Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake. |
Subject: verse explains nonChrist knowing savior |
Bible Note: Dear brother Paul, While your post was not extremely lengthy, the several points you ponder would take some time and space to address fully. The overall theme appears to be apparent in your questions: " Is Pharaoh God's agent or enemy? Does a loving God harden his heart and then condemn him? Did not God create evil, (Isaiah 47:7) put evil spirits into Saul, (1 Sam 16:14,15) put evil in a city, (Amos 3:6) and uses a lying spirit. (1 Kings 22:22" My first response is to remind that the only way to understand these things is through the lense of Scripture itself. As I am sure you know, when a verse or passage doesn't make sense to us, we have to compare it to the teachings of Scripture as a whole in order to gain the understanding. An understanding of doctrine plainly taught in Scripture usually solves these kinds of questions in our minds. Doctrines such as the foreknowledge of God, God's sovereignty, His righteousness, free will, etc. Was Pharaoh God's agent or enemy? I believe Sripture teaches that he was both. As Pharaoh, the man was believed to be a god, sent by the gods to rule earth. Easily understood, he was God's enemy. A type of Satan if you will. God is sovereign; He has the absolute right to do all things according to His own good pleasure. When we study the captivity of God's people in Egypt, we see that God not only fulfilled His plan in spite of Pharaoh, but used Pharaoh and what he represented to reveal Himself, His glory, and His sovereignty. In this sense, Pharaoh might be seen as God's agent. Begin reading in Ezek 36:16 for a good understanding of how God uses the circumstances of men to glorify Himself and work sanctification in His own. "did not God create evil..." Absolutely not. Nowhere in Scripture will we find such a teaching. And He did not "put" evil Spirits in Saul. He departed from Saul and allowed the evil spirit to terroize Saul. The best Scriptural explanation I can think of to help understand this would be Job's story. Begin at Job 1:1. Finally, you wrote: "Without David becoming a murderer and adulterer and Judah consorting with someone he thought to be a prostitute, we would not have the lineage of Christ. Have such 'sins' been part of His will?" Not how I Understand it. Again, God is sovereign. The Bible says that He is Holy (Joshua 24:19) He is just (Isa. 45:21). He is neither the creator of sin nor does He tempt any many to sin (James 1:13) God's sovereign plan to redeem mankind did not depend on the sin of David or any other man. Rather, the plan was worked out in spite of their sin. God could have worked out the lineage of Christ through any number of events. Exactly why He chose, for example, to allow David's sin a role only God knows. But what we learn over and over again through Scripture is this. When we see God's plan work out in spite of man's sins and failures, we are left with no doubt that it was and is God, and only God that is in control. What would be the alternative? If God's plan work from start to finish through apparently perfect men, who would receive the glory for that? Just my thoughts and understanding. I believe if I would have attempted to address every point you made, this post would have been too long that much more and would have been repetitive. God bless, Jeff |