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Which begs the question of why you persist in your belief that he is UNABLE to save ALL men/people.
Because it's not a matter of not being capable of... it's that it's not to his pleasure to do so.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to pleaseGod, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
1 Corinthians 1:21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Mike, was there ever a time when Jesus wasn't God?
No!!! Jesus Christ is eternal and infinite God. He is co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit. There never was a time when Jesus Christ didn't exist. The three Persons of the trinity are One God. God in three Persons.
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"God is eternal life and therefore cannot die." ... Did Jesus stop being God when he died?
No. Absolutely not. Jesus Christ has always existed as God. But He hasn't always been a man. He became a man at the First Advent. At the moment of His incarnation Jesus Christ became the God-Man. The unique Person of the universe. One of the reasons that Jesus Christ had to become a member of the human race is because deity is not subject to death. Deity could not die on a cross. It was the humanity of Jesus Christ which died on the cross. Not His deity.
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"He cannot learn anything. He already knows everything that can be known."
Yet Jesus grew in wisdom, Jesus was human in every way. That is why Jesus as God John 1:1 knows when the end will come and yet at the same time only the Father knows. Matthew 24:36
Yes. From the moment of His incarnation Jesus Christ has been and will forevermore be in hypostatic union. The two natures of Jesus Christ---His deity and His humanity, are inseparately united in this hypostasis, but without any mixture of the attributes of those two natures. The attributes of His deity belong to His deity and not to His humanity. The attributes of His humanity belong to His humanity and not to His deity. Under Kenosis, Jesus during His First Advent refrained from the independent use of His deity apart from the Father's Plan for the First Advent. Therefore, during His First Advent, Jesus Christ in hypostatic union and under Kenosis could simultaneously be omniscient as deity and yet in His humanity be ignorant. As a man Jesus had to learn. But as God He was omniscient.
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A square cannot be a circle at the same time that it is a square.
But that is what the Triune God is: (that's why I said triangle in the title)
"In Christ the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" Colossians 2:9
"In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God" John 1:1
Oh, because the triangle is used in a diagram showing the three Persons of the trinity.
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I agree but for a different reason....
It's not that he cannot, he could if he wanted to. It's that it is his pleasure for something to happen or not to.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to pleaseGod, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Romans 8:8
Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot pleaseGod.
1 Corinthians 1:21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, Godwaspleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
No. God cannot change His mind. Having established the Plan of salvation, God is obligated by His immutability and veracity to carry out that Plan. He cannot change it.
God cannot just arbitrarily save anyone apart from their having believed in Christ because in order for man to have an eternal relationship with God, man must have the same perfect righteousness as God has. Until a person places His trust in Christ for salvation, God does not and cannot impute His Righteousness to that person. God is bound by His own integrity and immutability to carry out the Plan of salvation that He established.
God is immutable. He is unalterable. He is not capable of, or susceptible to change. For that reason, God is absolute stability. God's sovereign decisions, His omniscience and His holiness which is comprised of His righteousness and justice, and all of His other characteristics, are eternally the same; therefore, His Word and His works are immutable. God's faithfulness comes from His immutability. The Scriptures declare that God is faithful. You can rely on Him, and on what He has said one hundred percent. God will never let anyone down. He is faithful in keeping His word. None of His promises have, or will ever fail (1 Kings 8:56). He will always be faithful (2 Tim 2:13).
Which begs the question of why you persist in your belief that he is UNABLE to save ALL men/people.
Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?†So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matt. 20:1-16)
The fundamentalist as turned this scripture above on it's head.What he means when says "God can do what he wants",is God can be far more evil than we could ever imagine,because he has the right to what he wants.In otherwords a good God can be an evil God too(this is your circle being a triangle).Yet the scripture above says the opposite,He's actually a good God who goes beyond is own goodness(pressed down,shaken together and running over).
Fundamentalism like the scriptures says above is envious of the genorisity of God,this is why he is against all being saved,because it means God is to generous towards the undeserving(and that simply is not fair to them in their thinking).
Interesting that you being an athesist caught that analogy...
To answer your question ... nope
RESPONSE:
Actually, like many of our nations's founding fathers, I'm a deist, not an atheist.
A deist believes in the existence of God but rejects Christian revelation recognizing that the very many errors and contradictions in scripture evidence that it is not divinely inspired.
Is God more powerful than physics?
Is God more powerful than geometry?
Is God so powerful that he can't limit himself?
All things are possible with God.
God abounds and overflows in all that He IS,God cannot be tempted with evil,because there is no evil in Him,thus He IS NOT evil. He's never anything but who He IS,this is why HE IS God and no other god is.
cause it's not a matter of not being capable of... it's that it's not to his pleasure to do so.
God has STATED in I Tim. 2:4 what His desire and pleasure is, and in Isa. 55:11 He has clearly declared that what He has stated "OUT OF MY MOUTH IT SHALL NOT RETURN UNTO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH [SAVE ALL MEN] THAT WHICH I PLEASE..."
"Remember the former things of old: for I am GOD, and there is none else; I am GOD, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel SHALL STAND, and WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE [as in I Tim. 2:4 and everywhere else]:
am i correct thinking that you think it is not that God can't save all His creation, but that it is that He won't?
If it is that He has the power to bring about the redemption of all but He just won't then that doesn't make Him a very loving being and makes the scripture of His love of mankind of no effect.
am i correct thinking that you think it is not that God can't save all His creation, but that it is that He won't?
Sad.
I think there are a few that believe he can but won't, and others believe that he simply won't. God would be unjust to save all, in their eyes,when they believe in Jesus(sounds like faith but when you actually hear their beliefs it's not faith at all,it's works)and those who came at the last hour and received the same grace and mercy,even though they didn't actually conform and believe and do all the same things they conform too.
Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matt. 20:1-16)
The fundamentalist as turned this scripture above on it's head.What he means when says "God can do what he wants",is God can be far more evil than we could ever imagine,because he has the right to what he wants.In otherwords a good God can be an evil God too(this is your circle being a triangle).Yet the scripture above says the opposite,He's actually a good God who goes beyond is own goodness(pressed down,shaken together and running over).
Fundamentalism like the scriptures says above is envious of the genorisity of God,this is why he is against all being saved,because it means God is to generous towards the undeserving(and that simply is not fair to them in their thinking).
Exactly. There are some folks within fundamentalism that definitely are this way. Part of their peace in this world, is thinking that others that they disdain (unbelievers) will not be "gettin' to go to heaven like me." The thinking is all black/white, heaven/hell, etc. They're focusing on rewards and pearly gates and others be shoved into fires and darkness... and it helps keep them feeling "ok" with the world around them "Well as long as I end up getting rewarded for doing this relgious thing, as long as I'm sacrificing all the "good-time having" I'm ok with that because I'm going to heaven and all these people "getting to sin" are going to hell.
That's a heart that is ill and needs to be healed. (and it eventually will.)
That's a mindset that has not yet even really begun to start understanding what this whole life is even about. That's a mindset that doesn't understand that there is nothing "fun or joyful" about "sin". That all sin leads to destruction. That all sin is really "non-love" and they've got a boatload of it sitting in their own hearts that they are not even fully aware of yet. It's not about heaven or hell, but about LIFE NOW. About love, about God, about what leads to life! They are missing the whole point.
But again, this will ALL eventually be healed.
And before folks come on here freaking out, if the above doesn't apply to you, then it doesn't apply to you. But I have known people both online and in real life who absolutely fit the above.
There are LOTS of different types of believers out there.
Because of where they are on their own path...
That is what makes it so difficult to talk about, because there are so many different perspectives based on your own personal knowledge and growth thus far.
BUT.... with that said, there are so many perspectives, though, for a reason. We are being shown something, and all of these different perspectives, no matter how right or how wrong, will eventually end up assisting in the revelation of knowledge. We're all in this together and no-one is better than another. We're all equal. Each of our unique paths in this world, I believe, is going to end up actually being for the benefit of all. WE are ALL in this TOGETHER.
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