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God is sovereign. He is the Supreme Being of the universe, King of heaven and earth. He possesses absolute authority and volition. The Psalmist writes ''...Thou alone, whose name is the LORD, Art the Most High over all the earth.'' Psalms 83:18.
Many people cannot understand how the freewill of man can exist in view of God's Sovereignty. Scripture recognizes different categories of God's will. The technical theological terms which are used to identify these distinctions with regard to the will of God are 1) The Overruling will of God, 2) The Directive will of God, and 3) The Permissive will of God.
It is under the Permissive will of God that man's volition or freewill is able to function. Simply put, God allows man to make moral decisions which are often contrary to what He desires. God does not desire that man murder or steal or commit adultery, but these things nevertheless take place.
God permitted the apostle Paul to defy Him. Instead of going to Rome in A.D. 58 as God had directed him to, Paul decided instead to go to Jerusalem. God permitted this—up to a point. (Acts chapter 21). Concerning Paul's defiance of the Lord see the following site: Paul 's Mistake
And it is God's permissive will that allows man to say 'no' to the gospel message and reject Jesus Christ as Savior.
God's Directive will concerns what He wants a person to do, or where He wants a person to go. For example, refer to Acts 8:26 'But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.'' Acts 10:1-23 is another example.
And there is the Overruling will of God. Man's freewill has limits. When the volition of man would interfere with something which God has determined to do, then the Overruling will of God steps in and says 'No'. God's overruling will can be seen in Numbers chapters 22, 23, and 24, concerning Balak's desire for Balaam to curse the Jews, but God would not allow Balaam to curse the Jews, and in fact Balaam ended up blessing them instead.
God's overruling will steps in and prevents the human race from destroying itself.
The distinctions between what God desires and what He absolutely wills to happen are clearly delineated in Scripture.
Here is a site for those who are interested which goes into greater detail concerning the categories of God's will: DOCTRINE OF DIVINE GUIDANCE
Cool words of truth which many will not understand or accept.
Thanks.
Yes. So very many people simply believe what they want to believe and will not be swayed by the facts. They will simply not open their mindgate and allow themselves to be gotten through to.
God is sovereign. He is the Supreme Being of the universe, King of heaven and earth. He possesses absolute authority and volition. The Psalmist writes ''...Thou alone, whose name is the LORD, Art the Most High over all the earth.'' Psalms 83:18.
God's overruling will steps in and prevents the human race from destroying itself.
Exactly, Mike. It's really too bad you don't believe your own words. God will get exactly what he wants regardless of the plans of men/women. And because of that, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen!
Exactly, Mike. It's really too bad you don't believe your own words. God will get exactly what he wants regardless of the plans of men/women. And because of that, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen!
I do so wish that people would stop telling me what I do and don't believe.
Heartsong, you belong to the category of people to whom I referred in post #3.
You simply will not recognize that God permits man to make decisions which are contrary to His desire.
God is sovereign. He is the Supreme Being of the universe, King of heaven and earth. He possesses absolute authority and volition. The Psalmist writes ''...Thou alone, whose name is the LORD, Art the Most High over all the earth.'' Psalms 83:18.
Many people cannot understand how the freewill of man can exist in view of God's Sovereignty. Scripture recognizes different categories of God's will. The technical theological terms which are used to identify these distinctions with regard to the will of God are 1) The Overruling will of God, 2) The Directive will of God, and 3) The Permissive will of God.
It is under the Permissive will of God that man's volition or freewill is able to function. Simply put, God allows man to make moral decisions which are often contrary to what He desires. God does not desire that man murder or steal or commit adultery, but these things nevertheless take place.
God permitted the apostle Paul to defy Him. Instead of going to Rome in A.D. 58 as God had directed him to, Paul decided instead to go to Jerusalem. God permitted this—up to a point. (Acts chapter 21). Concerning Paul's defiance of the Lord see the following site: Paul 's Mistake
And it is God's permissive will that allows man to say 'no' to the gospel message and reject Jesus Christ as Savior.
God's Directive will concerns what He wants a person to do, or where He wants a person to go. For example, refer to Acts 8:26 'But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.'' Acts 10:1-23 is another example.
And there is the Overruling will of God. Man's freewill has limits. When the volition of man would interfere with something which God has determined to do, then the Overruling will of God steps in and says 'No'. God's overruling will can be seen in Numbers chapters 22, 23, and 24, concerning Balak's desire for Balaam to curse the Jews, but God would not allow Balaam to curse the Jews, and in fact Balaam ended up blessing them instead.
God's overruling will steps in and prevents the human race from destroying itself.
The distinctions between what God desires and what He absolutely wills to happen are clearly delineated in Scripture.
Here is a site for those who are interested which goes into greater detail concerning the categories of God's will: DOCTRINE OF DIVINE GUIDANCE
Mike,
Fully support and agree with your write up. I find it funny that you still put links where (in my opinion) a simple reference to the Bible verse(s) would more than suffice.
Fully support and agree with your write up. I find it funny that you still put links where (in my opinion) a simple reference to the Bible verse(s) would more than suffice.
I provide resources which furnish additional information on the topic of which I write, for those who are interested.
I provide resources which furnish additional information on the topic of which I write, for those who are interested.
Translation: Mike operates on a false context, a false belief about the nature of God, and a slew of "precepts and doctrines of men" that support his erroneous views. He has no choice but to present them.
God limits the exercise of His sovereignty so that the freewill of man may function. You have only to look at the examples I gave in the first post to understand that. Did God tell Paul to go to Rome? YES. Did Paul go to Rome at that time? NO. Did Paul in fact disobey God and go to Jerusalem instead? Yes. Did God permit Paul to disobey Him? YES.
Did God prohibit the crime of murder? Yes. Do men still murder anyway? Yes.
The Permissive will of God permits men to make moral choices that go against God's desire.
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