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To: stfassisi; metmom; wmfights; D-fendr
God's principles never change. His character and His nature do not change. However, God's dealings with man DOES change throughout time. The stated terms of acceptance with Him have changed again and again down through the ages. Faith in Him would be expressed in different ways, according to His terms of acceptance. Hebrews 11 states that clearly.

So it is NOT an "all one event" with God. Look at the changes in the way He has dealt with man from Adam and Eve, to now. Blood sacrifices were required at first (Gen. 4:3-5; Heb. 11:4); then, later, circumcision was added (Gen. 17:14); the obedience to the whole Mosaic law was demanded (Ex. 19:5, 6, Rom. 10:5); then "then baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4, Acts 2:38). And NOW it is "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly; his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:5).

It is not one continuous day with God. Otherwise, why the changes in the way He has dealt with man throughout time? Why did He not just inform Adam and Eve and everyone forward that Christ died FOR OUR SINS, was buried and rose again the third day? That was not revealed until He revealed it to Paul. A quick reading of Luke 18:31-34 will prove that point. Even the 12 did not know this.

684 posted on 02/13/2012 3:21:21 PM PST by smvoice (Better Buck up, Buttercup. The wailing and gnashing are for an eternity..)
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To: smvoice; metmom
So it is NOT an "all one event" with God. Look at the changes in the way He has dealt with man from Adam and Eve, to now.

I agree God has not changed, but how He chooses to interact with His creation does change in different periods. However, I do believe a constant through all the different periods is we are only saved by God's Grace through Faith. Hebrews 11 is filled with superstars from the OT who were saved because of their faith.

I believe in different periods God gives man greater free will than in other periods. The garden, the time of Noah and in the Millennial reign I believe men are given more free will and in the end we show our depraved nature, which also reveals how great God's Mercy is because none of us are worthy on our own.

689 posted on 02/13/2012 3:41:44 PM PST by wmfights
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To: smvoice; metmom; D-fendr

You’re not thinking this through,dear friend. Believe what you want,you’re wrong and I spent enough of my time on this

All of what you described is one NOW with God-ONE eternal event otherwise you have a changeable GOD that lacks perfection. For God to change it would be he made a mistake and somehow does not know Himself.

Here is more from Saint Thomas Aquinas..

That God understands all things at once and together
THE reason why our understanding cannot understand many things together in one act is because in the act of understanding the mind becomes one with the object understood;* whence it follows that, were the mind to understand many things together in one act, it would be many things together, all of one genus, which is impossible. Intellectual impressions are all of one genus: they are of one type of being in the existence which they have in the mind, although the things of which they are impressions do not agree in one type of being: hence the contrariety of things outside the mind does not render the impressions of those things in the mind contrary to one another. And hence it is that when many things are taken together, being anyhow united, they are understood together. Thus a continuous whole is understood at once, not part by part; and a proposition is understood at once, not first the subject and then the predicate: because all the parts are known by one mental impression of the whole.* Hence we gather that whatever several objects are known by one mental presentation, can be understood together: but God knows all things by that one presentation of them, which is His essence; therefore He can understand all together and at once.

2. The faculty of knowledge does not know anything actually without some attention and advertence. Hence the phantasms, stored in the sensorium, are at times not actually in the imagination, because no attention is given to them. We do not discern together a multitude of things to which we do not attend together: but things that necessarily fall under one and the same advertence and attention, are necessarily understood together. Thus whoever institutes a comparison of two things, directs his attention to both and discerns both together. But all things that are in the divine knowledge must necessarily fall under one advertence; for God is attentive to behold His essence perfectly, which is to see it to the whole reach of its virtual content, which includes all things. God therefore, in beholding His essence, discerns at once all things that are.

6. Every mind that understands one thing after another, is sometimes potentially intelligent, sometimes actually so; for while it understands the first thing actually, it understands the second potentially. But the divine mind is never potentially intelligent, but always actually: it does not, then, understand things in succession, but all at once.

Holy Scripture witnesses to this truth, saying that with God there is no change nor shadow of vicissitude (James i, 17)


690 posted on 02/13/2012 3:47:57 PM PST by stfassisi ((The greatest gift God gives us is that of overcoming self"-St Francis Assisi)))
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