tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636101379916124937.post3043925054370810516..comments2024-02-25T22:00:21.788-06:00Comments on theearstohear: The Omnipotence of GodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636101379916124937.post-9620052083926137732017-11-05T08:14:06.766-06:002017-11-05T08:14:06.766-06:00ANON: What does it mean that God is completely so...ANON: What does it mean that God is completely sovereign? <br /><br />TETH: Sovereignty is DOMINION, which is defined as supreme authority. Where many Christians go astray is in insisting that supreme authority requires that God is the active, direct cause of all actions both good and evil. While that view leads to an understandable view of all events, it is untenable in that it indisputably makes God the direct, causative author of evil; a clear violation of “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5), “The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” (Psalm 145:17) It follows that God’s sovereign dominion over all things involves both his own direct actions such as in the monergistic accomplishment of our salvation (Romans 8:29-30), or the synergistic work of the spirit in the obedience of his people (I Corinthians 10:13), as well as the actions of his creation in rebellion against him, which he longsuffers or permits to come to pass. <br /><br />ANON: If I sin, is it because God willed that do it? <br /><br />TETH: The term “will” is fraught with potential for misunderstanding if it is not properly defined in the various contexts in which it is used. In some instances it refers to God’s plan, which includes both his own actions and the evil actions of others that he has permitted to transpire. In other instances it has to do with his commands regarding how we should behave. I would say that your sin is permitted and known by God but not commanded or sanctioned of him. It is willed of God in the sense that his sovereign plan has permitted you to rebel against him, but it is NOT willed of God in the sense that he commanded you to do so. (Hopefully that underscores the difficulty in dealing with the term “will” – we tend to cornjoin the concepts unnecessarily when the word has great breadth of meaning that causes a lot of confusion if not rightly divided by the context). <br /><br />ANON: My feelings, bad decisions, evil thoughts etc, is God responsible for it all?<br /><br />TETH: He is not the direct, causative author of your evil actions. He has permitted you to commit evil, and he certainly knew that you would, but he did not cause you to do so. <br /><br />ANON: I mean, are we just simply robots since even though we have many plans in our hearts but it is God that determines our steps?<br /><br />TETH: We are not robots. We have a will and we often act in accordance with it, but this is under the sovereign dominion of God. You cannot sin except God permit you to do so, and he has evidently permitted the entrance of sin into the world. For more on the question “Does man have free will?” you might find this interesting…<br /><br />https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7101708105<br /><br />God bless, <br />TETH theearstohearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02331127432012852113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636101379916124937.post-42186343371863242902017-11-04T02:33:38.417-05:002017-11-04T02:33:38.417-05:00I mean, are we just simply robots since even thoug...I mean, are we just simply robots since even though we have many plans in our hearts but it is God that determines our steps?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636101379916124937.post-49822596998637736722017-11-04T02:23:59.517-05:002017-11-04T02:23:59.517-05:00What does it mean that God is completely sovereign...What does it mean that God is completely sovereign? If I sin, is it because God willed that do it? My feelings, <br />bad decisions, evil thoughts etc, is God responsible for it all?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636101379916124937.post-59322449960391022422015-06-09T20:45:14.603-05:002015-06-09T20:45:14.603-05:00Might it be that adherents to the notion of Absolu...Might it be that adherents to the notion of Absolute Predestination of All Things are also affected by unscriptural ideas concerning God's Omnipotence?WDAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00992237635632137601noreply@blogger.com