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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: APL]
#161886
02/15/14 10:01 PM
02/15/14 10:01 PM
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Yes, and this because the people would not and did not trust God. This is not God's ideal will. Sure. God doesn't want anyone to die. However, since sin entered the universe, things less than ideal must happen. God's option many times is not between something good and something bad, but between something bad and something worse. And sometimes letting the sinner live is worse than removing his life. Speaking of the apostasy at Sinai, EGW says: So with the apostasy at Sinai. Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would again have been seen. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed, greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions. In order to save the many, He must punish the few. ... It was necessary for the good of Israel, and also as a lesson to all succeeding generations, that crime should be promptly punished. And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves that they should be cut short in their evil course. {PP 325.3}
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: APL]
#161892
02/16/14 12:07 AM
02/16/14 12:07 AM
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Jesus did not command sin when He commanded the Hebrews to spy. He does not command people to do things that violate His will or way.
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#161897
02/16/14 02:41 AM
02/16/14 02:41 AM
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Jesus did not command sin when He commanded the Hebrews to spy. He does not command people to do things that violate His will or way. Did the people trust God, is that why the wanted to spy out the land? Nope.
Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: APL]
#161922
02/16/14 08:08 PM
02/16/14 08:08 PM
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Jesus has never commanded anyone to do anything that violated His will or law. That's the point.
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#161925
02/16/14 08:54 PM
02/16/14 08:54 PM
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The truth is that God works with those that lack faith in Him. Spying out the land was NOT God idea or will. But He did give them permission. And the results were disastrous. The people did not trust God and thus wanted to spy out the land. God gave laws for divorce, yet divorce was never His will. That is the point.
Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Rosangela]
#161954
02/17/14 04:06 PM
02/17/14 04:06 PM
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Ex 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Le 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
De 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Commands, right?
Mt 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Not His will, right? An eye for an eye wasn't the will of God, and He didn't command it; He permitted it and made provision to avoid excesses. He didn't? Maybe you need to define how we can tell what God commanded? Read the texts in context and tell me if it is a command or not. If you think it is not a command, then tell me what are commands. How can we find/determine what are His commands?
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#161958
02/17/14 04:42 PM
02/17/14 04:42 PM
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M: Jesus has never commanded anyone to do anything that violated His will or law. That's the point.
A: God gave laws for divorce, yet divorce was never His will. That is the point. Where in the Bible did Jesus command divorce? He commanded capital punishment multiple times (a point you have not confessed).
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#161965
02/17/14 08:21 PM
02/17/14 08:21 PM
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He commanded the people to spy out the land, which was not His will.
Oh, that men might open their minds to know God as he is revealed in his Son! {ST, January 20, 1890}
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: APL]
#161967
02/17/14 09:07 PM
02/17/14 09:07 PM
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He commanded the people to spy out the land, which was not His will. APL relies upon human judgment and error in accusing God of commanding that which God did not will. Mrs. White, properly understood, sets us straight on the matter. Shall man set up his will against the will of God? Shall we be disobedient to the commands of so mighty a Ruler? Shall we contend with the Most High, who is the source of all power, and from whose heart flows infinite love and blessing to the creatures of His care? {LS 230.3}
We do not know what great interests may be at stake in the proving of God. There is no safety except in strict obedience to the word of God. All His promises are made upon condition of faith and obedience, and a failure to comply with His commands cuts off the fulfillment to us of the rich provisions of the Scriptures. We should not follow impulse, nor rely on the judgment of men; we should look to the revealed will of God and walk according to His definite commandment, no matter what circumstances may surround us. God will take care of the results; by faithfulness to His word we may in time of trial prove before men and angels that the Lord can trust us in difficult places to carry out His will, honor His name, and bless His people. {PP 621.5} No matter how difficult it is for us to see that something is truly for our best good and/or within the will of God, when we know He has commanded something, there is no safety in doing anything but obey. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness--even offering up his son upon the altar. Faith was manifest in his actions of obedience--obedience which, to human reasoning, appeared to violate the commandment against murder. Was it God's will for Abraham to pass this test by obeying? Most definitely it was. When God commands, His command makes His will known to us. We cannot with safety trust to our own judgment, and think we know better than God does what we should or should not do. Blessings, Green Cochoa.
We can receive of heaven's light only as we are willing to be emptied of self. We can discern the character of God, and accept Christ by faith, only as we consent to the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. And to all who do this, the Holy Spirit is given without measure. In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." [Colossians 2:9, 10.] {GW 57.1} -- Ellen White.
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Re: Do God's Commands Represent His Will?
[Re: Green Cochoa]
#161968
02/17/14 09:13 PM
02/17/14 09:13 PM
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Here are some more good statements. Those who have genuine love for God will manifest an earnest desire to know His will and to do it. Says the apostle John, whose epistles treat so fully upon love, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (1 John 5:3).
In order to keep God's commandments, we must have an intelligent knowledge of the Scriptures. We can not obey God until we know what His commands are. It was that we might understand His will that God gave us the Bible. By a study of its teachings, we learn to deny self and to conform our lives to its requirements. Obviously, it is God's will that we obey His commands. The contrapositive must also be true, to wit, God's commands show us His will. Blessings, Green Cochoa.
We can receive of heaven's light only as we are willing to be emptied of self. We can discern the character of God, and accept Christ by faith, only as we consent to the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. And to all who do this, the Holy Spirit is given without measure. In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." [Colossians 2:9, 10.] {GW 57.1} -- Ellen White.
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