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Our accountability to God

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gk@rivervalley:

--- Quote from: cheekie3 on February 24, 2015, 12:59:49 PM ---All -

I do not fully understand why we are accountable to God for all we desire, think, say and do - when we are powerless to do otherwise as He works everything according to the counsel of His Will.

The good we all do is only possible if we have His Holy Spirit within us.

I know that we will all ultimately be cleansed of our sins and be in the image of God.

The area I am struggling with is when we sin - whether we want to or not - we are accountable for it - even though we are powerless to do otherwise.

So for example, if I lie to my parents, smoke, drink and take drugs - I am in a hopeless position to change until God has determined it is His time for me to do so - even if I cry out to Him to heal me day and night for many years.

Have I misunderstood any of this; and has Ray specifically taught on this.

George.

--- End quote ---


There is a substantial difference between 'understand'......and agree.  I write that because of the underlined statements.  It appears you do, actually, understand.   

Just my observation. 

BTW: EXTOL, that was a beautiful reply.  Ray>>very smart.

Kat:

Hi George,

I think about how varied the lives of people are... God has given us different personalities and weaknesses and strengths, all these things contributes to us all becoming unique individuals. In doing this there are some rather extreme degrees, from vessels of honor all the way to vessels of dishonor, but it's framed in (limited) by what God has determined would be necessary for us, to gain a life experience using good and evil. It's all for our benefit to learn by first having this physical life... and part of the learning process will be judgment.

Well you wonder why are we are held accountable, will be judged, when it's God doing that works everything according to the counsel of His Will. Yes God is sovereign, and that means things can only happen when His power gives it viability to happen... so if it is going to happen, it has to be by Him or it just can't.

Col 1:17  And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

I think that's where people may be getting hung up, that by God being sovereign and so responsible for everything... well how are we then accountable? Because that's how God made it to be, where we have a life/existence where we can and do make our own chooses. Now most of our influences are so very subtle that we don't even realize it. The cause and effect thing happens as a practically unperceived part of everything, and so much so that it has brought about the believe that we have an free will.

So God did put in us the ability to make a choice and though it's not free, our minds went through a process of deciding/choosing
what we want to do, say or even think. Whether it's a good choice or a bad choice, whether we enjoy it or hate it, that decision came from our own determination to do it, whatever the reasons be hide the decision.

The thing is we do need this experience of evil, because to truly 'know' something is to experience it. So we all have weaknesses, that will lead us into improper behavior - sin. Obviously if these weaknesses are developed/practiced enough they can become grievous, lead to terrible wickedness - vessels of dishonor. But how else are we to have an evil experience, unless there are the evil doers?

We each have our own lives to look back on to recognize that we decided and volunteered to do what we did. Just like the Father did not force Christ to go to the cross, neither are we forced by God to sin, we do so willfully or at less willingly. This life is for our benefit, an experience we need to have in order to learn about living/existence, the accountability is a necessary part of this living and learning experience. So it's how God made things to be, so when we sin, we 'need' to suffer judgment... it's to learn that evil has a cost.

mercy, peace and love
Kat

acomplishedartis:
So many good replies!

I also think that part of Fearing/Respecting is "trusting" God on what is He doing with us -,all.

When I am becoming haughty, I start to fear a little, because whats Next is my fall. And life is so good for putting me down...

rick:
Hello George,

Ray has made it quite clear why we are held accountable in his papers. Yes its true God sends us all the causes through thousands and thousands of circumstances that force us to make a choice one way or the other.

The reason we are held accountable is because we enjoyed the sin/s we commit. It does not always stay that way for us George, first we realize our sins are not right then we try to stop sinning on our own only to discover we cannot.

Then comes the guilt and the sense of failure and the realization we are totally helpless and by the way we should never live in guilt but understand that guilt is only there to let us know something is wrong in our life and move on from it.

We will keep sinning our sins to the point of hating our sins and this is a good thing because as we learn to hate our sins we must realize we are beginning to think like God.

I’m losing interest in things I thought I would never lose interest in and obviously these interest were always sinful interest. Its all about growing and learning righteousness and its all good George just not always easy but nonetheless we must go through all these things God puts us through for our own good.

Hope that helps.  ;)

cheekie3:
All -

Thank you for your excellent responses - which show the Scriptural Witnesses to my question - but I am still struggling with a specific situation where a person is crying out for help, and has been for a long, long time - with many of God's Elect praying for them each and every day for many, many years - yet the situation has not changed - and we all know it us only The Lord God Almighty that can change us.

George.

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