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NASB | Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 13:8 All the inhabitants of the earth will fall down and worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain [as a willing sacrifice]. |
Subject: Whose will causes a believer to sin? |
Bible Note: "So, can God God not only tempt Adam and Eve, but ordain the act of sin which they commit?" This goes back to a semantic difference (addressed previously on the forum) in our understanding of the word "ordain." Correct me if I am mistaken, but you seem to hold that God ordaining something means in all cases that God is the most immediate agent in that event coming to pass. That is not our understanding of the term as used in our confessions. Taking the account of the Fall as your chosen example, we would agree that God created Satan knowing he would rebel. He created the world knowing it would become corrupted, and He created the garden knowing it would only be a temporary residence for those created in His image, whom He knew would succumb to the temptation once it was presented to them. He created all of the agents and all of the bait involved in the Fall. Christ knew in eternity past that His incarnation, earthly obedience, and crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification was not "plan B" from a divine perspective. Adam and Eve had an uncorrupted (but corruptible nature) and acted freely against God's revealed will to them, but in doing so did not take God by surprise, nor did they undermine God's eternal plan, which had to have been to redeem humanity (unless we take an open theism view). God did not immediately cause the Fall, nor did He sin. However, I think we both agree that He put everything in place knowing exactly how it would turn out. And that is why the Reformed perspective widens the definition of God's decree and ordination. God has created and governs all things, having already incorporated human and angelic obedience and disobedience into His decree. Another example from my recent Bible study: the Philistines decide to attack Israel precisely when Saul is closing in on David, causing Saul to break off the attack. So should David be thankful to God or the Philistines that he has been preserved? If God did not ordain the sinful actions of the Philistines (i.e. attacking His covenant people), then how can David thank God for sparing him and keeping His promises to him? All throughout Scripture, we see that God ordains sin (and by this I mean SPECIFIC acts of rebellion against God, not just allowing "sin in general") to occur to accomplish His purposes, without sinning Himself. From Absoloms coup d'etat as fulfillment of prophetic judgment against David's adultery, to the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions to chastize and judge his adulterous people, to the very crucifixion of His Son, God's hand was at work through the volitional acts of sinful humans: "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." --Acts 2:22-23 Who delivered Jesus over to die? The Jews or God the Father? Humanly speaking, it was those who hated Christ. Divinely speaking, it was precisely according to God's PREDETERMINED plan. Did God the Father kill Jesus? No. Did he ordain that this sin occur in 1st century Judea by means of crucifixion? Absolutely. God doesn't sin, but ordains that the wickedness of men and Satan be used and directed in ways that ultimately give the Lord all the glory. --Joe! --Joe! |