tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post112935216063486581..comments2024-03-28T12:34:14.649-07:00Comments on dangerous idea: God is not willing that any should perishVictor Repperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-61188179872516837982022-12-19T09:35:55.109-07:002022-12-19T09:35:55.109-07:00Bottom line is: If it's not God's Will, a...Bottom line is: If it's not God's Will, and God's Will is absolute, eternal and true, then it would not happen because it could not happen..... so, where do you go from there?? Because both cannot be true.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00597554500577091942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-29922306645705960152022-01-03T01:23:41.598-07:002022-01-03T01:23:41.598-07:00Um no. Jesus is the one true GodUm no. Jesus is the one true GodRhavenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15154660673436688899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-77999218707113992142019-09-28T16:31:21.531-07:002019-09-28T16:31:21.531-07:00Unknown writes "He does not need my help,&quo...Unknown writes "He does not need my help," yet "we call upon his name." How is that not helping? Is God "parsing the word repentance" when he writes "without repentance there is no forgiveness"? Ron in paradise.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564619706365443644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-87367216735459503202018-06-04T12:26:34.237-07:002018-06-04T12:26:34.237-07:00Steve Cox: I do not think that anyone can parse th...Steve Cox: I do not think that anyone can parse the word "repentance". When God says that when we call upon His name we will be saved, that is exactly what He means! He does not need my help, yours or anyone else's help to clarify (or obscure) the mechanism of salvation.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04848943618000191234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-91480276573060479932018-05-04T04:00:02.873-07:002018-05-04T04:00:02.873-07:00...But he desires that all might come to repentanc......But he desires that all might come to repentance. A repentance needed for salvation. That's why all can't and won't be saved, in fact many are called few are chosen and there is a narrow road and few there be that find it. To not repent is to Love ourselves more than God breaking the first commandment and making it impossible to truelly follow the second. God must be God so it is the breaking of the first that He cannot forgive as it is contrary to His perfect nature and all else is sin. So we must be saved through faith because we cannot be as we should and through grace in that our sin is placed on Him. Abrahams faith was counted unto him as righteousness as we cannot ever be good enough but the fearful and unbelieving shall have there part in the lake of fire not because God is evil but because His Love and grace is not precious enough to those who will receive eternal torment mentioned in the gospel of Matthew.<br />SteveCoxLou,KYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07754537592271755778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-5692077506542349922017-09-24T22:10:04.644-07:002017-09-24T22:10:04.644-07:00God has a place in His heart, even for those that ...God has a place in His heart, even for those that reject Him. Those places in his heart will experience the pain of having lost them forever. But at the same time, those who do seek Him occupy their places in His heart, and bring Him great joy. He took a risk, creating thinking beings with free will, like miniature versions of Himself, knowing that He too could be hurt. He's a risk-taker.<br /><br />That does strike a deep question. If God was able to know, being outside of time, as if everything that was, is, and will be is all in His sight, chose not to see the entirety of it until after He created man, so that He might take a risk. (Love is risky! Anyone pursuing love risks rejection.) Suppose God wasn't afraid of rejection (And He isn't), and was willing to take that risk anyway.<br /><br />I want to know Him better.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10327459967214317398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-54859709029319043892017-09-19T04:23:32.742-07:002017-09-19T04:23:32.742-07:00Refreshing 😊Refreshing 😊Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09239878060224495038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-83320300514597106052017-09-19T04:23:31.459-07:002017-09-19T04:23:31.459-07:00Refreshing 😊Refreshing 😊Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09239878060224495038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-60671825705352331862017-02-14T21:44:49.342-07:002017-02-14T21:44:49.342-07:00In the OT. when the snake was raised up, everyone...In the OT. when the snake was raised up, everyone who looked at the braisen snake were saved. Just as Jesus said, John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:<br />Look to Jesus not to Calvin or Armninius.<br />Those who refused to look died.<br /><br />Simbuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03694557927636001568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-21611732758345906302017-02-14T20:18:39.671-07:002017-02-14T20:18:39.671-07:00i have no time to read all this. But focus on your...i have no time to read all this. But focus on your time in the bible alone. Don't get deeply concerned with Calvinism. Paul told people of the church to stop dividing each other over philosophies and just come directly to the word of God. What I do know is in the scriptures God is restraining sin keeping us all from being 100% evil. Google search what the Bible talks about the restrainer of sin. The last days will be like the days of noah where all men and women will become very evil but the people who are born again whoever is sealed by the Holy Spirit are going to be protected from turning over to really dark evil. The best way to know these things are to read our Bibles but not out of context.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-53270355165255298672017-02-14T20:01:58.109-07:002017-02-14T20:01:58.109-07:00Too bad you don't seem to allow for editing a ...Too bad you don't seem to allow for editing a misspelling or other minor typo, had to delete and repost...<br /><br />Simply, If God wishes that none should perish, but as Jesus-God iterated, wide is the road to destruction and many will go that way, then simply, God does not get what he wants from his own creation.<br /><br />Calvinism subscribes to "total depravity" which necessarily means that within us dwells no good thing.<br /><br />If there is no good thing in us and we are totally depraved then we would display such in our lives, actions, choices, none of which would be good since there is no good in us.<br /><br />With the incapacity to do anything good we would necessarily act out our total depravity in not believing in good, or God, for this would be an act of goodness, good choice, good logic, good will - or that of which there is none within us.<br /><br />If then the Holy Spirit must do the work in some way, it would need to effect a change within us, changing us from our totally depraved condition to something better, and therefore, different, for the Holy Spirit merely telling, convicting or expressing to us our need for choosing the goodness of believing in God - would not work, for there dwells in us NO good thing, therefore NO (good) capacity for hearing nor heeding truth...<br /><br />However, if it is the work of the Holy Spirit to necessarily effect some change within us so that our eyes were now opened to good, our minds now opened to good thoughts, realizations & choices then it is no longer we whom are choosing, nor our (depraved) free will, meaning God does not respect his gift to us of (depraved) free (only evil) will, nor is it we who are doing the choosing, if anything other than depravity is chosen.<br /><br />Calvinism, a catch-22 theology, is madness.Arbegionushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08351057841643027937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-40837381636496946042017-02-14T19:52:22.446-07:002017-02-14T19:52:22.446-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Arbegionushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08351057841643027937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-14534873921031790162016-11-08T00:55:36.996-07:002016-11-08T00:55:36.996-07:00Sorry for commenting on something so old..... I wa...Sorry for commenting on something so old..... I was wandering around the internet trying to answer some questions of my own when I found this, and since this was a topic that I wrestled with for a while, I thought I might lend my account on it.<br /><br />I have found it completely valid and possible for God to will for all people to be saved, and yet still have so many go unsaved. The answer, I believe, lies in consideration of God's desire for love. God wanted to create a creature that not only could be loved by him, but also love him in return. But, what good is there in a robotic love that is forced? It needed to be a love freely willed. Thus, the creation must have free will. Now, free will being a difficult issue to grapple, I have best understood it defined as this: Free will, in the sense of our free will given by God, is the ability to act in such a way that is contrary to the nature of God. So that our love for God would be real, we were given the ability to act against his nature and will.<br /><br />This creates a bit of a conundrum. God, in his foreknowledge of all things, would have known that in giving humanity free will, some would deny him and act against his will. God, being by nature incapable of contradicting himself, would have to exact judgement upon those who contradicted his will. I find judgement almost akin to an immune system; That which is not a part of the body must be destroyed.<br /><br />So, God wanted a creation that would love him, but to do so would mean rejection. We are incorporated into God's "immune system" through the imputation of our unholiness unto Christ, the physical manifestation of God. It is the theology of Paul that all people have been given a chance to turn to God, and are not blameless. I must admit that I am left to wonder at how this is so, and it may be as CS Lewis described. It is beyond me to determine, and furthermore it is entirely a matter of method. I have no doubt that all are not without blame, even though it startles my mind to wonder how. Also then, I take comfort that God considers what people do not know. Abraham was considered righteous for his faith, and so it makes sense that God's judgement considers what a person had the opportunity to know.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16393665464755564833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-11954283015689094582016-11-02T13:58:36.210-07:002016-11-02T13:58:36.210-07:00Why hold on to the idea that there is no second ch...Why hold on to the idea that there is no second chance after death?Micah Furlonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124751691455719468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-75151644505296423062016-10-26T01:15:25.244-07:002016-10-26T01:15:25.244-07:00The only way I can function in the world today is ...The only way I can function in the world today is to ignore "a lot" of suffering so that I can adequately help relieve "some" suffering. The only way I can justify this is the belief that somehow my small effort gains momentum and adds to a greater effort that eventually 'wins'. Once I have crossed over into eternity will I think differently?<br />Will I cease to yearn for the lost to come home?<br />Will I forget about friends and family who are still yet to be convinced?<br />Will heaven give me a compulsory partial memory wipe? If so, then what of free will and why does Jesus still have scars on his hands?<br />If not, then am I to spend all of eternity with the knowledge that there is eternal suffering going on for which there is no hope?<br />I think of a 7 year old child. What of the 7 year old Canaanite child holding her mother's hand as the Israelite soldiers commence the killing of every living thing in her city. For us this is an OT type and shadow of NT truth. But it wasn't for her. It was real.<br />And what of the lifelong trauma of the soldiers themselves?<br />Eternity is a LONG time and there has to be a theology that allows the possibility that the soldier and the child forgive the circumstance of time and geography of their birth - no matter how long it takes.<br />The story of redemption has taken a LONG time to tell and I trust God in it. But it has clearly produced a lot of collateral damage in its telling. Surely there is a hope of healing for every casualty.<br />Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00727248655972126827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-34888399983371765582016-09-25T03:30:20.207-07:002016-09-25T03:30:20.207-07:00"Jesus Christ", so many of the article ..."Jesus Christ", so many of the article above never even mention Him. So is He the Name above all Names for the authors.Simbuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03694557927636001568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-37324093392230921712016-08-29T22:11:03.677-07:002016-08-29T22:11:03.677-07:00I am still surprised Christians continue to read t...I am still surprised Christians continue to read the bible like it was written for the world. The bible clearly says it was written for our learning. So we read and learn and then apply it so the world sees it and then come on board it's not for us to read it and then judge the world for what we read. Mz Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942938253451793560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-29232976842355055842016-08-29T05:05:12.716-07:002016-08-29T05:05:12.716-07:00I can only offer this, that all of us, as believer...I can only offer this, that all of us, as believers, at whatever level of faith we have, live our lives as we do. We know of our failures and our successes. However, the day will come when we will stand before Jesus Christ and give an account for our lives, what we have done and what we have said. It was Judas who chose to stand in judgment of Jesus. After his final act, he realized his mistake. But it was too late.bsterlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16608254579613732496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-9754460376187627322016-05-13T09:32:07.511-07:002016-05-13T09:32:07.511-07:00I have good news for you. The concepts of "he...I have good news for you. The concepts of "hell" and "eternal torment" are man made and heretical and not biblical. <br />Here's an exhaustive, legal breakdown of God's plan (which will not fail) to restore all things:<br />http://gods-kingdom-ministries.net/teachings/books/creations-jubilee/<br />And this dude also speaks truth in a surly sort of way:<br />http://bible-truths.com/23-minutes-in-hell.html<br /><br />Remember, Satan came to deceive the WHOLE WORLD and that includes the "church." But Jesus also came to save the WHOLE WORLD. To say anyone will not be saved is to call God a failure. Any "Christian" who does believe in Christ's total and absolute victory is not a Christian at all. thelookingglassgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087144879206438336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-6118644619465596482016-03-19T11:09:45.294-07:002016-03-19T11:09:45.294-07:00http://www.jesusisthecomingking.com/2011/03/250-re...http://www.jesusisthecomingking.com/2011/03/250-reasons-for-pre-trib-rapture.html<br /><br />At this time in human history the above is all that will count.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-6297560055593266112015-07-26T09:13:44.095-07:002015-07-26T09:13:44.095-07:00God saw beforehand that mankind, given free will, ...God saw beforehand that mankind, given free will, many would choose death, hell, destruction. "Created for destruction" by their own choice. Yet He decided it was worth creating man for the joy of those who would choose salvation, life, God. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789288101982208101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-76665189093789818322015-06-14T03:37:47.295-07:002015-06-14T03:37:47.295-07:00Very simple answer actualy
Near Death experiences...Very simple answer actualy<br /><br />Near Death experiences do confirm (To me atleast) what I have believed for a long time. God Does infact jugde only the soul of a person Jesus IS as I believe the best way to understand god but are buddha konfuzius and others tell the Exact thing? why should god care that Were the truth comes from as long as a person lives and belief it? <br /><br />Victor you are really really really really REALLY conservativ I get that but is the thought that when jesus taught his Truth that the same truth can be found elswere and to other means and the universe Aka god has no Problem with that so unbearable to you? <br /><br />I dont get why this still is for so many christians a Problem accept that it is more likley that when jesus said "the only way to the father is trhou me" he did not mean become a christian or be forever lost in darkness but rather that Jesus IS the truth meaning ghandi was just as christian as was DR king because Jesus IS the truth. Meaning everyone the hindu the muslim the atheist everyone has to pass him before entering heaven. and this Idea that god only ONLY accpets christians into heaven really is odd, it undermines EVERYTHING that god is! it means nothing but that all the talk of love and compation empathy is null and void as long as you dont do it in the EXACT accepted parameters.<br /><br />do you really believe I mean ACTUALLY believe that god how send jesus christ to tell us basically be good that the same son of god the same entity that gave his live on the cross will send the man how cured cancer or solved world hunger in hell because he happend to be a <br /> sikh and for that reason alone? as i said I pretty much defeats the idea.<br /><br />I think you really need to think about what being christian actually means.Being christian means to be CHRIST LIKE and that is not achieved by just having a bible in your bookshelf<br />being christian is not talking a lot about christ or qouting the bible it is a form off being. <br /><br />Here is a food for thought god is Absolut perfect and omnipotent so I am Pretty sure that he would be abvoe pride he ist not angry that People worship a golden Calb he is angry that people worship the gold!<br /><br />on the subject of hell well i hope mr CS lewis is right that hell is humane i could live with that knowing that the most evil in while people will never enter heaven because thats simply how they are and to the denie them that would spit on free will. I could live with the fact that they would be forever trapped in a forever ongoing long and boring sunday. and if it really is fire and Brimstone I could Imagine that its like going under a way to hot shower first moment you think "OH NO OH NO THIS IS TO HOT WAAAAYY TO HOT" but then more and more you get used to it. Of course actual fire would be kind of different but no one said how the souldbody (came up with that mysel :D) would be build in the afterlife.<br /><br />before someone thinks I am mocking christianity or I say "all religions are the same" no i really think that christianity is THE BEST way to find god to live god and to build a human civilasation that is build on good values but I accept it as a FACT that it is not and can not be the only way that does not mean chrsitianity is useless or that its truths are meaningless it just means to accept that elsewere it can be found to. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16189287673137724729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-67803184868247896562015-06-13T15:23:47.890-07:002015-06-13T15:23:47.890-07:00I seriously doubt that anyone posting here can/wil...I seriously doubt that anyone posting here can/will add anything substantive to the oceans of ink which have been spilled over this question ever since Paul penned <i>Romans</i>. Personally, I like two statements the best. The first was by none other than C.S. Lewis who, near the end of <i>The Great Divorce</i>, likened our attempts to grasp this issue to a person looking through the wrong end of a telescope. As long as we exist in time (i.e., are still living), our perspective on eternal matters is lensed through time itself. We perceive our eternal destinies in our here-and-now choices. The second was by Thomas Merton, who somewhere in <i>The Seven Storey Mountain</i> stated that both Heaven and Hell were very real possibilities for each one of us as long as we were alive - the choice was always before us at all moments.<br /><br />(Footnote: In the <i>Paradiso</i>, Dante said that no created being, not even the highest Seraph, will <b>ever</b> understand the relationship between predestination and free will. Never.)<br /><br /><i>Jezu ufam tobie!</i>B. Prokophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10548980245078214688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-85899912588776860412015-05-29T14:24:55.730-07:002015-05-29T14:24:55.730-07:00Quest!
I don't know why your comment caught m...Quest!<br /><br />I don't know why your comment caught my attention when I haven't had time to read hardly any of the other comments yet. Guess just 'cause it was one of the more recent comments. I'll try to answer your questions.<br />First, I ain't a Calvinist and I do not know their tenants, or even whether the idea that both God and Satan want people to go to hell is one of them or not, but I will answer that idea from my perspective. If it is true, then the difference would be that God wants people to go to hell because that is how He is purifying them and it is His intention to bring them through hell purified, while Satan, the confused angel that he is, wants people to go to hell because he likes to see them suffer.<br />The second question, why the same God, through the same Holy Ghost, leads so many different, fully devoted believers in such different, contradictory directions. I wish I could really answer that with confidence, but the fact is I am subject to the same thing and go off in my own contradictory directions, but the fact is that's just because I am so... so... well, darn human! God's truth is right there to be plucked from the tree, but it's like I just can't quite reach the branch... but there it goes again... that's just because God made me so short. Hey, we did choose, whether he created us to so choose or not, to learn the difference between good and evil, and it ain't an easy lesson to learn...<br />So, what I'm saying is that none of us see the truth clearly enough for another person to judge God's truth from our perspective. Each person has to find the truth directly from God. Everything else - including the Bible or any other holy book, in my opinion - is just an arrow pointing at the source of truth. God is the only source of truth. If he seems to lead us in different directions then maybe we are needed in different places. Sometimes the different directions might not be as contradictory - from God's perspective - as they are from ours, or maybe someone, like all of us, are just not reading what God is telling them quite accurately. It all is a confusing mess from our perspective because we simply do not see the whole picture. But if our creator is merciful and able, and I insist on continuing to strive to believe that He is, then it'll all work out in the end. <br />And when that happens then it will be much more than good enough.<br />Okay Quest. Truth is that I don't know why we all disagree so much, but what can I do about it other than to keep asking God to help me understand?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537009770616309379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-3845686622455222772015-05-29T13:17:49.713-07:002015-05-29T13:17:49.713-07:00Victor!
I love what I perceive as your basic premi...<br />Victor!<br />I love what I perceive as your basic premise: that the God Jesus talked about would not resort to eternal damnation as a punishment, and especially if He had it all predestined to begin with! (Which predestination, incidentally, I do believe he can pull off without interfering with free choice.) In fact, over 40 yrs ago, upon returning to God after trying to turn away from Him, lol, I did pray to Him that if anyone had to be in hell forever then it would have to be me, because the God who would include that little detail in His creation was not the God who I was returning to. And I reaffirm that prayer every day and again today. He does continue to give chances, not because we deserve it, but because that's just the way He is.<br />I think, by the way, that a quote attributed to Jesus gives a hint as to how he gives that second chance. In John 3:18-19, Jesus is quoted as saying: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."<br />I think he was saying that this world is the condemnation with which those who do not believe are already condemned. And I do suspect that there are many people in this world who have lived many lives. That if you do die and are still not ready to obey God, then you will earn another death. And at this point in God's creation, this world is the place where that sentence will be served. I also happen to think that when Jesus does come back things are going to change, that this world will be destroyed and that that death sentence will be served in another, harder place. But I continue to insist that if God is merciful and able, which I personally continue to strive to believe (may God forgive my unbelief!), then following death a soul will always have another chance to obey. And if that soul finally chooses to obey and, so to speak, turns away from the forbidden fruit, they will find the tree of life and live forever and if they don't, then they will find another death, and after every death, da da da da da...<br />Anyway, that's just the best I can explain how I see this thing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537009770616309379noreply@blogger.com