Quote:
Originally Posted by mizpeh
Is God responsible for Adam and Eve's sin? or is God responsible for Hitler's atrocities? Is God responsible for our choices, good or bad?
Here's an interesting verse at the beginning of A Tale of Three Kings:
They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not. Hosea 8:4
God was not consulted in choosing some of the kings and princes of Israel. Free will is given to us by God. He sovereignly allows us to make choices. We are responsible for the decisions we make. It's God will for all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Who's fault is it if all men don't repent? Someone is resisting God's will and obviously, God is allowing them to. Why? Because He has given us a will that is not bound to His own will.
God knowing beforehand the destination of every soul doesn't make Him responsible for the actions of those souls that freely choose to disobey Him and end up lost. |
God
is responsible, that is why there is a judgment. If, after allowing evil to have reign He did nothing about it, then He would be guilty of injustice.
There's a difference between "responsibility" and "guilt." Guilt means there was a moral failing on the part of the guilty. God is not "guilty." He is responsible, however. It is His creation and the results of His act in creating are his responsibility.
But back to the effect of of grace in salvation,
Romans 9:16: "
it does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."
Of course, this is just one side of the coin. But it is the side that we as Apostolics often overlook. There is a fundamental paradox between free will and determinism. The debates around this are older than even the Christian faith. We could have the same debates endlessly here but neither side will be resolved, because fundamentally both sides are correct.
And as Christians we need both sides preached in balance. Grace and human responsibility. Both are correct.
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