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NASB | Deuteronomy 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice), Just and upright is He. |
Bible Question:
Dear Mark, You say that God wants everyone to be saved, so if someone rejects God, it's not because God wanted them to. That goes in direct oposition to what I read in Job 14:5, "Since his days are determined, the number of months is with You; You have apointed his limits, so that he cannot pass." In Psalm 139:16, "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." And in 1 Peter 2:8, it is clear that those who stumble because they disobey also were destined to do it. From the foundation of the world, the book of life was written before time began and those whose names where not written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire is revealed in Rev 17:8 and 20:15. This is as clear as it can get. God has declared, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord," Psalm 37:23. "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world," Eph 1:4. How can you say that God wants everyone to be saved when you know that is not how He planned it. If God did give everyone a choice as you say, why do you think He created some with the skill and intelligence to choose the right path, while not giving those abilities to others? This is not a case of which came first, the chicken or the egg. God created the chicken and He created the egg. God created all peoples giving each and everyone their own level of understanding to make right or wrong choices. It dosen't make sense that a loving, just and merciful creator would create human beings just so that one day He could burn trillions of them in the lake of fire for the rest of eternity. By the way, what kind of justice is eternal punishment? What happened to the devine concept of "an eye for an eye?" Thank you in helping me find the truth. Pukalanian |
Bible Answer: You wrote: "You say that God wants everyone to be saved, so if someone rejects God, it's not because God wanted them to. That goes in direct oposition to what I read in Job 14:5, "Since his days are determined, the number of months is with You; You have apointed his limits, so that he cannot pass." The Bible says: 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (3) For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior, (4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of truth. Job writes of the lengths of our lives, same as in Psalm 139, "The days fashioned for me". In 1 Peter 2:8 "They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do." This is not to say that God destined people to sin, which would make God the originator of sin. What is destined is that when they disobey the word, they stumble. You cannot sin without consequence. Exodus 32:32 tells us that names are removed from God's book when they sin. This is not a preset list of persons. Eph. 1:4 Elect in Him - when we are born again we are positionally "in Christ", and we receive all benefits - All - benefits from being in Christ. There is not ONE benefit we receive outside of Christ, or separate from Christ, including Election. Christ is the Elect Servant (See Isaiah 42), and we are elect in Him. You wrote: "If God did give everyone a choice as you say, why do you think He created some with the skill and intelligence to choose the right path, while not giving those abilities to others?" Some are willing in the face of God's gospel of grace to let go of their sin, and others are not. This is not based on intelligence or skill, in fact, Paul wrote: 1 Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. and 1 Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. you wrote: "It dosen't make sense that a loving, just and merciful creator would create human beings just so that one day He could burn trillions of them in the lake of fire for the rest of eternity. By the way, what kind of justice is eternal punishment? What happened to the devine concept of "an eye for an eye?" " I agree with you to the extent that I do not believe that God made trillions of people for the express purpose of casting them into eternal punishment. Even the place of punishment was not made for man, but for the devil and his angels. Eternal punishment never was God's wish for man. But for those who persist in their rebellion against God, the Bible is perfectly clear, there is no other option. Mankind was created to live forever, that we might live with God forever. God provides a way to remove the consequence of sin through Jesus. But those who will not come to Him that they might be saved, there is the full consequence of sin, the eternal existance we were created for, but not with God, rather in the only other place there will be, the place of torment, and eternal punishment of the full weight of sin against an Eternal and Infinitely Holy God. Love in Christ, Mark |