One question about God’s foreknowledge is this: Is knowing how people will choose, forcing them to choose? Well, if God says in a prophecy, “a remnant will return” (Isa. 10:21), then since we now know this will happen, if God tells us some of his absolutely certain purposes, then is our foreknowledge of those events […]
“To be supremely loving, God must give us what will be best for us and delight us most; he must give us himself.” (John Piper) This certainly everyone would agree with… “God is the one Being in the entire universe for whom self-centeredness, or the pursuit of his own glory, is the ultimately loving act. […]
God has free will, as illustrated here: HOS 14:4 I will heal their waywardness and love them freely. 1CO 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. EPH 1:6 … to the praise of his glorious […]
“[God’s] will of decree is not his will in the same sense as his will of command is. Therefore it is not difficult at all to suppose that the one may be otherwise than the other: his will in both senses is his inclination. But when we say he wills virtue, or loves virtue or […]
Are babies entirely innocent? And then they sin, and this is their first experience of sin? Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced… How is every mouth silenced, if some are not chargeable with sin? Romans […]
Genealogies were always reckoned through the father (Moses’ sons were Levites, though Zipporah was not from Israel), and Jesus considered himself descended from David (Mt. 22:43-45). Now the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are actually the same in various places, especially the early parts, and sometimes the genealogies only “hit the high spots,” […]
There are several quotes in Scripture, which seem not to be found in the Bible, or at least not in one place in the Bible. One example is here: Mt. 27:9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people […]
Judaism Certainly fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament is very impressive: The return of the nation of Israel to their homeland (Isaiah 11:11ff), and their miraculous survival there and through the ages (Jeremiah 31:36). Also the disappearance of the Philistines (Isaiah 14:31), the Edomites (Idumeans) (the entire book of Obadiah), the Ammonites (Ezekial 25:10), etc. […]
MT 24:34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” And in the next verse, we read: MT 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Jesus seemed to know that this would be a disputed passage! Here is a […]
PS 82:6 “I said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’ “ Even in this verse, God makes a distinction between those of whom he says “you are gods,” and “the Most High.” He says of the “gods”, you are sons (not co-rulers, not equal with God). PS 89:6 “For who […]