tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post7834614753509128785..comments2023-06-09T20:58:20.841+08:00Comments on The Logical Christian: Is God a Schizophrenic?Stanley Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14714965246685825942noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post-68910284774087860892009-06-09T10:38:11.286+08:002009-06-09T10:38:11.286+08:00Hi Derrick,It's interesting that you should me...Hi Derrick,<br><br>It's interesting that you should mention Joseph ... Joseph was sold to Egypt as a slave by his brothers. Joseph was later thrown into prison because of false accusation against him by his Egyptian master's wife.<br><br>All these trials experienced by Joseph were not sent by God but were the doings of sinful men. However, God turned around his trials for the good of not only Joseph but also of the world.<br><br>Yes, God is sovereign but God does not act arbitrarily according to His own whims and fancies. Instead, God has chosen to bind himself to a covenant with us through Christ Jesus, and God honours covenant.<br><br>Matt 26:28<br>This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.<br><br>Rom 11:26-27<br>And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:<br> "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.<br> And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."<br><br>Hebrews 7:21-22<br>21but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:<br> "The Lord has sworn<br> and will not change his mind:<br> 'You are a priest forever.' " 22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.<br><br>Hebrews 8:7-13<br>7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said:<br> "The time is coming, declares the Lord,when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.<br>9It will not be like the covenant<br>I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.<br>10This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.<br>I will put my laws in their minds<br>and write them on their hearts.<br>I will be their God, and they will be my people.<br>11No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.<br>12For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."<br><br>13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.Stanley Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14714965246685825942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post-63791868918086142042009-06-09T10:02:02.457+08:002009-06-09T10:02:02.457+08:00Hi StanleyTrials are different from temptations. I...Hi Stanley<br><br>Trials are different from temptations. <br><br>I think you are imposing your own standard of "goodness" on God, rather than aligning what is truly good to God's sovereign will and purpose.<br><br>No one can perfectly understand that trials from God can bring about good (eg. Joseph! Indeed we often feel God is unkind under trials), but that is what Scripture says and I believe it. I am not going to simplistically say, "Hey, the human father won't do such a thing, so God won't too." God is both the giver of the greatest gift, the Holy Spirit, as well as in sovereign control of all worldly affairs, good or bad. <br><br>I can trust such a God. He is not a puppet bowing down to what men determine is "good".Derrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14742475846842124180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post-6435777751707085372009-06-09T02:58:15.930+08:002009-06-09T02:58:15.930+08:00Hi Derrick,You are sadly mistaken ... I am NOT equ...Hi Derrick,<br><br>You are sadly mistaken ... I am NOT equating the love of a human father to the Heavenly Father ... I am saying how MUCH MORE is the love of God - "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt 7:11)<br><br>Trials are not "good gifts" from God ... they are the result of either our own doing or attacks from the devil BUT "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Rom 8:28)Stanley Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14714965246685825942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post-57568029158973574862009-06-09T01:00:11.372+08:002009-06-09T01:00:11.372+08:00Hi StanleyIt's illogical to superimpose what G...Hi Stanley<br><br>It's illogical to superimpose what God is can does to a human father. The human father may be used as an analogy at times, but even then it is never a perfect analogy.<br><br>In this case, of course no one in their right state of mind will expect a human father to abuse his child! <br><br>However, God is not limited and finite like the human father. Nor should his love be understood merely as a human, fatherly love, thus equating these two is fallacious.<br><br>Doesn't trials bring about perfection and completeness (Jas 1:2)?Derrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14742475846842124180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053305825078372051.post-1517222349094783102009-03-26T03:04:00.000+08:002009-03-26T03:04:00.000+08:00In Luke 9:54 James and John asked Jesus if they co...In Luke 9:54 James and John asked Jesus if they could call fire down from heaven to swallow the people up who rejected Jesus. I don't blame them, they were following Elijah's example in the OT. <br><br>But Jesus seriously rebuked them! <br><br>A casual reading will make God seem schizo, but you must filter everything thru the cross.<br><br>And now in John 14:9 Jesus says "He that has seen me, has <i>seen the Father</i>" and Hebrews 1:3 says "Who [Jesus] being the brightness of his [God's] glory, and the <b>EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON</b>"<br><br>Hallelujah!<br><br>-Ron VongRon Vonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02210369209981034306noreply@blogger.com