The Bible is replete with accounts of men and women who were moved by the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times. Would God give only some men the Holy Spirit to comfort them and not others? Yes! God is not fair, but just. He also made some men taller than others. He made a covenant with Abraham but not with Lot, with Jacob but not Ishmael.
Romans 9:21-23 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory...
Emphasis mine.
Do you believe that every man prior to the cross was condemned to die an eternal death?
No, many believed in the types and shadows of the promise to come. In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, we have the advantage over men in history. They were without excuse, we all the more for to whom much is given much is required.
Shalom!
Warning: Religious comments follow...
The Bible is replete with accounts of men and women who were moved by the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times. Would God give only some men the Holy Spirit to comfort them and not others?
Yes! God is not fair, but just. He also made some men taller than others. He made a covenant with Abraham but not with Lot, with Jacob but not Ishmael.
Fair is a good term. Thus it is a trait of God.
Just is a good term. Thus it is a trait of God.
God made covenants with those who tried to follow his word, and did not with those who drifted from it based on their thoughts or desires. Those are fair and just decisions. God could only promise one man his progeny would bring forth the Christ. That was not unfair. Abraham was a falible man, but he loved God. He made some big mistakes, but God stood by his falible man. I believe Abraham stood by God as well. There is hope for us isn't there.
On the subject of height, it is not a quotient of potential salvation.
It would have been neither fair or just for God to make all men exactly the same. To do so would have created 100% followers of His word. There had to be variables. Short people are not limitied in their ability to think clearly. Zacchaeus is a case in point.
God was required in the interest of universal perceptions of right and wrong to supply every man with the tools to recognize right and wrong. If any man were to be condemned absent the influences of the Holy Spirit, the legitimacy of God's just nature would come under question. That could not be allowed to happen.
In the end, sin has to be seen for what it is. Right and wrong decisions have to be seen for what they were. Temptation and the acceptance or refusal of sin must be understandable, and the process precisely the same for every human.
Romans 9:21-23 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory...
Emphasis mine.
I'm not sure your point there, but every single soul will be weighed in the balance. Each soul will have had to have the same tools to make good decisions with.
God cannot condemn a man with no Holy Spirit present. What chance to make the right decision would that person have had? What being watching such a process could term it even and reasoned as to salvation?
Good comes from God, and the Holy Spirit is the only conduit.
Do you believe that every man prior to the cross was condemned to die an eternal death?
No, many believed in the types and shadows of the promise to come. In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, we have the advantage over men in history. They were without excuse, we all the more for to whom much is given much is required.
I think I'm running up against some religious teachings here that are >IMO< flawed.
There is no agent of conviction absent the Holy Spirit. Nothing moves on man without concience, and the Holy Spirit is the only thing that enables concience.
Jesus does not talk to us in a manner God didn't. Of course we have His written word, but much of that came from before the cross didn't it. God talked to early man in the Garden and at various times. He gave the Ten Commandments.
I suspect you do not puch much story in the Old Testament. I believe that is a mistake.
Jesus prayed to His Father and we are instructed to talk to Jesus.
That doesn't not mean that the Holy Spirit was not available to those before the Cross. It doesn't not mean that a member of the Holy Trinity was not available to people before Jesus. If Jesus prayed to the heavenly Father, then so could everyone else have.
To be a true test for the ages, Jesus could not be seen to go through a process not available to the common man.
Jesus was born as a man. Lived his life as a man. Suffered the same trials and tribulations as a man. And he conquered evil. That simply does not happen without the Holy Spirit, and a member of the Holy Trinity to pray to.
For Jesus to live a perfect life, and that to mean anything, he could not have special privileges. He had to do this as a son of man, despite the fact he was the Son of God. He was humanity's one chance for salvation.
God could have merely pardoned man.
He could have struck down Lucifer and his fallen angeles when they left heaven.
He could have strick Satan down at the Garden.
Sin had to play out. Creatures across the universe would never have believed what Sin would ultimately lead to.
Lucifer and his angels were too magnificent to contemplate them presiding over something as wicked as what Sin ultimately becomes. It had to play out.
No, the redemption of man was a complex feat. Every sentient creature of the universe had to be able to understand a number of concepts totally outside their grasp.
God wanted to be obeyed out of love, not fear.
The Conflict of the Ages had to be transparent for all to see. Absolute fairness was afforded to all God's followers, and even to all those who turned their back on Him in heaven and earth.
Every good thing comes from God. Every bad thing comes from Satan. This is the ultimate choice, and Sin is being revaled more and more to the universe each day.
The Holy Spirit flowing through us compells us to tell this story clearly.
There was a day when parts of the world knew nothing of Jesus. That is why he sent the disciples out to spread the word. The world not being totally accessable back then, man could only do so much, and keeping the word alive was important. That's why it's spread was vital.
In the last days, total truth will be known universally. The world will have shrunk so every eye shall see and every ear shall hear. When they have and each man has made his choice, the end of this old evil world will replaced with something better.
Shalom!
And to you...The Bible is replete with accounts of men and women who were moved by the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times. Would God give only some men the Holy Spirit to comfort them and not others? Yes! God is not fair, but just. He also made some men taller than others. He made a covenant with Abraham but not with Lot, with Jacob but not Ishmael.
Romans 9:21-23 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory...
Emphasis mine.
Do you believe that every man prior to the cross was condemned to die an eternal death?
No, many believed in the types and shadows of the promise to come. In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, we have the advantage over men in history. They were without excuse, we all the more for to whom much is given much is required.
Shalom! And to you...
General comments follow. They are not to focused on you.
Seeing the wretch you are,
God's Spirit is within you.
Don't give up. He hasn't.
When despare and certain detruction are all around, we truly see ourselves for the wretches we are,
the Holy Spirit is within us and has caused us to focused clearly so it can comfort and or help.
Rejoice. He is there. Our salvation is just an acceptance away.
Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ...
From that moment on, we seek to follow God's word, and sin no more.
Sinning is a rejection of God's love. You are biting of the apple.
God knows the power of sin, but He wants to know you're trying.
Jesus gave his life for you. If you were the only sinner, it would have been for you.
We are all sinners and have fallen far short of the Glory of God.