The Providence of God...

[ReverendRV]

I find that people will argue against the Eternal Decree of God, all the while they accept the Providence of God. I find their approval of Providence to be an Ally in Debates. I will Post a definition for Providence; and then one of my Gospel Tracts about it...

God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom, upholds, directs, arranges, and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least, by his perfectly wise and holy providence, to the purpose for which they were created. He governs according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of his own will. His providence leads to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.
Chapter 5 - Divine Providence

 

[The Righterzpen]

I find that people will argue against the Eternal Decree of God, all the while they accept the Providence of God. I find their approval of Providence to be an Allie in Debates. I will Post a definition for Providence; and then one of my Gospel Tracts about it...

God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom, upholds, directs, arranges, and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least, by his perfectly wise and holy providence, to the purpose for which they were created. He governs according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of his own will. His providence leads to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.
Chapter 5 - Divine Providence

Sounds intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading your tract.

 

[ReverendRV]

Providence - by ReverendRV

Psalm 145:13 NET; Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all Generations.

There are many false teachings about religion and often they infiltrate our thinking, causing us to have a point of view that God didn’t mean for us to have. Our verse reminds me of a couple of errors that have crept into the Church. ~ Open Theism believes in a Christ-like God but one who has left us to our own devices, because he isn’t Omniscient. Deism is the belief that an unknown God created everything and also left us to our own devices. Who would want a God that would leave us and not use his own devices for our sake? ~ The evidence that the Church has been infiltrated by these false beliefs is the diminishing of a very important teaching from the Bible; God’s Providence. You ask, “What exactly is Providence?”

God has the right to Govern his Creation; an everlasting Dominion that endures through all generations of humanity. In the Garden of Eden God gave Man Dominion over the world as its Governor; likewise God is our Governor. When we welcome our own Dominion, we validate the Dominion of others; if God is real he’s your Governor. ~ The Theologian Jacob Arminius teaches us this, ‘My sentiments respecting the Providence of God are these: It is present with, presides over all things, according to their essences, qualities, relations, actions, passions, places, times, stations, and habits, are subject to its governance, conservation, and direction. I except neither particular, sublunary, vile, nor contingent things, not even the free wills of men or of angels, either good or evil: And, still more; I don’t take away from the divine Providence governing even Sins themselves, whether we consider their commencement, their progress or their termination.’ ~ But you object, “How then is it even my fault when I Lie or steal??” The answer is found in the Bible; Jeremiah said that Judah sacrificed their children in a fire to a false Idol; but God said it never entered his Heart and Mind to cause them to Sin. And the Bible says when Joseph’s brothers sold him into Slavery that the brothers meant it for evil but God meant it for good, to save many lives…

Through his Providence, God governs us in a way that he is NOT the Author of Sin. The Bible says that one of God’s names is translated as “God will provide”; God does provide us a way of escape! In the Old Testament Abraham was sent by God to sacrifice his only begotten son. His son Isaac noticed there was no animal for the offering, but Abraham knew that God would provide a lamb. As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, God stopped him and testified of their Faith. Over to the side there was a ram caught in a thicket of thorns by its horns; God provided a substitute for the sacrifice! The Lord Jesus Christ is our Substitute who was executed for our Sins; the religious people of that day meant this for evil but God meant it for our good. Put your Faith in the Risen Lord Savior Jesus Christ and your Sins will be forgiven; you will not have to pay the eternal punishment for them in Hell. Repent of your Sin, confess Jesus Christ as your LORD and find a Church that will help you along your way. ~ We need a God who won’t leave us without the use of his devices. We’re Saved by Grace through Faith; not by our own devices…

Genesis 22:8a ESV; Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

 

[The Righterzpen]

Providence - by ReverendRV

Psalm 145:13 NET; Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all Generations.

There are many false teachings about religion and often they infiltrate our thinking, causing us to have a point of view that God didn’t mean for us to have. Our verse reminds me of a couple of errors that have crept into the Church. ~ Open Theism believes in a Christ-like God but one who has left us to our own devices, because he isn’t Omniscient. Deism is the belief that an unknown God created everything and also left us to our own devices. Who would want a God that would leave us and not use his own devices for our sake? ~ The evidence that the Church has been infiltrated by these false beliefs is the diminishing of a very important teaching from the Bible; God’s Providence. You ask, “What exactly is Providence?”

God has the right to Govern his Creation; an everlasting Dominion that endures through all generations of humanity. In the Garden of Eden God gave Man Dominion over the world as its Governor; likewise God is our Governor. When we welcome our own Dominion, we validate the Dominion of others; if God is real he’s your Governor. ~ The Theologian Jacob Arminius teaches us this, ‘My sentiments respecting the Providence of God are these: It is present with, presides over all things, according to their essences, qualities, relations, actions, passions, places, times, stations, and habits, are subject to its governance, conservation, and direction. I except neither particular, sublunary, vile, nor contingent things, not even the free wills of men or of angels, either good or evil: And, still more; I don’t take away from the divine Providence governing even Sins themselves, whether we consider their commencement, their progress or their termination.’ ~ But you object, “How then is it even my fault when I Lie or steal??” The answer is found in the Bible; Jeremiah said that Judah sacrificed their children in a fire to a false Idol; but God said it never entered his Heart and Mind to cause them to Sin. And the Bible says when Joseph’s brothers sold him into Slavery that the brothers meant it for evil but God meant it for good, to save many lives…

Through his Providence, God governs us in a way that he is NOT the Author of Sin. The Bible says that one of God’s names is translated as “God will provide”; God does provide us a way of escape! In the Old Testament Abraham was sent by God to sacrifice his only begotten son. His son Isaac noticed there was no animal for the offering, but Abraham knew that God would provide a lamb. As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, God stopped him and testified of their Faith. Over to the side there was a ram caught in a thicket of thorns by its horns; God provided a substitute for the sacrifice! The Lord Jesus Christ is our Substitute who was executed for our Sins; the religious people of that day meant this for evil but God meant it for our good. Put your Faith in the Risen Lord Savior Jesus Christ and your Sins will be forgiven; you will not have to pay the eternal punishment for them in Hell. Repent of your Sin, confess Jesus Christ as your LORD and find a Church that will help you along your way. ~ We need a God who won’t leave us without the use of his devices. We’re Saved by Grace through Faith; not by our own devices…

Genesis 22:8a ESV; Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

There are so many nuances to providence.

Recently I've been kicking around in my head about time verses eternity. God operates outside of time, yet has the ability to step into time where ever and when ever He deems / deemed that it fulfilled His plan. Thus he was "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world"; though earthly time hadn't existed yet. (An entity that operates simultaneously in His own eternity as well as in our time.)

As per the non-elect being accountable for their own sin? Because eternal destruction is the "default destination" of all of humanity; God did not have to "do" or "not do" anything to cause the fall. It was inevitable because the temporal nature of the creation made it corruptible. God possesses the knowledge of good and evil but by reason of what He is; it can't corrupt Him. Evil is not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, immortal or from ever lasting to ever lasting. But because creation was none of those things; the inevitable outcome was the fall.

Now I have a theory as to how "evil" entered the cosmos. But in order for evil to become manifest in the material world, creatures had to succumb to its corruption. They (we) are the agents of the actions of one's own disobedience. And the first creature that did so was Satan. (Lucifer fell before Adam did.)

Now my theory on the origin of evil comes out of physics. (To every action is an equal and opposite reaction.) Now the "opposite reaction" to God's action of creation was the temporal anthesis to the good cosmos that He created. God knew this would happen because He possesses the knowledge of good and evil. But because the cosmos had a beginning; the manifest opposite reaction to God creating is not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, immortal or having no beginning and no end.

Thus knowing this; God accomplished in eternity His redemption plan.

Now of what process (and or "how long") it took God to develop this plan; is actually immaterial because we have no point of reference to understanding what it's like to be an entity that has no beginning or end.

Does your head hurt yet? LOL

Anyways, God's providence is genius!

Something I read in your description though sparked another idea in my head. Angels that never transgressed. What is "free will" in context of them? (Have you ever wondered that?)

Obviously Jesus had a will that was totally free in every sense of the word; on account of the Divine nature. But free will as it applies to temporal entities, like angels and man. Obviously we know both are corruptible. There wouldn't have been a fall if we / they weren't. Yet the angels that didn't fall are also called "elect". Assuming that means they didn't fall because they were elect "from the foundation of the world" just as human elect are elect from the foundation of the world.

Interesting! (Now my brain hurts!)

This happens to me a lot. The Bible eats my brain.

There's a lot of rabbit holes this conversation could go down.

LOL