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Re: does God punish? [Re: APL] #154281
07/20/13 08:37 AM
07/20/13 08:37 AM
dedication  Offline
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Originally Posted By: APL


Originally Posted By: dedication
God is not the destroyer as you seem to be trying to imply.
THIS is an interesting statement. I am implying God is the destroyer? NO, YOU ARE. God is NOT the destroyer. Please read your statement, when God has had enough, He destroys, that is what you are saying. What I am saying, is that when God has determine there is nothing more that will change, He withdraws His mercy, and lets sin take its course. If you read Patriarchs and Prophets the first chapters, it is clear that if God had let the natural consequences of sin play out with Satan, the universe would not have understood that this was the inevitable consequences of sin. In the end, ALL will understand.


Yes, you keep using language that implies INJUSTICE, in order to do away with God's Justice in ending sin. I never said "When God has enough" you twisted that in.
I've repeatedly written that God is longsuffering not wanting anyone to perish. He has poured out all heaven in order to save. But the time will come when sin has fully manifested itself and yes, God will end it and come and take His people home.

God did allow the natural consequences of sin to play out with Satan so the universe could understand the results of transgressing God's law.

God could have stopped the "electrical current" of life to flow through Lucifer right then and there. But indeed the universe would have thought it UNJUST of God. So God continues to grant satan life till he reveals the ultimate horror of his choices.

As to--
WHO CAUSED THE EGYPTIANS TO DIE IN THE RED SEA?
Think of it this way,

NOT A TRUE STORY

A Pathfinder Camporee.
One unit of boys is constantly harassing another unit of boys. It just keeps going on and on. Finally their counsellor says, "Follow me" we are going to find a better place to camp.
There is a deep ravine. The Counsellor securely fastens a rope bridge across the chasm, and encourages his boys to move across. Suddenly the other group comes running up, hurling insults and stones. They start to cross the rope bridge. The counsellor starts swaying the bridge to cause the other boys to slow down, while helping the last of his own boys across. He continues swaying the bridge till all the hostile boys are on the bridge when he suddenly cuts the rope and bridge with its occupants tumbles down.

I don't think that Counsellor would get away with saying -- Oh I just removed the protective ropes, what happened after that was not my doing. If this story were true that counsellor would be guilty.
And yet that's pretty much what happened at the Red Sea. Of course the war and danger was much bigger -- God stepped in and fought the war for His people, delivering them from certain death at the hands of those Egyptians.

Re: does God punish? [Re: Johann] #154282
07/20/13 08:57 AM
07/20/13 08:57 AM
Johann  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,014
Iceland
That lesson for today, July 20, 2013, shows me that I must know Scripture TRUTH! If I use Scripture just like Satan to prove that my ideas are right, then I do not know the TRUTH.


"Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on the things which are holy and right and pure and beautiful and good. Model your conduct on what you have learned from me, on what I have told you and shown you, and you will find the God of peace will be with you."
Re: does God punish? [Re: Johann] #154287
07/20/13 03:15 PM
07/20/13 03:15 PM
APL  Offline
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Originally Posted By: dedication
I don't think that Counsellor would get away with saying -- Oh I just removed the protective ropes, what happened after that was not my doing. If this story were true that counsellor would be guilty.
Yes, he could not get away with it. Neither would God, He would be guilty. Go back you electric company. The problem is that you have the company pulling the plug. That is not what I see happening. It is not God pulling the plug as you say, but God not putting the plug back in after we pull it. You see sin as bad, but without intrinsic consequences. Sin does not cause death as I read what you write, God causes the death of a sinner. Read again Patriarchs and Prophets chapter 1, why was sin permitted? It was permitted because if the natural consequences of sin were allowed to have proceeded, Satan would have died. But the on looking universe would not have understood that this was the inevitable consequences of sin never having seen it before. They would have understood it as execution by God, and would have served from from fear, not love. God permitted sin to show what the awful consequences of sin is and what the natural ultimate results would be. This was clearly demonstrated on the Cross. And we still are not understanding it...


Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
Re: does God punish? [Re: APL] #154293
07/20/13 07:43 PM
07/20/13 07:43 PM
dedication  Offline
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Sin causes death, no question.
Sin works against the very laws of life, thus destroying life.

Yet why would Lucifer have dropped dead in heaven?
He had not as yet so broken the natural laws of life as to have destroyed his body.

The reason is that God is the source of life. Every breath, every heart beat is a gift from God. Thus when a person turns their back on God, they are in reality turning their back on life itself.

The electrical current of life is a gift from God, not something we have intrinsically.
So yes, when Lucifer decided to become Satan and rebel against God, he was saying, "God, I don't want anything to do with you. Which indirectly meant he was rejecting God's gift of life.

You can argue that he "pulled the plug". However, that was not his intention, he felt perfectly confident that he had life within himself and could do it on his own.

That is the fallacy. People think their life is theirs no matter what they do, and God has no right end it, thus we have this whole argument over the last 100 pages.

It is only by the grace of God that life is extended to the sinner even though they have rejected God (and life). Yes, it is to reveal that sin in its own right causes nothing but death, suffering, shame, and misery.

Yet it is still in God's hands as to how long anyone lives. In the end it is He that stops the electricity of life flowing into the bodies of sinners who have not only demonstrated the sure terrible results that sin has dealt all creation, but have also fully demonstrated they want nothing to do with God who is the source of life.

Re: does God punish? [Re: dedication] #154296
07/20/13 09:49 PM
07/20/13 09:49 PM
Johann  Offline
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Retired Pastor
3000+ Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,014
Iceland
Electricity is an excellent illustration. Because I lived for years during my childhood in a house with no electricity except batteries to run our radio, I was very interested in electricity and read everything I could get hold of and made some interesting experiments. Cords can be made from various material with varying capacity and "life"

Scripture tells us that God Himself is the only source of life which means that you have no life without a connecting cord. Through Jesus Christ such a cord is extended to every living being.

Sin = death, so a special bypass is essential to extend the life for a while. The temporary connection has an expiration time/event. Only by faith is it possible to extend the life of the cable. For those who are saved this extension will go on for all eternity, because we never cease to be sinners.

Life goes on as long as there is a good connection, right?

What happens if the deteriorating cable is not renewed by faith?

Last edited by Johann; 07/20/13 09:51 PM.

"Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on the things which are holy and right and pure and beautiful and good. Model your conduct on what you have learned from me, on what I have told you and shown you, and you will find the God of peace will be with you."
Re: does God punish? [Re: Johann] #154298
07/20/13 11:18 PM
07/20/13 11:18 PM
APL  Offline
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Western, USA
Originally Posted By: dedication
Yet why would Lucifer have dropped dead in heaven?
He had not as yet so broken the natural laws of life as to have destroyed his body.
Here is lies the issue of what is sin. YES, Sin is transgression of the law. What law? Moral law of 10 commandments? Did angels have to content with adultery? Was there a Sabbath before the creation of man? What law was added because of transgression? (Galatians 3) Both the ceremonial law and moral law of 10 commandments. So what was the transgression? And here is where I will content, that Satan did become jealous of Christ. And he thought he could improve his situation by supplying an amendment to the law of God in heaven, to quote EGW, see {ST, November 19, 1894 par. 2}. At the very core, sin is transgressions of the law of life! So yes, Satan had broken the natural laws of life. 

Sin is not simply a legal problem, breaking some arbitrary rule. Sin is so my more than that. Sin is in the very fabric of our being.

But while it is true that in the beginning God could be discerned in nature, it does not follow that after the Fall a perfect knowledge of God was revealed in the natural world to Adam and his posterity. Nature could convey her lessons to man in his innocence. But transgression brought a blight upon the earth and intervened between nature and nature's God. Had Adam and Eve never disobeyed their Creator, had they remained in the path of perfect rectitude, they would have continued to learn of God through His works. But when they listened to the tempter and sinned against God, the light of the garments of heavenly innocence departed from them. Deprived of the heavenly light, they could no longer discern the character of God in the works of His hand. {8T 255.3} 

And through man's disobedience a change was wrought in nature itself. Marred by the curse of sin, nature can bear but an imperfect testimony regarding the Creator. It cannot reveal His character in its perfection. {8T 256.1} 

A continual transgression of nature's laws is a continual transgression of the law of God. {CTBH 8.2}

Thus, when we see all sickness, all suffering, all death, it is not the work of God. It is the work of sin. Sin destroys that which God has made.  God is not the cause of sin, nor is He the executioner of sinners. The work of God is to restore, if we let Him. Not all will let Him.

Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer. {MH 113.1} 


Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
Re: does God punish? [Re: APL] #154301
07/20/13 11:48 PM
07/20/13 11:48 PM
Rosangela  Offline
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Posts: 6,154
Brazil
Quote:
Here is lies the issue of what is sin. YES, Sin is transgression of the law. What law? Moral law of 10 commandments? Did angels have to content with adultery? Was there a Sabbath before the creation of man? What law was added because of transgression? (Galatians 3) Both the ceremonial law and moral law of 10 commandments. So what was the transgression? And here is where I will content, that Satan did become jealous of Christ. And he thought he could improve his situation by supplying an amendment to the law of God in heaven, to quote EGW, see {ST, November 19, 1894 par. 2}. At the very core, sin is transgressions of the law of life! So yes, Satan had broken the natural laws of life.

???
Was Satan referring to the "law of life" when he said that it needed to be changed? Was this the law that he said was "arbitrary"?

Re: does God punish? [Re: Rosangela] #154307
07/21/13 02:21 AM
07/21/13 02:21 AM
dedication  Offline
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QUOTE:Sin is not simply a legal problem, breaking some arbitrary rule. Sin is so my more than that.

I agree.
In heaven Satan began questioning the legality of God's rules. He didn't want anyone telling him what to do, he wanted to be his own "god".
This was a rejection of God (the source of life) and yes, it was changing his character.
But the breaking of the "natural laws of life" that bring so much sickness, death and pain are a result of thinking one knows better than God. Satan had not yet broken these laws to the extent that his body was sick and about to die.
These laws (not arbitrary at all) include things like:
1. Eating properly
2. Getting enough rest
3. Having a cheerful, worry free attitude
4. Generally having a balanced healthful life style
5. Abstaining from harmful substances
6. Abstaining from revelry and other soul and body destroying vices.
etc. etc. etc.

Satan was strong, healthy, and beautiful standing there in the courts of heaven defying the authority of God.
There was absolutely no evidence of impending death in his body.

BUT he was defying the author of LIFE!
Cutting himself off from the Giver of Life.
In that sense it would have been perfectly natural for him to drop dead as he turned his back on God ( the source of LIFE).

But God chose to extend life to this rebel so the universe could see what sin does.
Yes, disregarding God's laws has caused havoc to the human race bringing sickness, death, and all kinds of misery. All creation groans under the curse of sin.

And yes, God's plan of redemption is a plan of restoration. But that doesn't change the situation.

All life comes from God. All humans have sinned thus their life is only by the grace of God, extended to them so they have opportunity to chose LIFE in Christ Jesus.

True, mankind by sinning pulled the plug on the electric current of life, but God made a special temporary connection by which we have a short life span in which to chose for or against God.

Satan seeks not only to destroy that temporary connection, but also to destroy every chance of a person choosing Life eternal in Christ.
But in the end it's still God's choice to end all temporary connections, and give the eternal life connection to all who chose Him and LIFE.


Re: does God punish? [Re: dedication] #154309
07/21/13 03:28 AM
07/21/13 03:28 AM
APL  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,368
Western, USA
I disagree with you. It is not God's choice to end all temporary connections. It is the sinner's choice. Freedom of Choice demands that the sinner is given up to the way he has chosen. I agree with you that the temporary life we have is so what we can see God "as he is", and choose to live with him or not.

God's rules are not just a set of legal rules. They are a design template on how life works. Violating them does not get into legal trouble, it gets you into real trouble. The penalty for violation is intrinsic, natural consequences. Legal rules do not have intrinsic penalty, it must be applied. Legal rules may have good reasons for them, but they are arbitrary. A 55 MPH speed limit may be a good rule, but it is arbitrary, and the penalty for violating it is arbitrary. This is not true of God's law.


Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
Re: does God punish? [Re: APL] #154311
07/21/13 04:56 AM
07/21/13 04:56 AM
dedication  Offline
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Originally Posted By: APL
I disagree with you. It is not God's choice to end all temporary connections. It is the sinner's choice. Freedom of Choice demands that the sinner is given up to the way he has chosen. I agree with you that the temporary life we have is so what we can see God "as he is", and choose to live with him or not.

Of course the unrepentant sinner has chosen not to connect with the giver of life and thus will not receive life eternal, but will suffer eternal death.
God gives the "temporal connection" and has prepared the way so everyone can make that choice for God and Life, or against it.

Yet, it's still God's timing as to when all temporal connections are ended. Those who chose life will receive the "eternal connection" and live forever!
Those who chose not to accept God's offer of salvation, will not receive the "eternal connection" -- they rejected it, they rejected the cleansing power of Christ and the changing power of the Holy Spirit that would have enabled them to receive it.

All temporal connections will be shut down when God turns on the eternal connection. Those who have chosen not to be changed by God's Holy Spirit will be burned by the very power.


Quote:
God's rules are not just a set of legal rules. They are a design template on how life works. Violating them does not get into legal trouble, it gets you into real trouble.
Who said they were just legal rules?
I didn't.
Didn't I explain that it was disobedience to God's laws that brought sickness, death and all manner of misery. The whole creation groaning because of the results of sin?

That's why God extended temporal life to the rebel angels so the universe could witness the results of sin. We have sure witnessed it in this world with millions dying in wars, some power hungry people exploiting and killing thousands in their frenzy to conquer, famines because of greed, broken emotional wrecks because of immorality, broken homes with confused disoriented children, child abuse, etc etc etc.
And even our own intemperate habits have very real negative effects on our health and longevity.

How can anyone say God's rules are simple arbitrary, legal, none relevant laws? I sure haven't.

Still that does not change the fact that a time is coming in God's time table when the demonstration of what happens when God's laws are rejected is finished and a sinless eternity will begin.

God has the power to give temporal life to the worst of sinners (consider Manasseh) but there will come a time when all temporal connections are cut off.

Sin and everyone who clings to it will be consumed by the consuming fire of His presence -- a presence that gives LIFE to all who chose Him and surrendered their lives to His changing power.

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