Revisiting The Attributes of God

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M

Miri

Guest
#61
#61
It's interesting though that while His character does not change, God can change
His mind. Just a couple of examples below. Then there is the Abraham/Lot episode.
Isnt it amazing that we can change the mind of an unchangable God.

If anything is shows the value God places on us and the relationship He has with us.


Exodus 32:14 NKJV
[14] So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.



Jeremiah 26:19 NKJV
[19] Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear
the LORD and seek the LORD's favor? And the LORD relented concerning the doom
which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves."
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#62
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#62
Miri said:
It's interesting though that while His character does not change, God can change
His mind. Just a couple of examples below. Then there is the Abraham/Lot episode.
Isnt it amazing that we can change the mind of an unchangable God.

If anything is shows the value God places on us and the relationship He has with us.


Exodus 32:14 NKJV
[14] So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.



Jeremiah 26:19 NKJV
[19] Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear
the LORD and seek the LORD's favor? And the LORD relented concerning the doom
which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves."
Click to expand...
I personally do not think these or the Ninevah "incident" are examples of God changing His mind. If God does change His mind as to our actions then we have a god that reacts according to his creation not a creation who reacts to a Sovereign God. Since God is omniscient and Sovereign He always knows the outcome and His Will is always accomplished. Seeing these as God changing His mind is the only way we can understand because His thoughts are so much higher than ours and His ways than our ways. I think this is the only way in which we could understand how Sovereign He is so thus it is written this way. It for sure is not an easy attribute to understand or explain when the immutability of God comes to if He changes His mind or not.

Also understand that even though we might disagree on this point it is not so important as to affect our salvation. Our salvation relies upon Jesus, not on this subject. It is totally possible to agree to disagree on this subject and still be brothers and sisters in Christ. So instead of trying to "prove ourselves correct" on if God changes His mind or not we can agree to disagree instead of making this a bitter argument.
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#63
Jul 3, 2015
55,902
26,064
113
#63
Ninevah was eventually destroyed, but we must always keep in mind that it
has always been the plan of God to be merciful towards those who repent. :)
 
M

Miri

Guest
#64
#64
Sac49 said:
I personally do not think these or the Ninevah "incident" are examples of God changing His mind. If God does change His mind as to our actions then we have a god that reacts according to his creation not a creation who reacts to a Sovereign God. Since God is omniscient and Sovereign He always knows the outcome and His Will is always accomplished. Seeing these as God changing His mind is the only way we can understand because His thoughts are so much higher than ours and His ways than our ways. I think this is the only way in which we could understand how Sovereign He is so thus it is written this way. It for sure is not an easy attribute to understand or explain when the immutability of God comes to if He changes His mind or not.

Also understand that even though we might disagree on this point it is not so important as to affect our salvation. Our salvation relies upon Jesus, not on this subject. It is totally possible to agree to disagree on this subject and still be brothers and sisters in Christ. So instead of trying to "prove ourselves correct" on if God changes His mind or not we can agree to disagree instead of making this a bitter argument.
Click to expand...

I do think God allows us to have choices though, choices to act/not act etc.
Prayer has more power than we can ever imagine, I've seen that in my own life.
I also think God partners with us to get things done. He doesn't enforce His will on us.
If we walk according to God's plan we receive the blessing and sense of achievements.
If we don't, then another is chosen and we miss out. Saul/David.


We can agree to disagree :)

All things work together for good etc......
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#65
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#65
Miri said:
I do think God allows us to have choices though, choices to act/not act etc.
Prayer has more power than we can ever imagine, I've seen that in my own life.
I also think God partners with us to get things done. He doesn't enforce His will on us.
If we walk according to God's plan we receive the blessing and sense of achievements.
If we don't, then another is chosen and we miss out. Saul/David.


We can agree to disagree :)

All things work together for good etc......
Click to expand...
Either way we look at God changing His mind or not, His will is done and that should be the thing we take from this. God is Sovereign either way.
 
O

oldethennew

Banned
#66
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
2,972
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#66
Sac,

I believe we are in agreement in this, but, the bottom line is, do we submit in truth
to our Maker in all honesty of heart and soul?...and live it...
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#67
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#67
oldethennew said:
Sac,

I believe we are in agreement in this, but, the bottom line is, do we submit in truth
to our Maker in all honesty of heart and soul?...and live it...
Click to expand...
I would like to think that i do but i realize that some times i fall short.

I was just reading a book and it brought up a good point. There are some things that God does not explain to us but He is not obliged to explain these. We are not to live by explanations but by promises. I think this would be the point of looking at the immutability of God....His promises do not change.
 
M

MadParrotWoman

Guest
#68
#68
Sac49 said:
I would like to think that i do but i realize that some times i fall short.

I was just reading a book and it brought up a good point. There are some things that God does not explain to us but He is not obliged to explain these. We are not to live by explanations but by promises. I think this would be the point of looking at the immutability of God....His promises do not change.
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I agree. People ask us "if God is real then why doesn't He show us and prove it?" I know there are many answers to this question - God being outside of time etc but I think the key word here is "faith" and also trust. "Proving it" would take away all doubt and choice. God wants us to yield to Him through choice and faith, He will never force us to choose Him.

Trying not to go off topic...lol
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#69
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#69
MadParrotWoman said:
I agree. People ask us "if God is real then why doesn't He show us and prove it?" I know there are many answers to this question - God being outside of time etc but I think the key word here is "faith" and also trust. "Proving it" would take away all doubt and choice. God wants us to yield to Him through choice and faith, He will never force us to choose Him.

Trying not to go off topic...lol
Click to expand...
This is not off topic but actually leads into the next attribute to look at....the Sovereignty of God. God being the supreme ruler of all things. In Gods Sovereingty He has decided that there are certain things we do not need to know. In His Sovereingty He knows that if we knew certain things then we could not live in the saving faith which He has given us. For example; if we knew when the earth would end would we live our lives differently? I think so because then we would have a reason to live in sin until a specific time when we need to change. We wouldnt be living by faith but by a time of knowing. We would live thinking "i can do what i want for a few more days then i must give my life to Christ". It would be more of a forced faith in time rather than a saving faith in Jesus.
 
M

Miri

Guest
#70
#70
MadParrotWoman said:
I agree. People ask us "if God is real then why doesn't He show us and prove it?" I know there are many answers to this question - God being outside of time etc but I think the key word here is "faith" and also trust. "Proving it" would take away all doubt and choice. God wants us to yield to Him through choice and faith, He will never force us to choose Him.

Trying not to go off topic...lol
Click to expand...

Jesus came and He did prove it, healed the sick blind lame, even raised the dead but
many still did not believe. Many people who say prove it would still not believe even if they saw it
with their own eyes. Even if they did believe for a brief moment people have short memories.
It still takes a supernatural work of the holy spirit to "wake us up from slumber"



John 20:29 NKJV
[29] Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed."


Why are they blessed? It's because their spiritual eyes have been opened, praise God. :)
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#71
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#71
The final incommutable attribute i would like to look at is The Soverienty of God. There are many more but this will be our last for the moment.

"Gods ultimate Lordship and rule over all creation so that the divine will is supreme over all else" (Ephesians 1:11 Revelations 4:11)

There is no attribute more comforting to Gods children than Gods Sovereingty. We can understand that in all things God is in control. Even in our trials we can understand that God has ordained them. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose,". Nothing that happens, happens without God.

The Sovereignty of God is also one attribute which we fight against Him about. We will allow God to do anything except rule upon His throne. We like a god who sits and watches his creation but we dont like a God who is in control. We think so highly of oursrlves as to think we are the ones in control. We dont like that some things are in the control of others. "I am in control of my own destiny!", we cry out. In some sense yes we are but in a greater sense our "destiny" is in the control of Gods Sovereign Will. Could you imagine the mess we would be in if God handed control over to us?

To me it is a great comfort knowing that my life is "governed" by a loving, Sovereign God.

Psalm 47:2 "How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!"
 
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MadParrotWoman

Guest
#72
#72
If God is sovereign (and I'm not doubting this in any way) all knowing and He knows and determines the number of our days, when He will take us etc. why is it that we are living longer now due to advances in medicine? I've been thinking about this for a little while now.

Another way to look at this is ARE we living longer these days? Sometimes I am surprised that in bygone days if we avoided the deadly diseases of the day (before antibiotics) we very often did live to ripe old ages! (I'm not talking of OT times because there was a different reason why in Moses' time God allowed us to live for 100's of years but that's for another thread lol) - I'm talking 100's of years ago not 1000's.
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#73
Jun 26, 2016
582
30
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#73
The first communicable attribute of God we shall look at is love. Remember that the communicable attributes are attributes which we share with God.

God does not just "have" love but God is love. This love that God is, is the Agape love. The love that is a full sacrificial love. Only God has full agape love. We may show signs of agape love and desire a full agape love but because of sin it cannot be fully and constantly displayed in us.

For more on love view the thread i posted called "love". This thread goes into greater depth on the different types of love and should be examined when talking about "God is love". I did not want to "just repeat" it here though it is part of my study on the attributes of God.
 
M

MadParrotWoman

Guest
#74
#74
God's greatest attribute.
 
Sac49

Sac49

Senior Member
#75
Jun 26, 2016
582
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#75
MadParrotWoman said:
God's greatest attribute.
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And as Christians this should be our greatest attribute. Us being "different" from the world should be shown thru our love. But sadly it isnt always the case.
 
Talishi

Talishi

Banned
#76
Sep 5, 2016
450
2
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#76
Sac49 said:
And as Christians this should be our greatest attribute. Us being "different" from the world should be shown thru our love. But sadly it isnt always the case.
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Love amongst yourselves is the suggested sign.

Instead the Church has divided and subdivided over race, whether womenfolk can wear pants, whether we should fall backwards and roll in sawdust or sit in the pews and flip the pages of our bibles, grace vs. works, dunking vs. pouring, Matthew 28:19 vs. Acts 2:28, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, pan trib, 66 books vs. 73 books, KJVonlyites vs. Not Inspired Version, historicism, futurism, liberalism, conservativism, Calvinism, Arminianism, cheap grace, predestination, easy believism, feminism, ism, ism, ism. Jesus must be very, very proud.
 
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