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NASB | Romans 9:18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 9:18 So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses), and He hardens [the heart of] whom He wills. |
Subject: The question exists in Paul's Theology |
Bible Note: Actually Angel I am not having trouble accepting God as a loving God - you were not reading my question correctly - I see no problem in God hardening Pharaoh's heart - Pharaoh and everyone else in the world deserves to go to hell. Pharaoh will not be able to say in the end at judgment that God made him do it - for it was after all Pharaoh's greatest desire at the time to not follow God's command (but I say that God was the first causation and Pharaoh was the second - it was God who hardened Pharaoh to not follow His command and Pharaoh in responce to God's hardening desired to not follow God's command. Pharaoh was not outside the control of God but did exactly as God had him do - God is clean and is not the source of evil or sin but He hardens men in such a way to be sure of their damnation and yet men still bare full responcibility for their actions). My question is one of our view of how God has mercy and how God hardens people. You said: "it is our choice that free us or condemn us!" So I will ask you: Can a fallen man (meaning a sinner, before regeneration) do anything to please God? If he can - what can he do? Second, you said: "God has no need for us to perish (eternal damnation in Hell)" If God did not want people to go to hell, would anyone go to hell? Did the world turn out differently than God wanted it to? Meaning that sin entered the world and Christ was needed to redeem men? Would God do things differently if He created a second world? Or is everything as He wanted so that He would receive the most glory possible from his creation? Thanks for your time :) Oh one more thing - You said: "we, in good intent, fall out of our Faith.." This is one of the many reasons thinking that the choices men make are above God is dangerous - For if our faith, our choice to believe in Christ comes from us that means we can quit believing. But if our faith is a gift from God then, if we are truly His - no one and nothing will ever take us away from our beautiful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If He is the author and the finisher - where is man in that? He started and so He will complete what He has started in me - I will not fail, because He started and so will work in me to become more like Him until the day I see Him face to face. |