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NASB | Romans 1:18 ¶ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 1:18 ¶ For [God does not overlook sin and] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness suppress and stifle the truth, |
Subject: God repented |
Bible Note: Tim: You wrote: "Let me know what you think!" Haven't you learned by now what can of worms that opens? You also wrote: "I'm not trying to be a smart alex, but this seemed like a contradictory statement. Aren't decrees things that ultimately spring from God's sovereign will? Thus, how could God decree something that He knew would happen?" Not very precise, was it? That's what sleep deprivation does to Joe... God's sovereign will includes what He does Himself, what He orchestrates to occur, and what He permits from His sentient creation. This is indeed a tricky subject, because we have to take into account a lot of things: 1. God's omnipotence and omniscience 2. The responsibility of human beings for their own sin. 3. The fact that God in many places in Scripture declares that He is bringing about judgment upon this individual or that nation, and His decree that judgment will come by means of the sinful activities of another individual or nation (e.g. Absolom sleeping with David's harem as a direct result of his sin with Bathsheba; the conquest of Israel and Judah by Assyria and Babylon, respectively). 4. Our God is a God of purpose. Absolutely nothing that occurs in life is coincidence from God's perspective; and every action in creation, whether committed or permitted by God, has a direct connection to the entire plan of God. That is a lot of Scriptural truth to work into a coherent theology! Let's apply this to a woman who becomes a prostitute. 1. God has always known that it would happen, and God was able to stop it from happening. 2. The woman is responsible for each individual act of sin. 3. God has sovereignly placed the woman in the life situation that she is in, giving her an opportunity and perhaps even a life situation more conducive to a person becoming a prostitute. This is not to say that God TEMPTS the woman to become a prostitute, but one's upbringing makes certain sins more available and socially acceptable (or at least less socially unacceptable). Another example that demonstrates this is the fact that unsaved teenage boys in upper-class, gated communites and who attend private preparatory schools are much less likely to express their inherent sinfulness by joining a street gang than a teenage boy in the inner city. Both are sinful in the eyes of a holy God, and are incapable of pleasing him in anything they do. However, their life situations, ordained by God, give each of them different likely outlets for that sinfulness to manifest itself. In other words, God, though external means, directs our innate sinfulness in directions in which His purposes will be accomplished. 4. The prostitute's sinful decision in her God-decreed environment is decreed to occur (i.e. her sinful wish is permitted to be carried out), with effects reaching as far as God allows and no farther. All of this was included beforehand, in eternity past, as an included event in God's overall plan, along with its consequential effects on other things that He decrees. I agree that God exists beyond time, but he does "reach in" and interacts in a chronological, linear fashion with his temporally-bound creation. --Joe! |