God allowed man to make those choices not so he would be forced to chose God and worship Him." I came willingly to the Cross. "However I do believe God enlightens us to sin within us and makes us seek for a solution." If you mean the "conscience," I agree. However, due to our sinfulness we are not inclined to seek the solution in Jesus Christ. Hence the myriads of religions in the world, and pseudo-Christian cults that have but the smallest flavor of the truth. In other words, we are seeking out the true God in the same way a bank robber is seeking out a police officer, or the way Adam and Eve sought God out in Eden after the Fall (Romans 1:21; 3:11). "Notice the religious customs in most any other culture. The people are attempting to atone and worship an unknown god." I do not know if the word "atone" is an accurate description. Pagans try to "appease" capricious gods. Hindus seek enlightenment. So do Buddhists, even those that do not believe in God. Other religions are based on a system of earning heaven in some way, so even if they believe in God, they see themselves ultimately as their own saviors. However, not every sacrifice to gods (known or unknown) is based on an acknowledgement of guilt before a holy God. "Human nature longs for a God he just has to be presented." I would agree with Romans 1 that human nature recognizes the existence of God, but suppresses that truth in unrighteousness. When the true God is presented, the response is often not a sigh of relief. "What causes a Muslim to repent, to pray for forgiveness, to seek entrance into heaven. If they are dead to their sin what are they repenting of?" Muslims are dead IN their sins, which does not mean that they are unaware of their guilt before God. However, they are most offending a holy God by daring to come before Him clothed in the filthy rags of their own unrighteousness (Isaiah 64:6; Habakkuk 1:13). Even their prayers of "repentance" are horribly offensive sins, and God will punish them for those, too. --Joe! P.S. I decided instead to share your "steak dinner" with all our brethren here. Hope you do not mind! :) http://www.txbeef.org/recipe.php3?951948379 |