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Father Son & Holy Spirit

Is God Good? (Video)

10 April on Father Son & Holy Spirit

Here’s a great video on why there is suffering in this world. And only a minute 47 seconds...

  • Jeff Hemley: sorry Charity, I just got to your message. Yes I would be glad to help. I will get in touch.
  • Charity Haigler: To JD I have been in great confusion and torment like none other after learning TULIP over ten years ago! I am now terrified that I am not elect and no longer have peace about my salvation. PLEASE get in touch with me if you can! I have many questions!! Thank you if you can. 704-294-8365
  • Gerhard: Logic, I have watched you debate. It is quite clear you behave in an arrogant way. You don't read responses. You insist on having greater insight whereas the opposite is true. Note to you - grace is only available to the humble. Now please consider how and who is responsible for humbling anyone whatsoever. Blessings.
  • Doug Brents: Before I begin, I must make it clear that the Word of God is infallible, does not contradict Itself, and is Its own best commentary. For any question we have about something said in Scripture, we can go elsewhere in Scripture to find the answer. That being said, these passages are wonderful, and show us the mighty, awe-inspiring power of God, but to take them out of context and use them to try to say that God made all the choices of who would go to Heaven and who would go to Hell before He created the world is gross negligence of the Word. Just looking at the concept logically, there would be no reason for God to send messengers, preachers, angels, or any other thing to teach about Him if there was no choice on our part. Those chosen by God would be born knowing Him, and those not chosen by Him would be lost even if they did believe the preacher. Yet God did send messengers and preachers. Just take Jonah for example. Jonah was commanded to go and preach to the city of Nineveh. God had decided to destroy the Ninevites, but He gave them a chance to repent through the preaching of Jonah. They did repent and so God spared their lives. Does this mean that he spared their souls as well? Not necessarily, but the example of a merciful Lord is carried over into the NT by the life of Jesus. Jesus (like Jonah) came to preach to a condemned people, telling them to repent and obey God. Why send the Apostles to preach if nothing the people to whom they preached did would make any difference in their eternal destiny? Further, we are told in many places that anyone who believes will be saved, anyone who repents will have their sins washed away, anyone who confesses the name of Jesus then Jesus will confess them before the Father, etc. What if the person who believes is not one of the "chosen"? What if a person who was chosen doesn't believe? You see, there are many sides to the idea of predestination, and they don't always fit nicely into our human understanding. One of the best passages to help us understand how free-will and predestination fit together is one you mentioned yourself. Romans 8:28-29. Here Paul tells us that, "... whom He foreknew, He also predestined..." I now I am just taking a small part of the passage, but reading it in context you will see that everything in the passage is based on God's "foreknowledge". You see then that because God is outside of "time", he can see all of time. Consider that you had seen a particular movie 10000 times. Would you imagine that you knew everything about that movie? You could tell what was going to happen, you could quote every line, you could describe the scenery perfectly in every shot before the scene changed, etc. That is how well God knows all of "time" from beginning to end, because he is outside of it. The difference between us with the movie and God with Creation is that He has the power to reach into creation and change things at His will (like He did with the Flood or sending Jesus). Now, Scripture is clear that some have been made for the purpose of showing God's power (like Pharaoh (Rom 9:21)). But that is, I believe, the exception not the rule. I think that because God foreknew that they would not love Him, he used them (by hardening their heart) to show His power through their downfall. The full passage above, Rom 9:9-24, does show that God can and does show mercy where He will, but elsewhere in Scripture we are told the conditions upon which He determines where He will show mercy, and where He will not. So the idea of predestination locking us into an end result no matter what we do on Earth is not a Biblical doctrine.

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