slyzr
Full Member
Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Sept 3, 2022 10:59:52 GMT -8
the reason scripture even exists... is to get His Creation back.. and us
His sons and daughters...back...
so... no idol there , for eden IS our promise
and His gorgeous reality
the idols are :
this earth and this body...
Might be more like those seeking to place sin .... on us. Sure ..... they are seeking an improvement. (for the soul thingy) However, there is not any glory in not being. |
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e v e
Full Member
Posts: 214
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Post by e v e on Sept 3, 2022 16:30:12 GMT -8
but we were already placed in not being:
imprisoned here because of
those vampires.
the satanic realm seeks no improvement for us ...they want to keep the status quo and
keep us prisoner here forever
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TedT
Junior Member
...gruntled.
Posts: 57
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Post by TedT on Sept 5, 2022 9:19:52 GMT -8
The Satanic goats know that they cannot be pulled up and burnt by the judgement until the sinful good seed is made holy so keeping us in our sins is their ticket to a long life.
Matt 13:27 The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. [a reference to the explanation of this parable, ie, no more metaphor, in verses 36-39]
So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ [to bring the judgement upon them?] 29 ‘NO!’ he said, [postpone the judgement because...] ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest.
The time of the harvest is the time of the maturity of the wheat and the only maturity that saves a sinner from the judgment is a mature holiness! Thus the sins of the good seed separated them from the holy elect and are the cause of the continued suffering of mankind on this earth.
This is supported by Peter's assertion that our living a godly life hastens, seeds up, the coming of that great and terrible day of the LORD: 2 Peter 3:11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness 12 as you anticipate and hasten, (speed up) the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
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Post by resurrection33 on Sept 5, 2022 10:35:33 GMT -8
I form light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster, I am the LORD, who do all these things / Isaiah 45:7 That verse sure makes it sound like He is. I was wondering what some other posters here views on this may be. A lot of texts flat-out declare that God is not, and could not be, the author of evil. Like, Deuteronomy 32:4 declares that “his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. [He is] a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” And Psalm 5:4 notes, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.” So as we read the deeper into Bible it would seem that God is without evil or any pretense of evil. I learned as I was studying this out that Isaiah 45:7 refers to physical evil. As does Lamentations 3:38 "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?", this verse contrasts prosperity and adversity. So the good is physical goodness and happiness, while the evil is physical distress, misfortune, calamity and natural evil, such as storms, earthquakes and other disasters. Even though a lot of the physical evil in the world often comes through the hand of wicked men and women, ultimately God permits it. Like we see in Genesis 50:20 "As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this— to preserve the lives of many people". If the evil of the Holocaust had not happened, then the miracle of the Jewish people’s return to Israel in 1948 would not have happened. What we can be sure of, however, is the fact that God is never, ever, the originator and author of evil. It would be contrary to his whole nature and being as consistently revealed in Scripture. Christianity has more than answered the problem of the presence of evil (that's the message of the cross) and the problem of the outcome of evil (for Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that God can beat out even the last enemy and greatest evil, death itself). But Christianity’s most difficult question is the origin of evil. Why did God ever allow “this evil stuff” in the first place? To me this is the most interesting question to try to answer on this topic. Next question is as we look around the world today why is there so much evil? It's in the Bible. I think we humans are the authors of evil. |
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Post by praiseyeshua on Sept 26, 2022 7:05:41 GMT -8
I form light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster, I am the LORD, who do all these things / Isaiah 45:7 That verse sure makes it sound like He is. I was wondering what some other posters here views on this may be. A lot of texts flat-out declare that God is not, and could not be, the author of evil. Like, Deuteronomy 32:4 declares that “his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. [He is] a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” And Psalm 5:4 notes, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.” So as we read the deeper into Bible it would seem that God is without evil or any pretense of evil. I learned as I was studying this out that Isaiah 45:7 refers to physical evil. As does Lamentations 3:38 "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?", this verse contrasts prosperity and adversity. So the good is physical goodness and happiness, while the evil is physical distress, misfortune, calamity and natural evil, such as storms, earthquakes and other disasters. Even though a lot of the physical evil in the world often comes through the hand of wicked men and women, ultimately God permits it. Like we see in Genesis 50:20 "As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this— to preserve the lives of many people". If the evil of the Holocaust had not happened, then the miracle of the Jewish people’s return to Israel in 1948 would not have happened. What we can be sure of, however, is the fact that God is never, ever, the originator and author of evil. It would be contrary to his whole nature and being as consistently revealed in Scripture. Christianity has more than answered the problem of the presence of evil (that's the message of the cross) and the problem of the outcome of evil (for Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that God can beat out even the last enemy and greatest evil, death itself). But Christianity’s most difficult question is the origin of evil. Why did God ever allow “this evil stuff” in the first place? To me this is the most interesting question to try to answer on this topic. Next question is as we look around the world today why is there so much evil? It's in the Bible. Bad translation. This is more accurate Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. Part "A" is a reference to Creation. Part "B" is a reference to our Judge. The judgement of sinners is BAD.... |
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Post by Obadiah on Sept 26, 2022 8:04:24 GMT -8
Romans 3:21
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
The redeeming work of Christ providing righteousness apart from the Law.—Then setting forth the great redemption of Jesus Christ, the apostle shows that it provides what the Law had failed to provide, a righteousness which can satisfy the requirements of the Law; a righteousness that is indeed “apart from the law,” apart from all men’s attempts to keep the Law, but is nevertheless in deepest harmony with the principles of the Law, and has been witnessed “by the law and the prophets”
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TedT
Junior Member
...gruntled.
Posts: 57
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Post by TedT on Oct 31, 2022 12:03:56 GMT -8
Bad translation. This is more accurate Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. Light cannot create darkness or we would expect that by turning on a light source, the room to be filled with darkness, an impossibility. Please consider: Light cannot create dark. GOD is light, GOD is love and goodness, so Goodness cannot create, produce, evil... to align with the teaching of the following verses: Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit[, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ...16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.…James 3:11 Can both freshwater and salt water flow from the same spring? [Implied answer: No!] 12 My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.Matthew 12:33
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. People are not created good or bad but self create themselves as good or bad by their free will faith decisions... Luke 6:43
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation.... |
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Post by makesends on Oct 31, 2022 15:14:46 GMT -8
Bad translation. This is more accurate Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. Light cannot create darkness or we would expect that by turning on a light source, the room to be filled with darkness, an impossibility. Please consider: Light cannot create dark. GOD is light, GOD is love and goodness, so Goodness cannot create, produce, evil... to align with the teaching of the following verses: Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit[, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ...16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.…James 3:11 Can both freshwater and salt water flow from the same spring? [Implied answer: No!] 12 My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.Matthew 12:33
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. People are not created good or bad but self create themselves as good or bad by their free will faith decisions... Luke 6:43
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation.... You say: "A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation...." Not arguing against your point here — just a point of hermeneutics: Does that Isaiah text support this change as you imply? Or are you "correcting" what God said? But as to your point, now, how does God's creation create anything? Do you have scripture to back that up, or is that just a figure of speech? You said: "Matthew 12:33
"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. People are not created good or bad but self create themselves as good or bad by their free will faith decisions..."Can you show me scripture that says anyone "self creates themselves"? Are you making this up because it seems the only reasonable explanation? |
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TedT
Junior Member
...gruntled.
Posts: 57
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Post by TedT on Oct 31, 2022 16:05:54 GMT -8
A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation.... You say: "A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation...." Not arguing against your point here — just a point of hermeneutics: Does that Isaiah text support this change as you imply? Or are you "correcting" what God said? There is a great resource called Bible Hub at biblehub.com/... When you get to their page, there is a menu bar under the search window with these options: Parallel, Sermons, Topical, Strong's, Comment, Interlin, Hebrew, Lexicon and Multi. If you have a verse up in the search system and click on Interlin(ear) you get the verse you have searched in either Greek or Hebrew and can use that to do a word study with Strong's concordance. Here is the word create in create darkness in our verse: Strong's 1254. bara: Definition: to shape, create as to your point, now, how does God's creation create anything? Do you have scripture to back that up, or is that just a figure of speech? Our acceptance of GOD's marriage proposal AND our guilt for our sinfulness must mean we have a free, ie uncoerced, will because a forced marriage is not a real marriage, love cannot be forced and be real and if we did not choose and intend to sin, the lack of mens rea means we cannot be held guilty for our sins... Therefore we must have created ourselves as HIS willing Bride and as guilty by choosing to rebel against HIM because HE would never create anyone as evil: Psalm 5:4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. I contend that if this Psalm is true, HE would never have created the evil reprobate for HIS pleasure because HE takes no pleasure in evil nor have created HIS potential bride evil in Adam's sin however defined. |
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slyzr
Full Member
Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Oct 31, 2022 17:10:38 GMT -8
Light cannot create darkness or we would expect that by turning on a light source, the room to be filled with darkness, an impossibility. Please consider: Light cannot create dark. GOD is light, GOD is love and goodness, so Goodness cannot create, produce, evil... to align with the teaching of the following verses: Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit[, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ...16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.…James 3:11 Can both freshwater and salt water flow from the same spring? [Implied answer: No!] 12 My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.Matthew 12:33
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. People are not created good or bad but self create themselves as good or bad by their free will faith decisions... Luke 6:43
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation.... You say: "A further correction of Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness; would be "I form the light and SHAPE the darkness...ie, the evil which was created by part of MY creation...." Not arguing against your point here — just a point of hermeneutics: Does that Isaiah text support this change as you imply? Or are you "correcting" what God said? But as to your point, now, how does God's creation create anything? Do you have scripture to back that up, or is that just a figure of speech? You said: "Matthew 12:33
"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. People are not created good or bad but self create themselves as good or bad by their free will faith decisions..."Can you show me scripture that says anyone "self creates themselves"? Are you making this up because it seems the only reasonable explanation? Not sure about that translation about the tree. It is tattamount to every tree yields bad fruit. Like all trees are bad? |
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slyzr
Full Member
Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Oct 31, 2022 17:50:20 GMT -8
but we were already placed in not being:
imprisoned here because of
those vampires.
the satanic realm seeks no improvement for us ...they want to keep the status quo and
keep us prisoner here forever
So your theology is no one can live. Got, cough .... cough "converted twice", and they are sticlklers on the no can be thingy. Got the scares to prove it. There is no glory in not living. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2022 6:57:57 GMT -8
Is God the Authorof Evil? No. Context is important. Isaiah 45:7 is said in an already-sin-adulterated world about God acting in that already-sin-adulterated world. In point of fact, those words were not spoken to a Christian or Jewish audience. They were spoken to Cyrus, the king of Persia. Not any king of Israel. Persia, and Cyrus, was a Godless nation used as an instrument of judgment upon Israel. God is sovereign.
Even over sin. That is the point to be taken from verse 7. Bad things did not happen and suddenly God was no longer almighty. Adam's disobedience did not render a sliver of creation independent of God. The condition in which every thought of humanity was only evil all the time did not render a sliver of creation independent of God. Israel's repeated idolatry did not render anything in creation independent of God. ALL the pagan idolators existing throughout the entirety of history do not render anything in creation independent of God. In an already sin-drenched world God is still the only sovereign there is and He, and He alone, wields light AND darkness, order AND chaos, good AND evil as He pleases. You, me, and Cyrus are creatures. There's only one Creator. And He will use egregious conditions to destroy you if He wants. Not a thing any of us can do about it. The ontological problems and theological problems would exist if God created evil in an only-good world He Himself had declared good. After the first six days of creation God looked at all He'd made and declared it very good. Many chapters before God spoke to Cyrus in chapter 45 He said the following to Isaiah, Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Does God live by the standards he requires of His creatures? If so then God does not call evil good, nor good evil. On that day in Genesis 1:31 there was no evil in creation. It was by the disobedience of one man that sin entered the world and with it came death, transgressional death. That is evil. In an already-sinfully adulterated world God can, has, and does whatever He likes with His creation. He uses sin for His purposes. He uses the sinful for His purposes. Satan is NOT a free agent. Jude 1:6-7
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. And neither are we. The fact that we sometimes imagine ourselves independent of God is sin! God does whatever He likes with all of it. He creates light and darkness, order and chaos, good and evil. It is all going to be destroyed in the end any way (and then made anew). It might help to understand darkness is not some thing. It is not any thing. Darkness is the absence of light. Evil is an absence of good. When the Genesis creation account speaks of the earth being formless and void, the Hebrew imagery is that of emptiness and desolation. The earth was desolate. This is a theme that runs through the entire Bible from beginning to end (and a lot of people miss the significance of this theme when they try to identify or determine the nature of the AoD). All humanity has been desolate since Genesis 3:6-7. There is thesis, and there is antithesis. Remember: God has no equal! Som when we are inclined to think satan is the antithesis of God, satan is the evil to God's good we are making a huge mistake. Satan is not equal to God in any way, shape, or form. God is Creator and satan is creature. Satan is a slave of sin. He is a slave of not-goodness, a slave of an absence of light. If the tradition about him is true then he was tripped of all his glory and now he can only masquerade as an angel of light. He is a slave of the antithesis. God alone is the Thesis. I suspect my views will vary from most. The gospel has spread around the world and effected positive change wherever it has been heard. It has assimilated every competing worldview and will continue to do so as long as Christians believe it's power (which is Christ). There exist many problems in today's world, but they do not compare to ages past when human life was deemed worthless and might often made right (as was the case with Cyrus). One of the biggest problems within Christendom in modern times is Dispensational Premillennialism. Yes, I can hear everyone's eyes rolling all the way through the interwebs  . Three of the chief beliefs of the 19th century restoration movement were the beliefs the Church is corrupt, the world was coming to an end and Jesus was soon returning, and the world was going to hell in a hand basket and Christians needed to prepare for that by separating themselves from the rest of the world. The first and the last belief conspired. By separating from the world the Church could restore itself. Pamphlets of the day taught Christians not to take public office. Secular government is evil and Christians should not participate. John Darby was a leading proponent of this position and that was a commonly held belief for about a century. During that time western cultures became more secular. There was less gospel presence in the halls of civil leadership because many Christians withdrew. That changed quite a bit due to the influence of Francis Schaeffer's writings in the 1960s and 70s. He pointed out the neglect of Christians in the marketplace of ideas and showed how the gospel is THE best answer to the human condition and all that we regularly observe and experience in creation. God is NOT silent, and neither should Christians be so! This was the seed of movements like Falwell's Moral Majority and a rebirthing of Christians waking up and becoming involved in civil governance. Some still think Christians have no business in politics  . Genesis 1:27-28
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith...In other words, even if it were true the world is worse off today than it has been in past times, that would simply be evidence of our not doing what we're supposed to be doing. The chief sin adulterating the world today might well be our neglect! The solution lies in our being the temple of God in all things, in everything we do, acting as if we actually believe God is sovereign, Christ is the power of God, the Holy Spirit empowers us to do all things in Christ, faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, and we are royal priests chosen by God almighty! Cyrus was nothing in comparison to the adopted sons and daughter so The Most High God. Act like it! We live in a time of HV and Covid, but that does not compare to the plague, the various colored fevers, or many of the diseases have eradicated in modern times due to modern medicine. We fight wars from far away. We don't stand face to face with our enemies and disembowel them while looking them in the eye as their entrails spew onto us..... and then on to the next man, and then the next, and the next until somebody does it to use. We can kill in larger numbers today, but that's a huge improvement over the past. Natural disasters of the past eradicated entire cities, removing them from human existence. Mariupol will be rebuilt. Heracleion and Pompei are gone. Whatever existed prior to the Flood is gone. If the world is in bad shape then that is because that is the way God wants it. He is in charge, not humans. Good humans are not in charge, and neither are evil ones. That notion is foolishness, and it needs to be removed from the Christian mind. God is sovereign over ALL! And if Christians act in a manner consistent with their God-given identity in Christ when they stepped out their door each day the world will look much different. Rule over whatever part of the kingdom God brings to you this day! Do it with humility and grace. Colossians 4:5-6
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Paul, a Greek Jew from Tarsus, went to Rome and preached in the courts of Caesar. Now everyone reading this is a Christian. |
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slyzr
Full Member
Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Nov 8, 2022 22:02:14 GMT -8
Is God the Authorof Evil? No. Context is important. Isaiah 45:7 is said in an already-sin-adulterated world about God acting in that already-sin-adulterated world. In point of fact, those words were not spoken to a Christian or Jewish audience. They were spoken to Cyrus, the king of Persia. Not any king of Israel. Persia, and Cyrus, was a Godless nation used as an instrument of judgment upon Israel. God is sovereign.
Even over sin. That is the point to be taken from verse 7. Bad things did not happen and suddenly God was no longer almighty. Adam's disobedience did not render a sliver of creation independent of God. The condition in which every thought of humanity was only evil all the time did not render a sliver of creation independent of God. Israel's repeated idolatry did not render anything in creation independent of God. ALL the pagan idolators existing throughout the entirety of history do not render anything in creation independent of God. In an already sin-drenched world God is still the only sovereign there is and He, and He alone, wields light AND darkness, order AND chaos, good AND evil as He pleases. You, me, and Cyrus are creatures. There's only one Creator. And He will use egregious conditions to destroy you if He wants. Not a thing any of us can do about it. The ontological problems and theological problems would exist if God created evil in an only-good world He Himself had declared good. After the first six days of creation God looked at all He'd made and declared it very good. Many chapters before God spoke to Cyrus in chapter 45 He said the following to Isaiah, Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Does God live by the standards he requires of His creatures? If so then God does not call evil good, nor good evil. On that day in Genesis 1:31 there was no evil in creation. It was by the disobedience of one man that sin entered the world and with it came death, transgressional death. That is evil. In an already-sinfully adulterated world God can, has, and does whatever He likes with His creation. He uses sin for His purposes. He uses the sinful for His purposes. Satan is NOT a free agent. Jude 1:6-7
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. And neither are we. The fact that we sometimes imagine ourselves independent of God is sin! God does whatever He likes with all of it. He creates light and darkness, order and chaos, good and evil. It is all going to be destroyed in the end any way (and then made anew). It might help to understand darkness is not some thing. It is not any thing. Darkness is the absence of light. Evil is an absence of good. When the Genesis creation account speaks of the earth being formless and void, the Hebrew imagery is that of emptiness and desolation. The earth was desolate. This is a theme that runs through the entire Bible from beginning to end (and a lot of people miss the significance of this theme when they try to identify or determine the nature of the AoD). All humanity has been desolate since Genesis 3:6-7. There is thesis, and there is antithesis. Remember: God has no equal! Som when we are inclined to think satan is the antithesis of God, satan is the evil to God's good we are making a huge mistake. Satan is not equal to God in any way, shape, or form. God is Creator and satan is creature. Satan is a slave of sin. He is a slave of not-goodness, a slave of an absence of light. If the tradition about him is true then he was tripped of all his glory and now he can only masquerade as an angel of light. He is a slave of the antithesis. God alone is the Thesis. I suspect my views will vary from most. The gospel has spread around the world and effected positive change wherever it has been heard. It has assimilated every competing worldview and will continue to do so as long as Christians believe it's power (which is Christ). There exist many problems in today's world, but they do not compare to ages past when human life was deemed worthless and might often made right (as was the case with Cyrus). One of the biggest problems within Christendom in modern times is Dispensational Premillennialism. Yes, I can hear everyone's eyes rolling all the way through the interwebs . Three of the chief beliefs of the 19th century restoration movement were the beliefs the Church is corrupt, the world was coming to an end and Jesus was soon returning, and the world was going to hell in a hand basket and Christians needed to prepare for that by separating themselves from the rest of the world. The first and the last belief conspired. By separating from the world the Church could restore itself. Pamphlets of the day taught Christians not to take public office. Secular government is evil and Christians should not participate. John Darby was a leading proponent of this position and that was a commonly held belief for about a century. During that time western cultures became more secular. There was less gospel presence in the halls of civil leadership because many Christians withdrew. That changed quite a bit due to the influence of Francis Schaeffer's writings in the 1960s and 70s. He pointed out the neglect of Christians in the marketplace of ideas and showed how the gospel is THE best answer to the human condition and all that we regularly observe and experience in creation. God is NOT silent, and neither should Christians be so! This was the seed of movements like Falwell's Moral Majority and a rebirthing of Christians waking up and becoming involved in civil governance. Some still think Christians have no business in politics . Genesis 1:27-28
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith...In other words, even if it were true the world is worse off today than it has been in past times, that would simply be evidence of our not doing what we're supposed to be doing. The chief sin adulterating the world today might well be our neglect! The solution lies in our being the temple of God in all things, in everything we do, acting as if we actually believe God is sovereign, Christ is the power of God, the Holy Spirit empowers us to do all things in Christ, faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, and we are royal priests chosen by God almighty! Cyrus was nothing in comparison to the adopted sons and daughter so The Most High God. Act like it! We live in a time of HV and Covid, but that does not compare to the plague, the various colored fevers, or many of the diseases have eradicated in modern times due to modern medicine. We fight wars from far away. We don't stand face to face with our enemies and disembowel them while looking them in the eye as their entrails spew onto us..... and then on to the next man, and then the next, and the next until somebody does it to use. We can kill in larger numbers today, but that's a huge improvement over the past. Natural disasters of the past eradicated entire cities, removing them from human existence. Mariupol will be rebuilt. Heracleion and Pompei are gone. Whatever existed prior to the Flood is gone. If the world is in bad shape then that is because that is the way God wants it. He is in charge, not humans. Good humans are not in charge, and neither are evil ones. That notion is foolishness, and it needs to be removed from the Christian mind. God is sovereign over ALL! And if Christians act in a manner consistent with their God-given identity in Christ when they stepped out their door each day the world will look much different. Rule over whatever part of the kingdom God brings to you this day! Do it with humility and grace. Colossians 4:5-6
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Paul, a Greek Jew from Tarsus, went to Rome and preached in the courts of Caesar. Now everyone reading this is a Christian. Paul was consistent .... every one is dead. No one to ever be again ...... Being is dead ...... Not being won the day. Kind of wierd theology. |
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slyzr
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Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Nov 8, 2022 22:11:41 GMT -8
our Lovely Sir of us His 144k does no evil .. ever never has… Not being is kind of an issue. |
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slyzr
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Posts: 124
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Post by slyzr on Nov 8, 2022 22:16:15 GMT -8
I have noted peculiar opinions in the past, but the one really jumped out at me. The two concepts of the 144k and sinless perfection are both ominous ideas. Doug I don’t believe in sinless perfection in the carnal body we have now until we are restored to eden paradise at rapture . the 144k are not as the jw portray in their horrible theology… that sinless perfection is impossible in the fleshbody and would be what some who I disagreed with at carm believe Not really into the "Eden Paradise". Talking snakes ...... every one is dead .... no thanks. |
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. Three of the chief beliefs of the 19th century restoration movement were the beliefs the Church is corrupt, the world was coming to an end and Jesus was soon returning, and the world was going to hell in a hand basket and Christians needed to prepare for that by separating themselves from the rest of the world. The first and the last belief conspired. By separating from the world the Church could restore itself. Pamphlets of the day taught Christians not to take public office. Secular government is evil and Christians should not participate. John Darby was a leading proponent of this position and that was a commonly held belief for about a century. During that time western cultures became more secular. There was less gospel presence in the halls of civil leadership because many Christians withdrew. 
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