"by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,visible and invisible,wether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.All things were created through him and FOR HIM" ......Sounds like a legal document that covers all his bases in letting us know hes in charge.Many christians mistakenly beleive that even though gods in control it is still up to us to accomplish his plan for our lives.In other words,god needs us to cooperate in order to fullfill his end result .This only leads to further frustration. �O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.� (Jeremiah 10:23)...........Well even if we could ,inadvertently "mess up gods plans"Then I would argue that,We,not god,are in control.The truth is,God has preordained the paths in wich we walk and will see to it that we walk in them.We cant go contrary to gods plan,and he doesnt need us to make it happen,Phillppians 2;13 "It is god who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure" �A man�s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.� (Proverbs 16:9) "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us;" II Corinthians 1:9-10
It's your way off twisting of it that makes me laugh. :ROFL:
Context! Context! Context! It is called systematic theology where you let the Bible interpret the Bible as a whole. Ya should try it some time! :goofball:
The first example of what Deutronomy teaches is in genesis.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 � And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
1 � Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 � And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves apron's
In context example of the blessing and the curse:
The curse coming from man's disobedience.
Here is another setting of context: topic how man can be saved
1 � Brethren, my heart�s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God�s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 � For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
The bible says whosoever in context will be saved, yes the context is about how to be saved.
In context examples of this truth:40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 � Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
In context they heard, they believed, they called and they where added to the church.
You say the bible wouldn't say od was in control of Satan. I just wonder: Ever read the book of Job? In my bible translations I read a lot about God telling Satan what can be done and what not to do. He controls him, and Satan isn't able to go only a step further than God allows. Satan only dared when he got Jesus on the cross. This was the beginning of his end! I pity the fool who thought he could defeat the living God:MrT:
You say the bible wouldn't say od was in control of Satan. I just wonder: Ever read the book of Job? In my bible translations I read a lot about God telling Satan what can be done and what not to do. He controls him, and Satan isn't able to go only a step further than God allows. Satan only dared when he got Jesus on the cross. This was the beginning of his end! I pity the fool who thought he could defeat the living God:MrT:
benny i have to disagree. God protected Job's life, he did not control lucifer. he simply put bounds on him. to say that he control's lucifer suggests that he micro manages every affliction that come from the father of lies.... and sat and plotted them with him, or ordered him to afflict us. God protects us from death. lucifer tries to get us to kill ourselves and each other, he simply hates us. Job 41:12 "I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion." GOD IS NOT A CASTRO!! yes, God reserves evil for his purposes. but he does not control lucifer. that's like saying the government controls my spending, it's simply not true!
as you define controlling, there is no real control anywhere. Castro don't control every step a Cuban takes, every word he says etc, neither did Stalin, Hitler or Mao, but they bound their people to certain rules. Some were brave enough to cross those lines, and many suffered horribly for their struggle for freedom.
That said, Satan was not so in the book of Job. He did not cross the line set forth by God, but God can set lines to Satan not to cross, that is what we read. Now we both won't disagree when I say that God knew exactly what Satan would be doing after He had set him loose, even when bound to not touch Job's life.
True, God does not control every little detail directly, but He knows what will happen and He can start things in a way so they will evolve differently. If God had set other bounds to Satan, Satan would have had to obey them. God could have saved the lives of the children of Job, He decided not to. Does the book tell anything about them having a chance or a choice not to be killed? Not that I read of.
So again, when I say God is in control, I do not necessarily mean direct control, but effective control. We can do no step without Him knowing and we won't be able to do any step He did not allow us to take before. We don't even want to take another step, because He made all come to this point that we do exactly as He planned. He knows everything, He can do everything, He is souvereign, praise to Him.
