Post by John on Apr 29, 2019 19:53:53 GMT -5
Since this thread is about things being taught that are not true, I am going to give you one so controversial that it is the reason why I am not at Worthy Christian Forums anymore. George labeled it a dangerous heresy. It is not like they don't have plenty of heresy being taught now!
Anyway, what is considered common knowledge is that before the devil became the devil, he was an angel named Lucifer, and he was created perfect. Nobody knows what happened to cause him to turn bad. The only explanation anyone could come up with was he had free will, and this is a great mystery. Here is the problem with that. If God created Lucifer perfect, and he became evil for no apparent reason, that means God created him defective and didn't know it. The thing is, the scripture never says Lucifer was created perfect. What it actually says in Ezekiel 28:15 is...
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
It never says he was created perfect, but that he was perfect in his ways or behavior till iniquity was found in him. Let's think about this for a minute. While it is true that we all have free will and make our own decisions, including Lucifer, God made us how we are, and He knew all we would ever do from the moment of conception till our death. He had to know that Lucifer was going to rebel, and God created him anyway. My position is that the iniquity was inside of Lucifer from the start but didn't show itself right away. If God didn't want the devil to exist as His adversary, the devil wouldn't have been created. If he fell and God didn't want him around, he could have destroyed him with a single word the moment of the rebellion. God himself does not tempt us and does not do evil, but he did create an adversary that does tempt us and does do evil. Why would God do that? It is all to bring about His ultimate plan that we read about in scripture. Nothing happens by accident.
People can act like what I am saying is somehow against God, but look at the alternative. If what I am saying is not true, that means God created a defective angel and didn't know it. It means that when the devil rebelled, God wasn't able to immediately destroy him. It is my belief, based on many years of studying the Bible, that God is in complete control of his creation. He is not hands off. We have a Bible that takes us from the creation in Genesis, to the new heavens and new earth in Revelation. We know what God wants us to know, but His book is much larger, and includes every single person and event that will ever happen. We are in God's book. We exist somewhere close to the time of the great tribulation period, and may well be here when those events spoken of take place. We make our own decisions, but they were already put in motion by God, they already took place in his mind, and he knows who will be saved and who will be lost before we were conceived. That is what is meant in the Bible by the elect, and that is where the mix up over osas comes from. Those who belong to God are the elect that were known before the creation. We are not the elect simply because we said a prayer. We must endure till the end to be saved, but God knows who will endure, and who will not. That is how all the New Testament scriptures are reconciled between those that seemingly promote osas and those that say we can fall away. I know I am giving you all a lot to think about here, but I believe all of this to be true.
Anyway, what is considered common knowledge is that before the devil became the devil, he was an angel named Lucifer, and he was created perfect. Nobody knows what happened to cause him to turn bad. The only explanation anyone could come up with was he had free will, and this is a great mystery. Here is the problem with that. If God created Lucifer perfect, and he became evil for no apparent reason, that means God created him defective and didn't know it. The thing is, the scripture never says Lucifer was created perfect. What it actually says in Ezekiel 28:15 is...
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
It never says he was created perfect, but that he was perfect in his ways or behavior till iniquity was found in him. Let's think about this for a minute. While it is true that we all have free will and make our own decisions, including Lucifer, God made us how we are, and He knew all we would ever do from the moment of conception till our death. He had to know that Lucifer was going to rebel, and God created him anyway. My position is that the iniquity was inside of Lucifer from the start but didn't show itself right away. If God didn't want the devil to exist as His adversary, the devil wouldn't have been created. If he fell and God didn't want him around, he could have destroyed him with a single word the moment of the rebellion. God himself does not tempt us and does not do evil, but he did create an adversary that does tempt us and does do evil. Why would God do that? It is all to bring about His ultimate plan that we read about in scripture. Nothing happens by accident.
People can act like what I am saying is somehow against God, but look at the alternative. If what I am saying is not true, that means God created a defective angel and didn't know it. It means that when the devil rebelled, God wasn't able to immediately destroy him. It is my belief, based on many years of studying the Bible, that God is in complete control of his creation. He is not hands off. We have a Bible that takes us from the creation in Genesis, to the new heavens and new earth in Revelation. We know what God wants us to know, but His book is much larger, and includes every single person and event that will ever happen. We are in God's book. We exist somewhere close to the time of the great tribulation period, and may well be here when those events spoken of take place. We make our own decisions, but they were already put in motion by God, they already took place in his mind, and he knows who will be saved and who will be lost before we were conceived. That is what is meant in the Bible by the elect, and that is where the mix up over osas comes from. Those who belong to God are the elect that were known before the creation. We are not the elect simply because we said a prayer. We must endure till the end to be saved, but God knows who will endure, and who will not. That is how all the New Testament scriptures are reconciled between those that seemingly promote osas and those that say we can fall away. I know I am giving you all a lot to think about here, but I believe all of this to be true.