ABondSlaveofChristJesus
Puritan Board Freshman
This is where Christianity in the evangelical world is going....
"many free-will believers say that a man can not come to Christ without being led to him (by God himself). As in, Gods grace is shed on them, and by that grace they see their sin (the destruction is brings) and the remedy (which is Christ). This is where they believe free will comes in, at this point, in which the finite man is found by the Eternal God and he has that choice to believe on Christ or to waste away in that sin.
We often get so caught up with the sovereignty of God that we fail to realize that he saved the world with Love....... Christ (yes, the Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world). Not with might.
I know a guy that is going to school (like you gabe), and he often calls me a fundie and the like..... but I found one of His posts interesting.
_Nate_
Just to let you know, what you just described is not THE doctrine of predestination. That's one particularly strong Reformed interpretation of the doctrine.
Most Christians believe in predestination, but most (including many in the Reformed tradition) don't think that the doctrine has to do with God picking out ahead of time, by nothing other than divine decree, which individuals go to heaven and which go to hell.
I don't believe in the heinous interpretation you put forward, and not because I don't like the idea of God being in full control of my life. I don't believe in it because it is in opposition to the picture of God painted by the Gospels.
It sounds like you have the same sorts of psychological problems that lead many to posit such a view of God. You seek your security in a heavenly defender who can rule by brute strength, because you are insecure about your own strength.
Such a view of God is firmly grounded in human sinfulness. Humans praise those who can rule by might. By claiming to be on the side of an almighty God, and by claiming to be made in His image, you associate yourself with the strength and power that your sin nature craves.
God's revelation shows us that your thoughts are sin, because God conquered sin through an act of love, not might. Christ won the day by weakness, not strength. His weakness is His strength; love is a weakness, and God is love. But by being weak, love has power. God has power by the power of love. Being the creator, He can rule with brute strength, but the cross shows us that He does not choose to. The cross makes us wonder whether God ever rules by force; it calls us to reconsider every act of God in the Bible and question whether God really acted out of any power other than love.
It takes a much stronger God to rule without force than it does to rule with it. Ghandi was a greater warrior than Samson, and Jesus a greater general than Caesar. The God of the Bible, the God who suffers limitation and risks failure, is a mightier God than the gods of humanity's fantasies."
[Edited on 4-2-2005 by ABondSlaveofChristJesus]
"many free-will believers say that a man can not come to Christ without being led to him (by God himself). As in, Gods grace is shed on them, and by that grace they see their sin (the destruction is brings) and the remedy (which is Christ). This is where they believe free will comes in, at this point, in which the finite man is found by the Eternal God and he has that choice to believe on Christ or to waste away in that sin.
We often get so caught up with the sovereignty of God that we fail to realize that he saved the world with Love....... Christ (yes, the Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world). Not with might.
I know a guy that is going to school (like you gabe), and he often calls me a fundie and the like..... but I found one of His posts interesting.
_Nate_
Just to let you know, what you just described is not THE doctrine of predestination. That's one particularly strong Reformed interpretation of the doctrine.
Most Christians believe in predestination, but most (including many in the Reformed tradition) don't think that the doctrine has to do with God picking out ahead of time, by nothing other than divine decree, which individuals go to heaven and which go to hell.
I don't believe in the heinous interpretation you put forward, and not because I don't like the idea of God being in full control of my life. I don't believe in it because it is in opposition to the picture of God painted by the Gospels.
It sounds like you have the same sorts of psychological problems that lead many to posit such a view of God. You seek your security in a heavenly defender who can rule by brute strength, because you are insecure about your own strength.
Such a view of God is firmly grounded in human sinfulness. Humans praise those who can rule by might. By claiming to be on the side of an almighty God, and by claiming to be made in His image, you associate yourself with the strength and power that your sin nature craves.
God's revelation shows us that your thoughts are sin, because God conquered sin through an act of love, not might. Christ won the day by weakness, not strength. His weakness is His strength; love is a weakness, and God is love. But by being weak, love has power. God has power by the power of love. Being the creator, He can rule with brute strength, but the cross shows us that He does not choose to. The cross makes us wonder whether God ever rules by force; it calls us to reconsider every act of God in the Bible and question whether God really acted out of any power other than love.
It takes a much stronger God to rule without force than it does to rule with it. Ghandi was a greater warrior than Samson, and Jesus a greater general than Caesar. The God of the Bible, the God who suffers limitation and risks failure, is a mightier God than the gods of humanity's fantasies."
[Edited on 4-2-2005 by ABondSlaveofChristJesus]
