It's neither my purpose nor my desire to convince. What happens when you hear the Truth is between you and the Lord. I rest knowing that someday you'll know this is all true, to the glory of our Creator and to your tremendous benefit.
I think I've provided enough substance for you now. You'll not believe any of it unless given the grace to do so, which it appears you've not been given. So be it!
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His...
Sorry for the late response; I couldn't get to this yesterday.
The Truth is unpleasant to hear; our flesh hates it.
God forbids evil; we ignore Him or rebel outright. Even before the ten commandments were written, we all knew that murder was wrong. We all have a conscience.
And no, I'm not...
You're not understanding me. Joseph said to his brothers, "what you intended," yes, but then he said "God intended for good..." There is a qualifying statement there that you're simply ignoring. The one act had two different intentions by two different parties. The human intention was evil...
I'm not sure we can agree. Perhaps a better way to put it would be to say that while God is responsible for evils that are committed, He isn't guilty of these evils. The difference lies in the motive. Look at what Joseph said to his brothers about what they did to him:
"As for you, what you...
Okay, sorry that I assumed. The law is not responsible for the evil the man committed. How could it be?
How could the law be evil if it's there to deter evil? And how could a law, which is unable to perform any sort of action, have committed anything at all, much less an evil act it's there...
Well, I believe I provided a straight answer. If you disagree, perhaps you could point out how I erred. I could be wrong, and perhaps I do owe you a better answer.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you're saying if God is responsible, then He has no right to send someone to...
I think I've been pretty clear about that, but I want to make the distinction that while God is ultimately responsible, He is not to blame. We're to blame for our own actions. Why shouldn't we be? Are we robots? Do you feel like a robot? If you steal from someone, or somehow hurt someone, do you...
Would He be God if these things weren't a part of His plan? Terrible things, for sure, but all of these are the unfortunate means to this most wonderful end:
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain...
Right you are. How then, can you say the following: "The castle doesn’t turn out the way the kid wanted, so he kicks it to pieces."
Who says it didn't turn out the way He wanted? If He has the power, and omnipotence at that, do you think He is so inept/powerless that He makes mistakes? If...
Ok, I see what you're getting at now.
I believe "I form the light and create darkness" is essentially just another way of saying "I make peace and create evil."
"Light" is "peace" as "darkness" is "evil." The Lord is the former but brings forth the latter to serve His purposes.
The purpose of...
Why are you asking? I think most people who believe in the existence of God believe that no one created Him. As the book of Revelation states:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13)
I'm not sure where you're getting that. If God is light, and total light, and that which is not of Him is darkness, total darkness, then it seems to me that that must be universally applied. Here is a good example:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your vision is clear, your whole body will...
Sorry for just now getting back to you; for some reason, I only seem to get e-mail notifications for responses sometimes, not all the time. I should've checked back.
I'm not going to say that I know the proper "interpretation" for "I form the light and create darkness," but it seems pretty...
You say several incorrect things, according to the Scriptures you are referring to. God doesn't just permit evil, He created evil:
"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7 AKJV)
Look at the book of Job, where God...
I suppose I can't say that there is absolutely nothing to it, but I can't fathom what that could possibly be.
Women are the only ones who give birth, and the Scriptures speak of labor pains to describe the rebirth of a believer (by God's Spirit). Does that mean only women are reborn? No...
What you say is true to an extent. A lot of emphasis was placed on circumcision and on physical things like the Levitical laws, and many Jews today still place a lot of emphasis on them.
But these things served as illustrations of spiritual truths, and as shadows of things to come. As the...