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Does anyone have doubts?
Linny:
I have no doubt that God exists or that Jesus is the only way to Him. I have no doubt I am saved and would be even if I was wrong about all of the BT stuff. (which I am not ;))I came to this information through a L-O-N-G process over many years that has God all over it so I can honestly say that the big ideals in BT about all saved, no hell, no trinity, no free will, errant translations of God's inerrant Word, etc. I really don't have any doubts about.
But, as for the details and smaller, less important stuff, I have been proven wrong so many times in my adult life that I have a "policy" to never cling too tightly to my new revelations! 8)
I am always open to new thoughts and new ideas.
Blessings, Lin
Ricky:
Hi, as for me I have more questions than you could shake a Bible at, no hell, is no problem for me. Predestined everything, major problem. How can God answer prayers if He already made life and we are now playing it out. It would mean that He could not change anything, it has to be played out the way He already made it. ?? I hope someone can answer this one, cos I have been here for a little while now and have learnt to keep my mouth shut cos people on the form can misunderstand what you type, and take it the wrong way. I have already gone through this here, now I shall be very careful. Craig says to trust God ? how do you do that if you have no free will. How can you love God without free will. Like I said more questions than you can shake a bible at. Please don't get mad at me. I am one guy that refuses to be fooled again. Bless you all Ricky
Kat:
Hi Ricky,
Maybe this email will be of some help to you.
http://www.forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,2354.0.html -----
You are not understanding this subject and the principle behind it. You ask: "Is it man making the choices or is it God's predestination of things?" It is BOTH. Listen: God is SOVEREIGN! Man therefore has NO FREE WILL OR NO FREE CHOICE. That's it. That's all there is to it. That IS the principle. That IS the Truth. That IS what the Bible teaches. It is not a contradiction to say that "Man makes his own choices." You and millions of other just think it is a contradiction to say man makes his own choices if indeed God is sovereign and God is behind all in His creation. It is not a contradiction. It only sounds like a contradiction for those who do not believe that "God is Sovereign, and Man has no free will."
I hardly know what else to tell you. God made man's heart. Man did not make his own heart, or his body, or his mind, or his brain, or his will, or his hopes and dreams. They are all PREDESTINATED by the foreknowledge of God. So then we don't make choices, right? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO....WE DO MAKE CHOICES. It's just that they are CAUSED by things we can't always see. Sometimes we can see what makes our choices and some times we can't, but either way THEY ARE CAUSED. And God, not us, already knows in advance the outcome of all of those caused choices. How does He do that? He is very smart (has over a 150 IQ), plus HE IS SOVEREIGN, ALL WISE, AND ALL POWERFUL.....and don't forget LOVE.
So, does God FORCE EVIL MEN TO RAPE LITTLE GIRLS? Well, does He? Does God being Sovereign prove that God forces evil men to rape little girls? That's what evil theologians deduce from the truth of no free will. They turn the Sovereignty of God into one of the biggest evils in the universe. If God is Sovereign, then God must be EVIL, because there is so much evil in the world, and God is in control of all things, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong! Man makes all his own choices. Just because they are CAUSED does not mean that he does not make them. He is, in fact, CAUSED TO MAKE HIS CHOICES. But God does not directly do this. He is responsible, but He does not directly cause those choices. Things like the Devil do such things. And who created the Devil? That's right, that One Who is Sovereign and in charge of all things. Evil men like raping just like evil theologians like stealing widow's social security money. God doesn't make them do it--THEY LIKE TO DO IT. They volunteer with little outside influence. God made humanity this way. He created them spiritually weak. Eve couldn't help but sin. God has a good purpose and God will straighten it all out in the end.
I guess I could just keep writing and writing and writing and one day someone will say................OHHHHHH, now I get it. Maybe today is your day. I'm pulling for ya!!!
God be with you,
Ray
Decky:
I do admit that I have doubts. I keep thinking, "I was so certain that I had the truth when I was teaching and believing in eternal torment and all the other doctrines of the church...what makes me so certain I have the truth NOW?"
Sometimes I feel that it's just not worth all the hassle struggling to try to make it in the 1st resurrection, because I keep on falling, keep on feeling like God is disappointed in me, continue to experience His cold silence during times when I need Him most, continue to literally not have one single prayer answered during the past several years of my life. I figure that God knows already who His elect are. Why keep busting my butt and crying and pleading and trying to endure, when all that may be for nought, and I may very well not BE chosen? At one time, making the 1st resurrection was such a big deal to me, and perhaps it still is, but all this uncertainty really puts a damper in it, almost to where I want to throw up my hands and say, "screw it...I'll just go through the lake of fire. It'll be painful, but at least I'll eventually be saved."
Pray for me please! :'(
Ricky:
Hi Decky, Kat, Decky I am in that very same boat with you, It just seems like God has played one heck of a false, mindtwisting bad joke illusuion on man that changes all the time and has no end to it. Maybe I just throw in the towel and swim that lake with you. Sorry Kat no help, I need the question answered please, How is it possible to HONESTLY love God from the Heart without free will, or is that just a choice. Ricky
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