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In response to the following statement which I made on another thread
Quote:
Quote:
God cannot do anything that contradicts or compromises His nature. He cannot arbitrarily save anyone based on love. He can only save those who come to Him through Jesus Christ on the basis of the cross.
someone sent me the following Private Message which, without mentioning who sent the message, I decided to answer on the forum. The individual made the following statement and asked the related question.
Quote:
But he does allow babies to die and then get saved via arbitrary loophole. So every time there is an earthquake, or some other natural disaster God caused, and babies die (and God is all-knowing so he knows who is going to die in an earthquake) a lot of children that would otherwise grow to be unsaved got saved. Therefore God arbitrarily saves children all the time.
If God is indeed omnipotent, it would be trivial for him to create the world in such a way that everyone will reach age of accountability. Therefore, he wants things to happen that way. He wants some people to get saved without any free will involved.
Do you have any real answer to this question?
Yes, I do have a real answer to the question.
First of all my statement had to do with the fact that God cannot decide to arbitrarily save anyone on the basis of His love. His love could only motivate God to provide the means of salvation. It was God's justice that actually made salvation possible. God's love was the motivation for our salvation, God's justice was the means of our salvation.
Secondly, there is nothing arbitrary in anything that God does, nor are there any 'loopholes' in God's plan.
Because eternal salvation was made possible by the judicial imputation of mankinds sins to Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross, God is free to save those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. And God is equally free to save those who die before they can be held accountable to make a faith decision because they don't have the mental ability (too young; severe mental retardation). And on the other side of the coin, God is just in leaving under eternal condemnation everyone who reaches the point of accountabililty and then dies without receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
The fact that you were born means that God selected you to be born when He could have left you non-existent. God decides where on earth, and when in human history each of us is born. God could have placed you into history 3,000 years ago. But He made a sovereign decision that you would be born in the 20th century. And if you're over 11 years old, you were born in the 20th century. God decided into which country you would be born and who your parents would be. He knew the environment and conditions into which you would be born.
And He also chose the time, place and manner of your death. Apart from commiting suicide in which you use your volition to depart from this world in opposition to God's intended means of your departure from this life, no one dies unless God writes off on it. That is, God will allow you to use your volition to commit suicide but you are not authorized to do so. It is never God's desire that anyone take His own life. The only person in history who was authorized to bring His life to an end was Jesus Christ. The crucifixion did not kill Jesus. He voluntarily dismissed His soul and spirit from His body when His work on the cross was complete.
People depart from this life by various means. Some people live to a ripe old age. Others die young, even as infants. The manner of physical death assigned to you could be an illness, or an accident, or murder, or martyrdom, or by an animal attack, etc... Apart from your own choice to commit suicide, no manner of death can touch you unless and until God allows it. And in certain cases, God may even intervene and overrule someones decision to commit suicide.
We live in a world of cause and effect, and we all have free will. The things which happen to us are caused by our own decisions, and the decisions of other people. There are also many things which are outside of our control.
The individual who sent me the PM said that if God were truly Omnipotent (AND HE IS), that He could have created the world in such a way that everyone would reach the point of accountability. Yes He could have. But that wasn't what He chose to do. God intends that every country, every race, every segment of humanity will be represented in heaven. When a person dies before reaching the point where God would have to hold him accountable for making a volitional decision in response to the gospel message, that person is automatically saved and will live in the presence of God forever. That is a matter of God's sovereignty. Why God chooses one person to die as an infant instead of another person is His sovereign decision. He has His reasons for choosing who dies in any particular manner.
God also in eternity past took into account our volitional choices regarding our lifestyles. Therefore a person who eats a healthy diet and exercises may live longer than he otherwise might have. On the other hand, someone might smoke a pack a day and drink a quart of whiskey a day and live to be a hundred and five.
In summary, if God takes a person out of this world before reaching the point of accountability, that person is automatically saved. If a person reaches the point of accountability then where he spends eternity depends on his volitional decision in response to the gospel. And no one has the right to say that's not fair. God's sovereignty and man's volition co-exist by God's sovereign decree.
"In summary, if God takes a person out of this world before reaching the point of accountability, that person is automatically saved. If a person reaches the point of accountability then where he spends eternity depends on his volitional decision in response to the gospel. And no one has the right to say that's not fair. God's sovereignty and man's volition co-exist by God's sovereign decree."
Mike, I believe and agree with your statement above and that is the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking the truth and sometimes it is difficult for some to accept.....
Whether people want to believe it or not it is only our responsibility to give the gospel truth through the Spirit of God in us, whom we are sealed, as He leads us into all truth..... it then is their responsibility to seek God in it and allow Him to manifest His truth to them whether they will act upon it in faith or not is their decision between them and God..... blessings~
God is free to do exactly what he purposed to do, Mike. Your whole premise that God's JUSTICE prevents him from having mercy is very flawed! And Jesus, as demonstrated in a well-known parable is not satisfied with getting 99 percent. God is a perfectionist!
God is free to do exactly what he purposed to do, Mike. Your whole premise that God's JUSTICE prevents him from having mercy is very flawed! And Jesus, as demonstrated in a well-known parable is not satisfied with getting 99 percent. God is a perfectionist!
God is free to do exactly what he purposed to do, Mike. Your whole premise that God's JUSTICE prevents him from having mercy is very flawed! And Jesus, as demonstrated in a well-known parable is not satisfied with getting 99 percent. God is a perfectionist!
That's the way the cookie crumbles. God has set His own rules, and if He broke them for even one person, it would make Him a liar, and an unjust king.
In response to the following statement which I made on another thread
someone sent me the following Private Message which, without mentioning who sent the message, I decided to answer on the forum. The individual made the following statement and asked the related question.
Yes, I do have a real answer to the question.
First of all my statement had to do with the fact that God cannot decide to arbitrarily save anyone on the basis of His love. His love could only motivate God to provide the means of salvation. It was God's justice that actually made salvation possible. God's love was the motivation for our salvation, God's justice was the means of our salvation.
Secondly, there is nothing arbitrary in anything that God does, nor are there any 'loopholes' in God's plan.
Because eternal salvation was made possible by the judicial imputation of mankinds sins to Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross, God is free to save those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. And God is equally free to save those who die before they can be held accountable to make a faith decision because they don't have the mental ability (too young; severe mental retardation). And on the other side of the coin, God is just in leaving under eternal condemnation everyone who reaches the point of accountabililty and then dies without receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
The fact that you were born means that God selected you to be born when He could have left you non-existent. God decides where on earth, and when in human history each of us is born. God could have placed you into history 3,000 years ago. But He made a sovereign decision that you would be born in the 20th century. And if you're over 11 years old, you were born in the 20th century. God decided into which country you would be born and who your parents would be. He knew the environment and conditions into which you would be born.
And He also chose the time, place and manner of your death. Apart from commiting suicide in which you use your volition to depart from this world in opposition to God's intended means of your departure from this life, no one dies unless God writes off on it. That is, God will allow you to use your volition to commit suicide but you are not authorized to do so. It is never God's desire that anyone take His own life. The only person in history who was authorized to bring His life to an end was Jesus Christ. The crucifixion did not kill Jesus. He voluntarily dismissed His soul and spirit from His body when His work on the cross was complete.
People depart from this life by various means. Some people live to a ripe old age. Others die young, even as infants. The manner of physical death assigned to you could be an illness, or an accident, or murder, or martyrdom, or by an animal attack, etc... Apart from your own choice to commit suicide, no manner of death can touch you unless and until God allows it. And in certain cases, God may even intervene and overrule someones decision to commit suicide.
We live in a world of cause and effect, and we all have free will. The things which happen to us are caused by our own decisions, and the decisions of other people. There are also many things which are outside of our control.
The individual who sent me the PM said that if God were truly Omnipotent (AND HE IS), that He could have created the world in such a way that everyone would reach the point of accountability. Yes He could have. But that wasn't what He chose to do. God intends that every country, every race, every segment of humanity will be represented in heaven. When a person dies before reaching the point where God would have to hold him accountable for making a volitional decision in response to the gospel message, that person is automatically saved and will live in the presence of God forever. That is a matter of God's sovereignty. Why God chooses one person to die as an infant instead of another person is His sovereign decision. He has His reasons for choosing who dies in any particular manner.
God also in eternity past took into account our volitional choices regarding our lifestyles. Therefore a person who eats a healthy diet and exercises may live longer than he otherwise might have. On the other hand, someone might smoke a pack a day and drink a quart of whiskey a day and live to be a hundred and five.
In summary, if God takes a person out of this world before reaching the point of accountability, that person is automatically saved. If a person reaches the point of accountability then where he spends eternity depends on his volitional decision in response to the gospel. And no one has the right to say that's not fair. God's sovereignty and man's volition co-exist by God's sovereign decree.
God is Love. Love does not take wrongs into account. Love frees the slave, heals the broken, lifts the downtrodden.
May the Spirit of GOD flood our hearts and wash away all trace of fleshly pride and envy..
In summary, if God takes a person out of this world before reaching the point of accountability, that person is automatically saved. If a person reaches the point of accountability then where he spends eternity depends on his volitional decision in response to the gospel. And no one has the right to say that's not fair. God's sovereignty and man's volition co-exist by God's sovereign decree.
Hogwash. The scriptures teach the exact opposite of your God hating Arminian doctrines.
Every person that is born of the Spirit, regardless of age, is born from above in the exact same way. By the will of the Spirit of Jesus:
Joh 3:8 the Spirit where he willeth doth blow, and his voice thou dost hear, but thou hast not known whence he cometh, and whither he goeth; thus is every one who hath been born of the Spirit.'
Infants enter the Kingdom in the exact same way as did Saul on his way to Damascus breathing threats against the Lord. By the power and grace of the Spirit of God. By the Spirit of Jesus.
You've NEVER believed the Gospel, Mike. This is why your doctrines are in direct opposition to Christ and His words.
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