Do you think it's a contradiction for God to absolutely require faith in Him to enter heaven, and yet make it impossible to be able to have faith without the blindfold being removed? I absolutely agree with you that we are blind, we are dead in our sins, we need to receive sight and be made alive, but I also see the logic that God would never require something of us that we can't do. God requires belief, we need enablement to do so, but we can respond to God in faith.
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K
Man has a natural tendency towards faith. Ever drive at night when it's raining and you can barely see in front of you? You have faith that the person who painted the lines on the road, which you can barely see, did so to keep you on the road. You have faith that there isn't any huge debris in the road that you wouldn't be able to stop for. You have faith that whoever designed and built your vehicle did a thorough job so that there won't be a catastrophic failure as you are white knuckling the steering wheel. You have faith that the tire shop secured your tires properly and would have noticed any failings. We even have faith in inanimate objects like our vehicle and tires to not fail when we need them most.
If man didn't have that faith, we all would be driving 5 MPH in those situations. People do it everyday, believers and non-believers alike, putting faith in others and things. If we can so easily have faith in all of those things, how hard should it be to have faith in the One Who created it all?
God wants us to have faith in Him when everything else tells us, that can't happen. When man's logic points out the impossible, we are to have faith in Whom all is possible. Having faith isn't hard. Having faith in something we can't perceive with our five senses is. That faith only comes over time as we build a relationship with God. We had it easily as children, but the world slowly tore it from us, and we must actively seek now to restore it.
If man didn't have that faith, we all would be driving 5 MPH in those situations. People do it everyday, believers and non-believers alike, putting faith in others and things. If we can so easily have faith in all of those things, how hard should it be to have faith in the One Who created it all?
God wants us to have faith in Him when everything else tells us, that can't happen. When man's logic points out the impossible, we are to have faith in Whom all is possible. Having faith isn't hard. Having faith in something we can't perceive with our five senses is. That faith only comes over time as we build a relationship with God. We had it easily as children, but the world slowly tore it from us, and we must actively seek now to restore it.
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! great twist, I believe by my free choice and by God have been shown the freedom found in Christ. Freed from the bondage of flesh and blood thanks be to Christ
Colossians 1:22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
I not only believe I know thanks to God the Father who has shown me and all that believe God
Colossians 1:22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
I not only believe I know thanks to God the Father who has shown me and all that believe God
M
God instructs us so that we are equipped with the tools to use our free will to choose wisely instead of foolishly.
Its the same as it always was
The choice between engaging in seeking the knowledge of good and evil
Or life in him.
As we know we don't have anything we haven't been given
I also notice that we don't Know anything which we haven't learned.
That which we have knowledge of and have learned guides us in the choices we make.
What do we fill our minds with then as the basis to lead our free will?
That which is only permissible such as using sawdust in cereal as a cheap filler,
or that which is Beneficial such as the nutrients needed to flourish grafted in the vine and be healthy spiritually in the first place.
What we feed our mind with...which affects the condition of the spirit... plays a major role in being a contributing factor of our mood, any choices, thoughts and decisions we make in how we can righteously exercise our free will for God's purposes.
Choose Gods word, Choose Gods instruction, Choose life.
We have that choice.
As God is sovereign over the nations, he is also sovereign over each individual
I don't view it as Gods sovereignty Vs. Free will
It's my belief that:
God IS Sovereign over our Free Will
Its the same as it always was
The choice between engaging in seeking the knowledge of good and evil
Or life in him.
As we know we don't have anything we haven't been given
I also notice that we don't Know anything which we haven't learned.
That which we have knowledge of and have learned guides us in the choices we make.
What do we fill our minds with then as the basis to lead our free will?
That which is only permissible such as using sawdust in cereal as a cheap filler,
or that which is Beneficial such as the nutrients needed to flourish grafted in the vine and be healthy spiritually in the first place.
What we feed our mind with...which affects the condition of the spirit... plays a major role in being a contributing factor of our mood, any choices, thoughts and decisions we make in how we can righteously exercise our free will for God's purposes.
Choose Gods word, Choose Gods instruction, Choose life.
We have that choice.
As God is sovereign over the nations, he is also sovereign over each individual
I don't view it as Gods sovereignty Vs. Free will
It's my belief that:
God IS Sovereign over our Free Will
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There.as when ate from showed us the flesh as Adam and Eve were not aware of nakedness before the eating of. This what brought on total free choice in knowing good and evil, and making a choice as to which we will serve, self or God.
I personally chose God and remain so far steadfast and trust God to keep me, showing me truth from error.to keep me steadfast in God, though Son Christ.
I personally chose God and remain so far steadfast and trust God to keep me, showing me truth from error.to keep me steadfast in God, though Son Christ.
By Faith in the finished work of Christ at the cross of.
1 John 2:2 and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Colossians 1:22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
I believe that through his death he has made me holy unto Father as it states and remain steadfast there, trusting Father to do in me what I never could do in self as shown to all by Christ in his walk, our annihilation as in cut off thy hand and gouge out thine eye. As the rich man walked away sad, showing us all the impossibility to be saved ever of self or by self or with any help.
It is all God and no one else. Either one believes God or they do not and thus if believe God in this finalization as in being forgiven, move on from death to life in the resurrection, being born again in the Spirit of God where no sin can occur since all sin has been condemned to flesh.
[h=3]Romans 8:3[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]3 [/SUP]For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
By Faith are you saved. and made right with God, having the ministry of:
2 Corinthians 5:18
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
1 John 2:2 and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Colossians 1:22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
I believe that through his death he has made me holy unto Father as it states and remain steadfast there, trusting Father to do in me what I never could do in self as shown to all by Christ in his walk, our annihilation as in cut off thy hand and gouge out thine eye. As the rich man walked away sad, showing us all the impossibility to be saved ever of self or by self or with any help.
It is all God and no one else. Either one believes God or they do not and thus if believe God in this finalization as in being forgiven, move on from death to life in the resurrection, being born again in the Spirit of God where no sin can occur since all sin has been condemned to flesh.
[h=3]Romans 8:3[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]3 [/SUP]For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
By Faith are you saved. and made right with God, having the ministry of:
2 Corinthians 5:18
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
So obviously man has free will God even told this to Adam and God being truthful in all things truthfully told Adam that if he ever did choose to eat of that tree that he would die, and Adam and Eve both died that day to the Spirit of God, and had to work the ground on their own. But God has had Mercy on us all from day one. Sent his son to restore us in the Spirit that was lost way back then. God did this while we were yet sinners and Son Christ died for us. All that is left is to believe and thank, praising God or not and continue to work in the flesh with a dead Spirit, that is willing but dead, until we believe God and are restored to life whole alive to God in the Spirit of God, which today is the only way God can be worshipped
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Christ came to restore one in the Spirit of God as he said to Nicodemus in John 3. This is done through the cross and is completed by the resurrected Christ after the death that took away all sin in Father's sight. So Father could and does live in us the believers to teach us each right from wrong and we walk in Faith of the finished work of Son
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Christ came to restore one in the Spirit of God as he said to Nicodemus in John 3. This is done through the cross and is completed by the resurrected Christ after the death that took away all sin in Father's sight. So Father could and does live in us the believers to teach us each right from wrong and we walk in Faith of the finished work of Son
without coming to the knowledge of good and bad, and had never known the free will choice, Adam and Eve would have remained puppets, as to whom they serve, as a water glass is nothing more than a puppet to serve us, without free will choice. It was made for the purpose to be a servant to us, as we decide to use it to get a drink. It was designed for nothing else.
So that would have been Adam and Eve and all others born after them, no free choice as to choose when one does not know good and Evil.
So God so loved the world and gives one choice back to be saved and be led by God the creator of all.
That is to believe and thank God for this restoration through Son, to be back alive in the Spirit of God
2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
So be restored since God did this through Son and be thankful entering his courts with thanksgiving and praise, every day.
So that would have been Adam and Eve and all others born after them, no free choice as to choose when one does not know good and Evil.
So God so loved the world and gives one choice back to be saved and be led by God the creator of all.
That is to believe and thank God for this restoration through Son, to be back alive in the Spirit of God
2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
So be restored since God did this through Son and be thankful entering his courts with thanksgiving and praise, every day.
Brought on by doubt, through the serpent, and twisting what God had said, created second thoughts on the subject. Same thing going on to this very day.
[h=3]Genesis 3[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [SUP]2 [/SUP]And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [SUP]3 [/SUP]but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [SUP]4 [/SUP]And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [SUP]5 [/SUP]for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [SUP]6 [/SUP]And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [SUP]7 [/SUP]And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Deception is still at hand to this very day, being alive in the flesh is not of God. Being alive in the Spirit of God is of God and is given to the believer through the resurrected Christ back a the cross of Christ. Where are all the riches and glories are found in Christ, but without the resurrected Christ we are to pitied of all people, for without the resurrection we are still on our sins. 1 Cor. 15, pretty clear on this fact.
[h=3]Genesis 3[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [SUP]2 [/SUP]And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [SUP]3 [/SUP]but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [SUP]4 [/SUP]And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [SUP]5 [/SUP]for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [SUP]6 [/SUP]And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [SUP]7 [/SUP]And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Deception is still at hand to this very day, being alive in the flesh is not of God. Being alive in the Spirit of God is of God and is given to the believer through the resurrected Christ back a the cross of Christ. Where are all the riches and glories are found in Christ, but without the resurrected Christ we are to pitied of all people, for without the resurrection we are still on our sins. 1 Cor. 15, pretty clear on this fact.
Jesus Christ the righteous, has freed me, and frees all those that believe God in God's finished work at the cross for them, it goes much farther that the death, for the life comes out of that death in the resurrection, if we decide to die to self with Christ at the cross
[h=3]Philippians 3:10-11[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]10[/SUP]that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; [SUP]11 [/SUP]if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
[h=3]Philippians 3:10-11[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]10[/SUP]that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; [SUP]11 [/SUP]if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
J
Don't you have to free yourself though, since before you were in bondage to sin, but obeying and believing are not acts of sin. Thus in order to break the bondage of sin, having faith requires being set free of that bondage, which this you believe is done by your act of believing... so why can't we just be honest with ourselves?If we're the ones that must break the bondage, we're the ones providing the faith, and we're the ones beginning salvation, the power of salvation lies with us.