tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post3784433565214669398..comments2024-01-24T10:39:27.668-05:00Comments on Coming Untrue: God’s Sovereignty, Man’s Responsibility and the Two WitnessesDr. S. L. Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06303707167715370504noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-9139208301864250922014-08-13T14:36:18.706-04:002014-08-13T14:36:18.706-04:00Well said. I hang on to what the Lord said about t...Well said. I hang on to what the Lord said about the work of the Holy Spirit in John 16: "He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me." <br /><br />This is not simply the Holy Spirit convicting believers that they have to get right with the Lord for their breaches of fellowship, but specifically those that "do not believe in me".<br /><br />If that's his job, then like you say, there has to be a certain "viscosity" there.<br /><br />Thanks for the thoughts!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00346761712248157930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-27977918326344375962014-08-13T13:52:38.471-04:002014-08-13T13:52:38.471-04:00Hi Tom, thanks for your comments, your empathy and...Hi Tom, thanks for your comments, your empathy and prayers. I agree with you completely about the importance and effectiveness of prayer in situations such as this, and here is the reason why. <br /><br />Had a chance to think it over a bit more and realized that God does not have to override free will to help a person out when seemingly stuck in intractable situations. That is because free will is a malleable thing, it is not static but is formed and shaped in a person through experience and feedback from that person's sphere of influence. Thus potentially, free will choices are based on a person's response and learning from life events and available, teachable material, simply put, by that person's response to experience (as modified by a person's illness, see the recent news concerning Robin Williams). Thus free will can be inviolable but nevertheless shapeable. <br /><br />I would assign to free will a property similar to viscosity in the material sciences and this is where there can be trouble. By virtue of accumulated responses over a lifetime free will can become more hardened (viscous) so that a person, if hardening in a negative way, is more and more difficult to reach by God's grace as encountered through life experience. Even if completely set, hardened, I do not think that God would then smash the rocks of poor free will, i.e., do violence to that person's free will to save that person. After all it is free will and there must be responsibility and accountability at the end or everything in life is inconsequential.<br /><br />Now, I still think that God's mercy never rests even in such situations and then, in my opinion, the TOC (Thief On the Cross) phenomenon comes into play. That means there is always hope up to the last second that if there is a remnant of goodness left in you and you are willing to avail yourself of God's grace, then you stand a chance. It is for that reason, as you point out, that prayers are relevant and never futile giving us the power to affect events around us for the better. So, in prayer, there is indeed always hope and consolation.<br />Qmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-77083868657446188682014-08-13T13:50:00.193-04:002014-08-13T13:50:00.193-04:00Hi Tom, thanks for your comments, your empathy and...Hi Tom, thanks for your comments, your empathy and prayers. I agree with you completely about the importance and effectiveness of prayer in situations such as this, and here is the reason why. <br /><br />Had a chance to think it over a bit more and realized that God does not have to override free will to help a person out when seemingly stuck in intractable situations. That is because free will is a malleable thing, it is not static but is formed and shaped in a person through experience and feedback from that person's sphere of influence. Thus potentially, free will choices are based on a person's response and learning from life events and available, teachable material, simply put, by that person's response to experience (as modified by a person's illness, see the recent news concerning Robin Williams). Thus free will can be inviolable but nevertheless shapeable. <br /><br />I would assign to free will a property similar to viscosity in the material sciences and this is where there can be trouble. By virtue of accumulated responses over a lifetime free will can become more hardened (viscous) so that a person, if hardening in a negative way, is more and more difficult to reach by God's grace as encountered through life experience. Even if completely set, hardened, I do not think that God would then smash the rocks of poor free will, i.e., do violence to that person's free will to save that person. After all it is free will and there must be responsibility and accountability at the end or everything in life is inconsequential.<br /><br />Now, I still think that God's mercy never rests even in such situations and then, in my opinion, the TOC (Thief On the Cross) phenomenon comes into play. That means there is always hope up to the last second that if there is a remnant of goodness left in you and you are willing to avail yourself of God's grace, then you stand a chance. It is for that reason, as you point out, that prayers are relevant and never futile giving us the power to affect events around us for the better. So, in prayer, there is indeed always hope and consolation.<br />Qmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-38826819728847526762014-08-12T22:17:54.428-04:002014-08-12T22:17:54.428-04:00So true, Qman. I believe in a sovereign God; a God...So true, Qman. I believe in a sovereign God; a God so sovereign that he can allow us to make bad choices while still accomplishing his purposes perfectly. Can't say I have a lot of profound thoughts on the subject of whether human free will is inviolable, but I do believe there is hope in prayer, or a loving Father would not have his Son teach us to pray.<br /><br />We all have that person -- or more often, persons -- that it just breaks our heart to imagine going into eternity without the Saviour. I'll be praying for yours. Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00346761712248157930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-91726575032323400312014-08-12T22:04:14.009-04:002014-08-12T22:04:14.009-04:00To what extent is human free will inviolable to Go...To what extent is human free will inviolable to God? Will his mercy sometimes interfere with that inviolability (perhaps through a life event) in order to save a soul? Or he cannot interfere. Or is God doing that most of the time anyway because people need to be nudged in the right direction? If so, then there is hope in prayer. If not, then do we have to stand by in horror as though observing a fatal traffic accident in slow motion? <br /><br />This is a question important to anyone caring for a friend or loved one who is ill and/or is not turning to God, seemingly bent on self-destruction.Qmannoreply@blogger.com