-
Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.
If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!
To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
R
Yet a great deal of time is spent is spent in apologetics and hermenutics trying to do just that. Authors like McDowell and Strobel have spent a great deal of time and effort applying the principles of logic and reason to Christianity. They might suggest that Christianity is a very logic based and ordered system validated by internal and external sources. I have imagined Christianity to be a faith system which is defensible with multiple sources from science to philosophy but only to a point. A circle of reason and logic which can be constructed 90% of the way, but cannot be closed with these sources. The last 10% is the gap we call faith. It is a combination of the brain God gave us and the faith He requires of us. I believe this is a huge problem in the church today. Ignorance and laziness is pervasive. Most reverse those percentages and are content to say they have 90% faith and 10% knowledge. The problem is their faith isn't rooted in much knowledge whether that be Biblical or the supporting evidences. So when they are pressed with competing philosophies/theologies they are easily led astray or demoralized. I don't believe that spiritual discernment and human reason are mutually exclusive. One may be greater than the other, but both can serve the purpose of us being able to give a compelling defense of our faith.
I think God created us, loves all of us, and created us to live with Him forever. Not because we are sort of robots without a will of our own, but because it is what we freely choose. I think, when one of us chooses to walk in the narrow path that God has laid out for us, God is overjoyed.
My studies have been in ancient history, including anything we have learned about the Amorites, Philistines, or the Hittites. Life under their ways was not good. I compared it with the way God had government and life planned for the Hebrews after their forty years in the wilderness. Then I searched for history of a people trying to live by that life. When communities truly work at it, it works for a good place for all to live, but it takes an entire community cooperating, and getting rid of what tears it apart.
I think this is the way God works. To live with Him, we have to choose it of our free will. I think God planned it that way. When we choose to follow God everything in our life here is made happier, it is a sample of following God to eternal life.
My studies have been in ancient history, including anything we have learned about the Amorites, Philistines, or the Hittites. Life under their ways was not good. I compared it with the way God had government and life planned for the Hebrews after their forty years in the wilderness. Then I searched for history of a people trying to live by that life. When communities truly work at it, it works for a good place for all to live, but it takes an entire community cooperating, and getting rid of what tears it apart.
I think this is the way God works. To live with Him, we have to choose it of our free will. I think God planned it that way. When we choose to follow God everything in our life here is made happier, it is a sample of following God to eternal life.
T
Sorry that is too simplistic. Angels knew God...the lie was bigger than you will be like God...why would Stan bait 1/3 of the angles with being God, when he that is what his ultimate personal desire is?
Simply put, Satan would not have promised them something, that could take away his power of them.
Simply put, Satan would not have promised them something, that could take away his power of them.
T
The Bible says you are wrong, Without Faith it is impossible to please him...PERIOD!
Her eis another example, which will no doubt cause the ripping of clothes and gnashing of teeth. I am only using the below as an example to make people think.
Why does the Body of Christ attempt to equate HUMAN emotions and apply those HUMAN emotions to the Fruit of the Spirit?
What many call JOY is based solely on mans interpretation of what JOY, most Christians think JOY is some bubbling form of happiness.
You cannot use human intellect, human reason or sense knowledge to contact and attempt to figure God out. You must come to him in Faith, period.
Her eis another example, which will no doubt cause the ripping of clothes and gnashing of teeth. I am only using the below as an example to make people think.
Why does the Body of Christ attempt to equate HUMAN emotions and apply those HUMAN emotions to the Fruit of the Spirit?
What many call JOY is based solely on mans interpretation of what JOY, most Christians think JOY is some bubbling form of happiness.
You cannot use human intellect, human reason or sense knowledge to contact and attempt to figure God out. You must come to him in Faith, period.
If God wanted us to be compliant robots He could have created us that way. Instead He was looking for willing volunteers that would serve Him out of love and gratitude. But how could He be sure we were serving Him for the right reasons? By testing our resolve within a fallen world with much pain, death and destruction. But God came down to Earth in the form of a man to give us freedom from eternal death and suffering. All we have to do is accept His gracious gift and and follow His words. That is how and why we CHOOSE to serve Him. However God will not force us kicking and screaming to serve Him. If you choose your own path he will respect your wishes, but you will live with the consequences of your decision for eternity. So choose carefully.
R
It's all relative... the angels had existed in the presence of God since their creation. It is entirely likely that they grew complacent or familiar (contemptuously so) of God and the scope of his power. Satan/Lucifer is considered to have been the most beautiful/powerful among the angels so he was closest to the throne. When one is that close to the throne and the power that goes with it, either humility or rebellion seem to emerge as responses to that position. Lucifer believed he could have the power and all that goes with it and persuaded the others that their lot would be improved as well. Maybe that they would be objects of adoration rather than creatures of worship. Power and control. Sometimes the most simple is the most logical.
R
Where did I say that we can please him without faith? Christianity is a faith based system. My point is that there are many sources which validate what we have faith in thus giving us more of an ability to provide a defense of our faith. Your comments about human emotions vs the fruit of the spirit seems out of place to the discussion. I don't disagree with your assertion that feelings like happiness or euphoria are not the same as joy and peace. However, God gave us brains with the capacity for executive functioning which has allows us not only to exercise our free will, but to contact God albeit on an imperfect level. The Bible is an example of contacting God intellectually. Nature and science are other examples. God's creation and His Word are evidences of His existence. Simply telling someone they should believe without the ability to provide reasons why or the ability to answer their questions is lazy and in conflict with Paul's instruction to be prepared to give a defense of our faith.
R
If you are responding to my original post, you have missed the essence of the question. As I stated, this is not a matter of free will or predestination, but rather the dynamic which existed before those concepts would have even come into play. The question is why did God initiate a system which was doomed to catastrophic failure with untold suffering by those He created in His image? It is reasonable to accept that He could have implemented any system He chose because He is God. So why one that was doomed to fail and He knew it was doomed before He set it in motion? That is the question/concept I am trying to grasp/grapple with. I have no problem with free will and the consequences of it. I do have a problem/struggle with God knowing what was coming and doing it anyway.
dear brother vernon,
[h=3]Romans 9:11-21[/h]King James Version (KJV)
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
[h=3]Romans 9:11-21[/h]King James Version (KJV)
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
F
At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity. You cannot have a jar of evil. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.
Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.
God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.
As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from a holy, eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly, and temporal perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions cannot be adequately answered this side of eternity. What we can know is whatever God does is holy and perfect and ultimately will glorify Him. God allowed for the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regards to whether we worship Him. God did not create evil, but He allowed it. If He had not allowed evil, we would be worshipping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own will.
Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.
God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.
As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from a holy, eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly, and temporal perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions cannot be adequately answered this side of eternity. What we can know is whatever God does is holy and perfect and ultimately will glorify Him. God allowed for the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regards to whether we worship Him. God did not create evil, but He allowed it. If He had not allowed evil, we would be worshipping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own will.
R
How do we know that whatever God does is holy and perfect and why does He need to be glorified? That is not disrespect, but rather questions which are and will be asked. I don't contend that God needed to make us and keep us in heaven. I do question why He made us and perpetuates the system knowing we would fail regardless of the intervention (law, prophets, Jesus, Scripture, Church, Holy Spirit). God's directed will vs. His allowed will is really a matter of semantics. If He allows the presence of evil, he created the system/process by which evil would/does exist. Which begs another question, why does God so desperately need worship? If this entire system exists to glorify Him and produce creatures who will obey and worship Him why does he need that especially at such a high cost (human suffering, Christ's death)? Was God incomplete before he created mankind? Was He lonely? Did the angels and other creatures in heaven not provide enough praise and worship? Did he need the adoration of a creature predicated on faith to feel whole? This seems to be in contradiction to His nature. If he is perfect, than is He not in perfect harmony without the presence of something He creates?
You did not do any of the creating, you are absolutely helpless before God. You can only be thankful that God wants what in the Hebrew language is Shalom for you. Not only that, God pointed to ways that we can achieve that even among the evil God allowed in our world, evils we could choose. God created ways we can go against His ways and told us not to choose those ways, and is watching you to see if you choose what God tells you to choose.
I don't think God is desperate at all in anything. It makes sense to worship God, makes no sense at all to turn on what gives you life and operates the world you live in. That is what Job told his friends when they wanted him to question and rebel.
I lived mostly on the ocean for about seven years commercial fishing. No one can redo the ocean, like in London when they poured concrete over much of the land. The order of that ocean is mind boggling. Tides can be timed to the second. By looking at the color of the water you can tell the temperature because of the organisms that temperature attracts. The water reacts to winds in a precise way. And that is just the example of God's creation that one thing He created.
We are blessed with the ways of our God.
I don't think God is desperate at all in anything. It makes sense to worship God, makes no sense at all to turn on what gives you life and operates the world you live in. That is what Job told his friends when they wanted him to question and rebel.
I lived mostly on the ocean for about seven years commercial fishing. No one can redo the ocean, like in London when they poured concrete over much of the land. The order of that ocean is mind boggling. Tides can be timed to the second. By looking at the color of the water you can tell the temperature because of the organisms that temperature attracts. The water reacts to winds in a precise way. And that is just the example of God's creation that one thing He created.
We are blessed with the ways of our God.
What's an alternative system? I never hear of one, also the movie director analogy is flawed, actors are their little puppets in their little world. Oddly enough I've never seen a movie painting the perfect Utopia, there is that movie 1984 lol. It's quite possible that androids and robots with no free will is the only alternative if you want a "perfect creation" or one with no suffering.
As for worshipping God, in essence we are being asked to put our attention on that which is holy perfect and good, that which gave us life. The giver of life is saying direct your attention to me and follow what I say, this is good and for our benefit I have to imagine. That's how I look at it...
You're assuming God had an abundance of alternatives to choose from that were better and which also permitted the gift of free will. Are there? To say he tossed out all these better scripts and chose the bad one is a bit ignorant. I've never heard of a better alternative, just people saying "a place of less suffering and no death" but how if we choose to turn from Gods will(What is good)?How if we choose to avoid his instruction and brake his laws? How if we choose to not have any faith? Just my 2 cents...
God Bless
As for worshipping God, in essence we are being asked to put our attention on that which is holy perfect and good, that which gave us life. The giver of life is saying direct your attention to me and follow what I say, this is good and for our benefit I have to imagine. That's how I look at it...
You're assuming God had an abundance of alternatives to choose from that were better and which also permitted the gift of free will. Are there? To say he tossed out all these better scripts and chose the bad one is a bit ignorant. I've never heard of a better alternative, just people saying "a place of less suffering and no death" but how if we choose to turn from Gods will(What is good)?How if we choose to avoid his instruction and brake his laws? How if we choose to not have any faith? Just my 2 cents...
God Bless
T
I am done here brother, You continually seek to quantify the spiritual with carnal means. You never contact God through your intellect, you do so through your Spirit.
For the record ,Faith is not lazy, Faith takes work..a lot of very hard work. God gave us brains, and then said to renew your brains, be a partaker of the divine nature, and be conformed into he image of his son...you do not do any of these through carnal sense knowledge or human intellect. You must put off the old man and put on the new, you are a Spirit ebing, that has a soul[mind, will and emotions] that lives in a body[flesh]
The word tells us to let our soul be subject to our spirit man and the flesh will then obey the dominate of those 2. Your questions show you to be a babe, might I recommend goign over the milk of the word , for you ask things only meat eaters will understand.
You need to stop attempting to understand spiritual things with your natural man and grow up spiritually and begin letting your spirit compare things that are spiritual.
you should read all of 1 cor 2
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [SUP]2 [/SUP]For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
[SUP]5 [/SUP]That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
[SUP]7 [/SUP]But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[SUP]8 [/SUP]Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
For the record ,Faith is not lazy, Faith takes work..a lot of very hard work. God gave us brains, and then said to renew your brains, be a partaker of the divine nature, and be conformed into he image of his son...you do not do any of these through carnal sense knowledge or human intellect. You must put off the old man and put on the new, you are a Spirit ebing, that has a soul[mind, will and emotions] that lives in a body[flesh]
The word tells us to let our soul be subject to our spirit man and the flesh will then obey the dominate of those 2. Your questions show you to be a babe, might I recommend goign over the milk of the word , for you ask things only meat eaters will understand.
You need to stop attempting to understand spiritual things with your natural man and grow up spiritually and begin letting your spirit compare things that are spiritual.
you should read all of 1 cor 2
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [SUP]2 [/SUP]For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
[SUP]5 [/SUP]That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
[SUP]7 [/SUP]But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[SUP]8 [/SUP]Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
R
I'm not suggesting there were better alternatives other than choosing to examine the option before you and not exercising it. God was not obligated or forced to create man. He created man in spite of what He knew would be the consequences both for Himself, us and His son. Again, this is not an exploration of free will, but what came before freewill was even in play. The movie director scenario is a good analogy. Directors get a lot of scripts and choose not to make the majority of them for one reason or another. This "script" had a fatal flaw, but He chose to make the movie anyway. Can you imagine a director who decides to make a movie knowing that most of the cast and crew would die and forever be lost? What would we call someone who knows this in advance and makes the movie anyway for his own glorification? Utopia existed prior to the fall. After the fall there was only misery and suffering by a majority of inhabitants of the earth. Paradise lost. He knew in advance this would be the case and did it anyway. That is the point of contention. The point I am grappling with.
R
I'm sorry, but your assumption about my faith maturity is false. I have been a Christian for 38 years and am Bible college educated. I am familiar with the passages you have provided along with Rom 12, the account of Job, Romans 9 and II Cor 10 all of which deal with the mind, wisdom and discernment. You seem to be suggesting that there is no ability of the carnal to understand spiritual issues. Are we simply to tell people that their questions don't have answers because they are too carnal to understand? Did you happen to see the debate between Nye and Ham regarding Evolution and Creationism? Ken Ham has created a museum to display the science and logistics related to a young earth and to support the Genesis account of creation. While spoke of his faith during the debate, he also supported his faith system with the "carnal" knowledge available to believers and unbelievers alike. Logic, science, reasoning, philosophy, psychology etc are not carnal therefore rendering them immaterial to the discussion. Many carnal individuals demonstrate God's gifts and His nature although they will not acknowledge it or credit Him with it. I did not say that faith is lazy. I said there are too many people who talk about having faith and spend little or no time preparing to give a defense of it. Big difference.
The OP is about confronting the character and ways of God, rather than surrendering yourself to him. It is arrogant to think we can understand the ways of God.
But one thing for sure, he is perfect, and I have no doubt that God is in total control!
As for suffering in this life, it helps us grow. The western church, esp. with the influence of the health and wealth, or prosperity gospel has totally missed out on this vital part of our Christian walk.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;[SUP]4 [/SUP]perseverance, character; and character, hope. [SUP]5 [/SUP]And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5
I know, I would not be the person I am today, if God had not allowed me to suffer. God needed to shape me, and change me for HIS glory! I can only praise him for that, and surrender to his will.
So no, not going to answer about the character and nature of God. He is just and holy, and he is love. I have walked with him for 34 years, and he has never forsaken me. He has never failed me. I don't need to question God's character, because he has proven himself over and over! I also have an MDiv from Seminary, and learned that God is sovereign, and really that is what matters. Godly professors have demonstrated the unfailing love of God, and helped me to rest peacefully in Christ's never ending love, while showing me the changes that God is making daily in my life.
But one thing for sure, he is perfect, and I have no doubt that God is in total control!
As for suffering in this life, it helps us grow. The western church, esp. with the influence of the health and wealth, or prosperity gospel has totally missed out on this vital part of our Christian walk.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;[SUP]4 [/SUP]perseverance, character; and character, hope. [SUP]5 [/SUP]And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5
I know, I would not be the person I am today, if God had not allowed me to suffer. God needed to shape me, and change me for HIS glory! I can only praise him for that, and surrender to his will.
So no, not going to answer about the character and nature of God. He is just and holy, and he is love. I have walked with him for 34 years, and he has never forsaken me. He has never failed me. I don't need to question God's character, because he has proven himself over and over! I also have an MDiv from Seminary, and learned that God is sovereign, and really that is what matters. Godly professors have demonstrated the unfailing love of God, and helped me to rest peacefully in Christ's never ending love, while showing me the changes that God is making daily in my life.
