Yes! :)
It is all up to them
Yes! :)
Therefore, during our lives, nobody "needs" God to get into Heaven
No!
His work is done and He's out of the picture now in terms of salvation
That is the Protestant view. :(
You are saying that during our lives, after Christ has died on the cross, the whole issue of salvation is COMPLETELY up to us.
No.
The Bible certainly does not teach that
Agree.
When God created satan, he was not evil, but became evil later on his own.
Against God's will?
That is his independence
Reformed denial of free will is what makes any independence impossible. Even if this "independence" is based on God's permission it still depends on His will. Now, that which depends on another factor is not independent.
Just as our freedom is limited, and dependent on God's will, our evil then must be dependent on God willingness to permit it and cannot exist without it. So, God is involved in our evil as well, and therefore evil does not exist independently.
God respects our decisions, by permission. He wills that we make free decisions and He will honor them. He left it up to Adam and eve to make a decisions and they did, and he honored them. But He also warned them of the consequences. He did that in order to make sure they were not His "predestined" robots, but that they come to Him freely as He comes to us.
If evil is not independent of God, then it is a part of God. You've never said anything like that before
Evil is not part of God, it is part of our freedom to reject God. That freedom is given to us by God, but the decision to accept God or reject Him is ours, not His.
Jesus in the desert is NT. You think that is myth?
No, because in His human nature he was subject to temptation. James 1:13 tells us that God does not tempt, so that only leaves satan as an independent tempter And the Lord's Prayer says "do not leads us into temptation..." If God doesn't tempt, then why ask Him not to leads us into temptation? The Book of Job shows that the satan is not an independent tempter, but works with God's permission. The idea that the devil is somehow an "independent," rival, to God comes from pagan Zotroastrianism which infiltrated Jewish beliefs during the Babylonian captivity and introduced divine "dualism." In Zoroastrianism, the good god and the evil good battle it out at the end, and the good god wins. None of the apocalyptic theology existed in Judaism prior to Babylonian captivity, which is what makes Revelation a highly suspect book. Christ never taught there was going to be a 'final battle" or that we are "at war," but simply his judgment. The idea of the final battle and God's armor, and what not is post-Christian teaching that crept into the church. What are you implying? Is it that Paul was wrong and "armor of God" is not how God wants us to think about it? I have no idea what he means. If he means the faith in God and trust in Him, then why not just call it that? No armor will stop us from being tempted because our human nature is temptable (because of our bodies). Our resistance to temptation is inner and not outer. It is refusal to follow the "instincts." It is a struggle within, not without.
That is the Protestant view. :(
Where does that come from? God is actively involved with the necessary perseverance of His elect every single day. And it is HIM doing the work, not us.
FK: "When God created satan, he was not evil, but became evil later on his own."
Against God's will?
The term "God's will" can be used in two ways. One is that if God wills something, He causes it. Another is that He allows it as part of His plan. In this case it was the latter. God, as satan's creator, could have prevented him from falling, but He didn't. Since God is no respecter of men (or angels) then it must have been part of His plan. God wanted our experience on this earth to be exactly as it is, and has been, and will be.
Reformed denial of free will is what makes any independence impossible. Even if this "independence" is based on God's permission it still depends on His will. Now, that which depends on another factor is not independent.
Imagine that my 17 y.o. son comes to me with big plans to do a thing. In my experience I know that it would be a huge mistake and tell him so. He remains adamant, but I retain the power to say "no". However, my own plan is to let him do it anyway, on the theory that it would be better for him to learn a cheap lesson now, rather than make the same mistake later and have it be much more expensive. He goes and does the thing and fails horribly. Now, did he do the thing independently, or do you pin responsibility on me just because I could have stopped it? If the latter, then you are forced to also believe that either God is not in control of His creation, or that every bad thing that happens in the world is at least partly God's fault.
So, God is involved in our evil as well, and therefore evil does not exist independently.
God is only involved if you place a duty on Him to prevent. I don't.
God respects our decisions, by permission. He wills that we make free decisions and He will honor them.
OK, if God is a respecter of men, then God is not in control of His creation. I assume that you would say that it was by God's choice to release control to men. This again makes God a mere scribe in terms of His plan. He just writes down what men do, and then declares that as His plan.
FK: "James 1:13 tells us that God does not tempt, so that only leaves satan as an independent tempter."
And the Lord's Prayer says "do not leads us into temptation..." If God doesn't tempt, then why ask Him not to lead us into temptation?
I believe that line is in the spirit of:
1 Cor 10:13 : 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
God does not tempt us, but He does allow us to be tempted. In any event, in the big picture it also serves as a reminder, just like much of the rest of the prayer. To wit: "thy Kingdom come" - does anyone think His Kingdom won't come?, "thy will be done" - does anyone think His will won't be done?, "forgive us our trespasses" - does any believer think He won't forgive?, "lead us not into temptation" - does any believer think He WILL lead us into temptation?
The idea that the devil is somehow an "independent," rival, to God comes from pagan Zotroastrianism which infiltrated Jewish beliefs during the Babylonian captivity and introduced divine "dualism."
satan doesn't merit the term "rival". He is a bug next to God, but he is directly opposed to God.
Christ never taught there was going to be a 'final battle" or that we are "at war," but simply his judgment.
Well, Jesus clearly speaks of the Apocalypse, and you don't believe the parts of the Bible that speak of the battle between God and satan. So, I guess that's all we can say. :)
FK: "What are you implying? Is it that Paul was wrong and "armor of God" is not how God wants us to think about it?"
I have no idea what he means. If he means the faith in God and trust in Him, then why not just call it that? ...
He gave us that metaphor to say just that. The armor is actually God, not our own abilities to buck up and resist. We put on objects that are not of us, just as we trust in God instead of ourselves. This also goes right with my earlier 1 Cor. quote. God provides a way out, etc. Here it is.