Posted on 03/30/2015 7:24:14 AM PDT by servo1969
There is an intricate balance between the set of things classically emphasized in evangelical thought as Arminian and those emphasized as Calvinist. A serious believer versed in the scripture will eventually recognize that either school of thought is too simple to stand alone, and this universe serves a God who provides for both/and. The Gordian knot of the paradox is cut by realizing the divine perspective makes distinctions in reality that man cannot even see. If we try to factor God according to our own perspective, it is like a fish trying to imagine how a human can live while being dry.
Re: “There are occasions in which a range of choices are possible that are not a sin. Absent special circumstances, the Lord does not command whether you should have apple or cherry pie. This should be obvious. Sometimes men reason from the divine prerogatives to the absurd. Being omnipotent does not prescribe how the omnipotence is used.”
Agreed. I like how you put it in your last two sentences. In other words, being soverereign doesn’t necessarily mean God exercises that sovereignty in every single event, act, thought, etc.. Not only are men held responsible for their deeds, they ARE responsible for them, too.
because when we see Him, our only response will rightly BE praise and adoration - not because it is forced, but simply because God is so awesome.
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So why did Satan not see God like you describe? He was an angel forced out of heaven, no?
This is the theme of the complex story related in scripture. The humility of the Lord is just so much philosophical words until you see with the eyes of your heart how it gets lived out. It means God doing things in favor of humanity that He had every right not to do and yet a very strong desire to do. Arguing about destiny ironically tends to put men’s thoughts ahead of God’s.
The parameters and consequences of the ability to choose evil are not the same for angels who are not made in God’s image and humans who are thus made. The scripture treats them differently. Angels who sin are lost forever. Men who sin can be saved. There are not (at least in evangelical thought) any unfallen men, beyond the special case of Jesus which was sinless God condensing Himself into the form of a human. There are unfallen angels.
Re: “So why did Satan not see God like you describe? He was an angel forced out of heaven, no?”
An interesting question. For one thing, we are not angelic beings - Satan is, and a very powerful being as well. Why he chose to rebel against God’s Lordship, even though he saw God in His glory, I can’t say. But apparently God gave angels the ability to serve Him or not. Satan chose not to and he was defeated and ultimately thrown out of Heaven, and will also ultimately be thrown into the Lake of Fire mentioned in Revelation.
The difference between Satan’s response and Believers in Christ? I guess I would say that Believers are/will be in Heaven because they freely acknowledged their sin, acknowledged Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and acknowledged His Lordship in their lives. They WANT God’s presence in their lives - they not only see God in His glory, but they also see God’ mercy, forgiveness, and love.
Thank you
Angels would not be able to appreciate the dynamics that are present in what men know as being forgiven.
The scripture says that angels long to look into this. They can only see a semblance of it, vicariously (and presumably this is only the righteous angels, the wicked ones having lost even that capability).
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