Loyal
Some of us are old enough to remember a "very secular" show back in the 1970's.
It had an actor named Flip Wilson who did many funny skits in the show. One of his more famous phrases
from the show was "the devil made me do it". He was very popular, funny and charismatic, and it was a "fad" for a while, everything you were caught doing something questionable... "the devil made me do it".
Of course the devil can't "make" Christians do anything. He can tempt us, persuade us, lie to us, and even test us, but he can't make us choose good or bad decisions.
On the other hand, God can "make" us do things. But as a rule, He usually doesn't. There are instances in the Bible where God "made" people do things. But almost always this was because of choices they had already made.
For example the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. ( Exod 9:12; ) but this was only after Pharaoh had already hardened his heart several times Exod 7:13; Exod 7:22; Exod 8:15; Exod 8:19; Exod 8:32; Exod 9:7;
God doesn't make us sin. He doesn't even make non-believers sin. There is a word in the Bible called "disobedience". It's all through the Bible. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden, God didn't make them do this. In fact the fact that He told them specifically NOT to do this, and they did it anyway... is called disobedience.
Rom 5:19; For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
There are some people who are disobedient to God, but not to Satan.
Eph 2:2; in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Eph 5:5; For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Eph 5:6; Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Col 3:5; Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
Col 3:6; For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,
There are some who believe that God wants people to be disobedient, He wants people to sin.
There are some people who believe God doesn't want some people to go to heaven, now of course the un-saved don't get into the kingdom of heaven. But they take this a little further and say, God chose them not to go to heaven. They had no say in the matter. No choice in the matter.
Some of these people believe that when they sin (even when you and I sin for that matter) God made us do it. You had no choice in the matter. Is God a minister of sin?
Of course the Bible says God wants EVERYONE to be saved. He knows many won't be saved, but He doesn't make the choice for them.
1 Tim 2:3; This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1 Tim 2:4; who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Pet 3:9; The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Matt 18:14; "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
1 Tim 4:10; For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Tit 2:11; For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
God's salvation is for all men, some men simply choose to reject it.
There are of course people who resits God.
Acts 7:51; "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
Of course resisting God would count as "disobedience". You have to wonder, if God chose people to go to hell and it was His choice for them to do this, why would He call them disobedient if they were just doing what He wanted them to do?
Why would He punish them in the Lake of Fire if they had no choice, and were just doing what He "made" them do, or what He "wanted" them to do.
Of course the Bible says God doesn't tempt us.
Jas 1:13; Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
So if it's God's will that all be saved, and He Himself doesn't tempt us, why do some people go to hell?
Because we have free-will. God lets us make our own choices. In fact everytime we sin, it wasn't God who made us sin. It was our choice to sin. It interesting many of the people who believe that God "makes" them sin, will say "but He doesn't let me sin to the point of getting "unsaved".
Really? and how much sin is that? These same people will tell you all sin is the same in the eyes of God, and even if you just break one small sin you are just as guilty as breaking all the rules. ( James 2:10; )
So which is it? God makes you sin (but not too much), or when we sin we are guilty of breaking "all" the rules, and there is really no such things as "not too much".
Could it really be that when we sin... it's because WE made the choice to sin. When we resist God and choose a life of sin, it's OUR choice.
It had an actor named Flip Wilson who did many funny skits in the show. One of his more famous phrases
from the show was "the devil made me do it". He was very popular, funny and charismatic, and it was a "fad" for a while, everything you were caught doing something questionable... "the devil made me do it".
Of course the devil can't "make" Christians do anything. He can tempt us, persuade us, lie to us, and even test us, but he can't make us choose good or bad decisions.
On the other hand, God can "make" us do things. But as a rule, He usually doesn't. There are instances in the Bible where God "made" people do things. But almost always this was because of choices they had already made.
For example the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. ( Exod 9:12; ) but this was only after Pharaoh had already hardened his heart several times Exod 7:13; Exod 7:22; Exod 8:15; Exod 8:19; Exod 8:32; Exod 9:7;
God doesn't make us sin. He doesn't even make non-believers sin. There is a word in the Bible called "disobedience". It's all through the Bible. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden, God didn't make them do this. In fact the fact that He told them specifically NOT to do this, and they did it anyway... is called disobedience.
Rom 5:19; For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
There are some people who are disobedient to God, but not to Satan.
Eph 2:2; in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Eph 5:5; For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Eph 5:6; Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Col 3:5; Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
Col 3:6; For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,
There are some who believe that God wants people to be disobedient, He wants people to sin.
There are some people who believe God doesn't want some people to go to heaven, now of course the un-saved don't get into the kingdom of heaven. But they take this a little further and say, God chose them not to go to heaven. They had no say in the matter. No choice in the matter.
Some of these people believe that when they sin (even when you and I sin for that matter) God made us do it. You had no choice in the matter. Is God a minister of sin?
Of course the Bible says God wants EVERYONE to be saved. He knows many won't be saved, but He doesn't make the choice for them.
1 Tim 2:3; This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1 Tim 2:4; who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Pet 3:9; The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Matt 18:14; "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
1 Tim 4:10; For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Tit 2:11; For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
God's salvation is for all men, some men simply choose to reject it.
There are of course people who resits God.
Acts 7:51; "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
Of course resisting God would count as "disobedience". You have to wonder, if God chose people to go to hell and it was His choice for them to do this, why would He call them disobedient if they were just doing what He wanted them to do?
Why would He punish them in the Lake of Fire if they had no choice, and were just doing what He "made" them do, or what He "wanted" them to do.
Of course the Bible says God doesn't tempt us.
Jas 1:13; Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
So if it's God's will that all be saved, and He Himself doesn't tempt us, why do some people go to hell?
Because we have free-will. God lets us make our own choices. In fact everytime we sin, it wasn't God who made us sin. It was our choice to sin. It interesting many of the people who believe that God "makes" them sin, will say "but He doesn't let me sin to the point of getting "unsaved".
Really? and how much sin is that? These same people will tell you all sin is the same in the eyes of God, and even if you just break one small sin you are just as guilty as breaking all the rules. ( James 2:10; )
So which is it? God makes you sin (but not too much), or when we sin we are guilty of breaking "all" the rules, and there is really no such things as "not too much".
Could it really be that when we sin... it's because WE made the choice to sin. When we resist God and choose a life of sin, it's OUR choice.
