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NASB | James 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror--they have seen His wrath]! [Deut 6:4; 11:13-21; Mark 12:29] |
Subject: Have we chosen freely? |
Bible Note: Colin God picks everyone for salvation and allows them the choice to accept or reject His love. The reformation had to develop a legal reason to oppose Rome. Remember at the time Rome controlled both the political as well as the religious world. To this they had to show that Rome's teaching was in error. Hence they conceived predestination. They knew if something was repeated and talked about enough it would become the accepted belief, hence they had the hole they were looking for to attack Rome’s teaching. Remember they had to present their case to the King of France who really didn’t care about Rome’s injustices, he would only have to deal with what could be proven. Calvin a lawyer of the time only saved about year before this wrote his Institutes of Christianity to make a legal case showing the virtue of the Reformation. Many have taken this legal brief word smithed by one the best as a religious document detailing authentic church doctrine. Because it suited them and played into the reformers hand they allowed this to continue unopposed for about 100 years. At this time many stood up and said enough your making God out to be a tyrant, a puppetmaster rather than being the loving God He is. Unfortunately the tide of opinion had swung and many of these men met their maker at the end of ropes or tied to a stake. It wasn’t until the Bible became common place that man could truly understand the nature of God. That He didn’t create us to manipulate us but rather to draw us to Him in response to the love he pours out upon us. He honors men and women that maintain the faith in him. The predistinationalist would have us believe he is honoring men and women that had not other choice than follow Him. Do some searches this subject has been discussed at great length and serves little purpose repeating. Those that hold to predestination refuse to view the evidence in light of the whole scripture choosing to focus on a few verse that seem to confirm their position. EdB |