Hi George, there is a very fine line between being caused and controlled, but there is a difference... control almost has the same sense as being made to act, speak and even what we think... I don't see it that way.
God has created this world and by Him it consists, continue to exist, so He is responsible/sovereign for every single thing that happens. But He has enacted all the many laws of this creation so that it continues as He wants it to... all the intricate interactions of everything in the vast universe is His doing.
But I don't believe He created the human race to be controlled and not have a mind of their own and certainly we live under the law of cause and effect.
Pro 16:9 A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
But we need to understand the nuances of not having a free will... here are some emails that should help.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,6440.msg51812.html#msg51812 ---
If it is God who controls our every thought and action, would'nt your teachings be in vain? If we cant make the decision to renew our minds, then why waste your energy and time trying to convince us of truth? I agree with 99.9% of your teachings, but I'm struggling with this one. God Bless Your Heart, Chad
Dear Chad:
You make all your own choices and you think all your own thoughts, and you have a "will" to do so. What you don't have, is a will that is FREE FROM CAUSALITY to do these things. People will say things like: "What ever MADE you think that; or what ever MADE you do such and such." There is your answer. We know inherently that there are reasons CAUSES for your thoughts and choices. You can't make a choice that does not have a cause somewhere, and if something is caused to happen it could not have been otherwise.
I teach the truths of God because this is just one way that God CAUSES people to see the truth (I Cor. 1:21). The foolishness of teaching and preaching CAUSES people to see and understand and believe and act accordingly. It is not correct to state as you have that "God CONTROLS our every thought and action." He does not need to "control" us, as He already knows far in advance exactly what we WILL DO AND THINK based on the conditions and circumstances of our individual lives.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,4702.0.html -----------
I am still battling on the fact that we do not really have a choice as to what we are going to do in this whole plan of God’s. Are we then just robots?
With the love of Christ,
Michael
Dear Michael: Regarding you last statement, Michael, you are not understanding properly. OF COURSE we have a "choice." We, in fact, have made MILLIONS of our OWN choices. Every choice you make is YOUR CHOICE. Whose do think it is? When you decide to have apple pie for desert, who makes that choice? If you change your mind and decide that you will rather have cherry pie, who changed your mind and made the new choice? Did that choice come out of SOME ONE ELSE'S mind and mouth? Did something FORCE YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL to choose apple pie when you really really wanted blueberry pie? Well? No, of course not. You CHOSE which desert YOU preferred, did you not? Yes, of course you did.
Can a "robot" choose which kind of pie it wants? No, of course not, and even if it did, it wouldn't have been based on a thousand and one emotions, circumstances, appearances, price, past memories of which pie taste the best, etc. etc., etc., etc., etc., would it? We make all our own choices and we make them from our heart. We always choose that which WE prefer to choose. God does not FORCE US AGAINST OUR WILL to choose something we do not want to choose, and that is true for choices we really don't want to make in the first place, but circumstances dictate that we must or should.
Now it is true that the final choice we made is the ONLY choice that we could have made, but so what? It is, after all, THE ONE WE WANTED TO MAKE. Can you now understand it?
Do you still think you are a robot? I hope not. It takes a lot of thought and meditation to wrap your mind around this powerful spiritual truth.
http://www.forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,2943.0.html ----
I understand, Paul, that this truth is difficult for most to comprehend. And I
am not completely sure why this is so. I think possibly because we have
been trained and programmed to see too many things in only two dimensions,
when in reality there is a third dimension, but it is an illusion created by God
giving us two eyes spaced apart at the right distances to give us the illusion of
depth perception. Well, we need a little spiritual depth perception.
Theologians and clerics would have us believe that there are only two possibilities
with regards to man's either having free choice or not having free choice.
[1] We either have free will/choice and can make decisions based on no causing factors
whatsoever. We supposedly just create thoughts and actions out of NOTHING. Or,
[2] We are dumb robots.
Their is no third alternative for them. But here is the alternative truth that is in the
Scriptures and in the real work-a-day world. We have no free choice or free will
which is not caused by anything, as such a fabled idea is not only unscriptural, but
also a physiological impossibility. But........BUT, the alternative is not that we are
then "dumb robots." No, a thousand times, NO. We are intelligent. A person can
be intelligent and yet not have free will. We can think. A person can think and
yet not have free will. We can plan, think spacially, create, imagine, analyze and
manipulate difficult numbers and concepts, and WE CAN LEARN. I do not believe
that we shall ever build such robots as ourselves, and even if we did, we would have
to conclude that it was OUR INTELLIGENCE that built them, and they still would
not have free will or free choice either.
The fact that our choices are caused by some factor does not turn us into robots. And
because we are highly complicated and intelligent, it is God's purpose for us to experience
evil and then learn from it and choose to do good. Suffering the pain of making bad
decisions or being Judged by God for making bad decisions is a GOOD thing, not a bad.
Certainly we do not punish a robot if it malfunctions, but robots don't have hearts and minds
and consciences to direct them or give them guilt when they do wrong. Humans are highly
developed mechanisms, organisms, creatures, etc., plus we have a spirit at our core. Something
that no robot will ever have It is right and good that God should judge us
for doing bad things from our hearts and minds within. Ask God to continue opening your
mind to these difficult concepts.
God be with you,
Ray