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NASB | James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 4:7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. |
Subject: another hypothetical, applied ethics |
Bible Note: Your point has merit; if we are to apply Biblical teachings, we must consider only situations the Bible would grant as possible for us to experience. In that light, we recognize that parables and allegories in Scripture cannot be taken too far beyond the main point(s) they intend to teach. If we do, we create the problems you have described. For example, we could debate the meaning of the oil in the lamps of the 10 virgins in the night. The point of the parable is "watch!" and the oil is incidental. Given that, in my opinion, Chynna's scenario, hypothetical as it was, is similar to a situation we often face, i.e. when we must "shake the dust off our sandals" and move on to the next town, knowing the people have rejected the Lord and what the consequences will be for them. In that situation, we are powerless to intervene directly on behalf of the unbeliever. I felt Chynna's scenario was designed to give us that chance. This is not necessarily unbiblical in that the Lord sometimes offers the opportunity to die for the sake of the Kingdom. Chynna's question asks us what would we do if given that chance and perhaps more profoundly, what would we want the believer to do if we were the unbeliever on trial? Regarding MY hypothetical, of course literally it too is "impossible", yet don't we face similar situations when we are in a position to help a stranger or enemy who is down and there are tangible benefits for us if we don't help them? My point in choosing the injured party to be Satan and the removal of evil as a benefit, was that the lesson of the Good Samaritan, like all God's truths to us, are not defined by circumstances but rather true for all circumstances, even the impossible ones. |