How can we be responsible for what God Preordains?

Question

A most important question that Christians today seem to have difficulty answering, is the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that we are responsible for the Divine Will that God exerts in our life.

Moreover, from our limited perspective which is caused, for some, by the inability to comprehend our own higher spiritual reality, it appears on the surface that we have done absolutely nothing to cause God to choose for us the life that we are presently living! And yet, somehow, the Church would have us believe that we are responsible for the choices that God makes for us.

In the words of Jesus: “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!” (Matt 18:7 NIV)

Why must they come?

While it is true that many passages of scripture appear to state that sin and tribulation is a matter of freewill and choices which we have made, there are an equal number of biblical verses that state the opposite....

(i.e., because God has willed it.)

What say you to this question?

(Anyone that would like to answer, please feel free. Regardless of religious orientation or belief. I pose this question merely to hear the different answers from other like-minded individuals.)

Thank You.

P.S. I find it funny that I ask a serious question on here, hoping to see what others have to say about this question, and I get mostly nonsense.

Oh well, Hopefully SOME will grasp the concept I am trying to convey here.

Ok, I spoke a bit too soon.
The 5th and 6th answer are better.
Thank You

Answer 1

Hi, I'm Christian, and I'd like to answer you from the original manuscripts;
First, most have free will, and God did not choose for us what we would do, only that we would come thru this flesh life and be born. He doesn't know what each person will do in their life, although some seem to think He does. (the only exception to that are Gods Elect, who do not have free will, and thats its own complete study).
Matthew 18:7 says that people will offend the children of God, and that needs to be, but woe to the one who does it. Why does this need to be? Because in order that free will be true, and for each soul to make a choice about who they will ultimately follow, there needs to be a compartior. If there is only permitted good in the world, what would there be to choose from? As far as your comment that we have done nothing to cause God to give us this life we are living, well there is something you obviously don't know about Scripture: (I have found one
church in 35 yrs. that teaches what the original Bible texts say) Here it is:
Before Adam/Eve, there was an earth age previous to this one. Satan wanted to be in the position that Christ had, so he caused a great war, and took onto his side about a third of our people; then a great amount of others stayed neutral, not caring, as long as it didn't affect them (whats new, huh?) and then there was a group who stayed on the side of God, never faltering, loyal - this group is called "Gods Election". When Satan was defeated, God could have just killed the one-third who betrayed Him, but what does it take to kill one of your own? That you love? So instead, God destroyed that earth/Heaven age, and brought in this one, with each soul coming thru one time, to ultimately decide who they want to follow:
Christ, or Satan. All were erased of memory, and all were given free will, except those called the Election. These Elect do not have free will, because after that war was over, God judged them right there and then, so they don't need free will; they already made their decision at that time.
Every person who passes thru this life has done one of the three things I've described:
Either they: were of the one-third that followed satan, or they are of the group that stayed neutral, or they are of the Election.
We don't really know who's who. Thats why we can't judge anyone. There may be a member of Gods Election who is a heroin addict today, but just hasn't been called of God yet to do what He needs them to do.
Paul in the Bible is a good example of this:
He was a zealot about dragging Christians, even children to their deaths. When God was ready for him to serve, he woke him up and directed him to do what Paul ended up doing: writing most of the new testament.
I hope this is somewhat helpful to you;
theres so much information on this subject, and i'm trying to condense it, yet make it understandable to you.

Answer 2

If God did not create us with free will, then all the talk about "accepting Him as Lord and Savior" is nonsense. "Accepting" or rejecting something other than basic biological needs like food, is a decision of free will. If we do not possess free will then we cannot accept Jesus Christ. Furthermore if we do not have free will we are merely smarter than average animals, and have no claim to eternal life. Further, if humans do not have free will, then Adam and Eve could not have sinned - no animal can - and therefore the human race had no need of a Savior. Matt 18:7 is not in conflict with the fact of free will.

“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!”

Let me paraphrase this verse for you ...

"Woe to the world because it has freely accepted evil, which many people freely choose over good. Given the fallen nature of mankind it is inevitable that some will freely choose evil, but woe to those who do so."

.

Answer 3

--GOD DOES NOT pre-ordain our lives--Please note who is behind the idea that we as individuals & our lives are destined:

(Isaiah 65:11-12) “11 “But YOU men are those leaving Jehovah, those forgetting my holy mountain, those setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck and those filling up mixed wine for the god of Destiny. 12 And I will destine YOU men to the sword, and YOU will all of YOU bow down to being slaughtered; for the reason that I called, but YOU did not answer; I spoke, but YOU did not listen; and YOU kept doing what was bad in my eyes, and the thing in which I took no delight YOU chose.”” --Satan!

*** rs p. 138 Fate ***

Definition: An inevitable and often adverse outcome. Fatalism is the belief that all events are determined by the divine will or by some force greater than man, that every event must take place as it does because it has been predetermined. Not a Bible word or teaching"..........This belief was popular among the Greeks and Romans. According to pagan Greek mythology, the Fates were three goddesses that spun the thread of life, determined its length, and cut it." *** rs p. 140 Fate ***

--Does God foreknow and foreordain everything?
Isa. 46:9, 10: “I am the Divine One and there is no other God, nor anyone like me; the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done; the One saying, ‘My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do.’” (He makes known his purpose, foreordains certain matters in connection with its accomplishment, and has the almighty power to assure that these will be fulfilled.)

Isa. 11:1-3: “There must go forth a twig out of the stump of Jesse; and out of his roots a sprout will be fruitful. [Jesus was born in the line of Jesse.] And upon him the spirit of Jehovah must settle down, . . . and there will be enjoyment by him in the fear of Jehovah.” (Jehovah could confidently foretell this regarding his Son because He had observed his attitude and conduct in the heavens since the beginning of creation.) (Regarding Jesus’ prehuman existence, see pages 216, 217, under the heading “Jesus Christ.”)

--Armaggedon is definitely a major foreordination, simply because God could view way into the future what humans would develope into. Rev. 16:14,16

--Illustration: The owner of a radio can listen to the world news. But the fact that he can listen to a certain station does not mean that he does. He must first turn on the radio and then select the station. Likewise, Jehovah has the ability to foreknow events, but the Bible shows that he makes selective and discretionary use of that ability, WITH DUE REGARD(my caps) for the free will with which he has endowed his human creation.—Compare Genesis 22:12; 18:20, 21.

Answer 4

What is meant by the two things you've stated is this: We have free will and can choose to sin or not...at the same time the causes of the sins of the world must come.... why? think of it like this... By saying that, Jesus was speaking of inevitability rather than preordinance. Even in that, the Revelations of Jesus Christ could never happen if all men chose to serve God completely, but due to the fact that will never happen; it is "preordained" in the sense of inevitability.

Answer 5

God wills, but MAN can overcome to a degree.

If God wills, for example, Hitler to be what he was, then God has to save Hilter, not condem him to hell.

Would you like Adolph as your bunk mate in Heaven!

If God wills one man to sin and another not to, GOD has an ETERNAL obligation to afford BOTH OF THEM A PLACE IN HEAVEN.

In which case, there IS no need for Religions or a Church.

It SERVES no purpose.

God MAKES us the way we are, we can't fight it, so why bother. What is the PURPOSE of having a MEthodist Church.

It serves no purpose.

If GOD condems a soul to HELL the moment they are created in the womb, then that's a pretty strange God in my way of thinking.

I'm not sure I can worship that kind of being.

You're talking Huxley. Alpha + Priests and Epsilon Minus workers.

You're talking GOD willfully and intentionally puts some CHEMICAL into a brain to make it BAD on purpose.

GOD has a MORAL obligation to that being, otherwise there is NO GOD and THERE IS NO RIGHT AND WRONG.

Answer 6

I even have 2 comparisons to make that could help your puzzled questioning: A soccer game, and a game of chess. They the two have plans and objectives, yet they don't seem to be blueprints. The grasp plan is the purpose submit interior the 1st, and taking photos the queen interior the 2nd. In the two circumstances, God WILL see to it that issues are achieved in spite of everything is asserted and carried out; yet our area is open, and if one person isn't keen to step up, God will discover somebody else to do it and nonetheless get His objectives achieved. interior the e book of Esther, Mordecai the Jew advised his niece, Esther, to speak to the king, simply by fact Haman positioned out an edict to kill all Jews. Esther advised Mordecai that until the king calls her, she could desire to lose her existence. Mordecai reported that "according to risk you have come into your place for purely this way of time as this." He advised her that if she did not attempt, she does not be exempt whilst Haman murders each and all the Jews, yet that deliverance might come from someplace else, yet not for HER if she keeps quiet at the instant. (in a nutshell). God's plans are by no potential thwarted, in spite of if it nonetheless supplies us the liberty to take the assignments He supplies us, and nonetheless do issues our own way as quickly as we understand the duty. The grasp plan would be achieved the two consisting of your cooperation, or without your cooperation, yet once you do not cooperate, you would be dealt with like all different person who commits intense treason against a king. The purpose continues to be there, yet you may pick any of a dozen diverse performs to get there. Now, give up attempting so not undemanding - I scent smoke coming from between your ears. it form of feels that a large form of persons right here in R & S could desire to give up attempting so not undemanding to mock issues that they of course be responsive to truly not something by any potential approximately!

Answer 7

Hey stop trying to shirk your pre-ordained responsibility. That just makes God mad - and nobody wants that ok?

Answer 8

There is no such creature as god. Your question is moot.

Answer 9

What GOD has predestined no man can change.

Answer 10

so long
we are responsible for our own sin No excuses needed....cuz sin will kill us and if we dont repent then death