In the passage of scripture in 11 Sam12 the Lord of Israel through Nathan told David that he had despised the commandment of the Lord to do this evil in his sight. Nathan also told David that he had despised the Lord by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. The Lord also told David He had made him king over Israel, delivered him out of the hand of Saul, gave him thy masters house and thy masters wives and if that was to little I would have given unto thee such and such things. David owned this sin as his, he didn't say but this was your perfect will. David said I have sinned. The child died because by this deed David had given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Because of this sin the Lord said, The sword shall never depart from thy house. I just can't see that God caused David to sin and then punished him for the sin that was committed.
Brother Salzer,
My favorite passage in the whole Bible and one that should give every child of God comfort is Romans 8:28. I am sure you are familiar with it. "And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." As I said in my last post, God does not cause us to sin, the secondary cause of our flesh does this, but when we do, he predetermines (or predestinates) the event so even that works out for our good. This is seen in the sin of the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers into slavery. We read, "But as
for you, ye thought evil against me; but God
meant it unto
good, to bring to pass, as
it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20).
Now on to further proving the doctrine of the predestination of all things. Sin itself per the Bible is a thing. What does the Bible say about things? "17 And he is before all things,
and by him (Christ) all things consist." (Colossians 1:17) and "
All things were
made by him; and without
him was not any thing
made that was
made" (John 1:3). Now God did not and cannot sin as He is Holy and has a righteous intent for all He does, rather He used secondary cause not the first cause of His will to make sin. Satan was the secondary cause. God created him evil and he was, thus the first sinner. We know this because we read, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning..." (John 8:44) and "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil
sinneth from the beginning" ( 1 John 3:8). Ezekiel 28 further describes the devil and proves he was created evil, it says, "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast created...” The word “perfect” does not mean holy or righteous but it means “complete, without blemish and perfect”. And the verse also makes clear that whom Ezekiel is talking about was a created being and was created perfect or complete. The next thing to notice is in the second part of the verse which says,
“...till iniquity was found in thee.” Here we see that “iniquity” which means “evil or wickedness” was found in him. So, think about it in this light:
If something is found somewhere does that not mean then that it was there before but just wasn’t made manifest? For example, picture that my wife and I are out walking on a path and as I look down I notice and “find” a silver dollar in the dirt on the ground. Did that silver dollar “originate” at that moment in the dirt because it was found by me? Or was it there before I found it? Obviously it was there before I found it but it was just made manifest to me at that moment.
So, when this verse says that “iniquity” was found in him, then it means that this “evil or wickedness” was already there but was made manifest in him at the appointed time. Was it sinful of God to create Satan evil?? Absolutely notbecause His intent in doing so was Holy to bring about His people to redeem to show His mercy and love.
Now many may argue sin is not a thing, but sin” in scripture I couldn’t help but notice that it is used numerous times as a noun (Matt. 1:21; 3:6; 9:2; Mark 2:7; Luke 1:77; John 1:29; Acts 2:38; Rom. 3:9; 1 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 1:4; etc.). My understanding is that a noun is a person, place, thing or idea. Paul says in Romans that “Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin.” (4:8). If sin is not a “thing” then please explain how it can be imputed unto someone? The word “impute” means to take an inventory and the word “sin” here is used as a noun. In the same letter he also says; “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Rom. 5:12)” The word “sin” is in this verse twice and both times it is a noun with the definite article before it. So, therefore it is actually saying, “Wherefore, as by one man THE sin entered into the world, and death by THE sin;...” On the other hand, the word “sinned” in the above verse is a verb and in the active voice. And it isn’t alone because there are numerous other verses as well that it is used as a verb (see Luke 15:18; John 5:14; 8:11 and Romans 3:23 just for a small example). Consequently, since “sin” is also used as a verb it shows action. If sin is not a thing then how could any action be associated with it? We see therefore that sin “entered” into the world by one man. That one man we know as Adam and it occurred when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If sin is not a “thing” then how could it “enter” into anywhere? If sin is not a “thing” then how could it be active? Paul also says this about Christ in his second letter to the Corinthian brethren. “For he hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (5:21)” Here Christ was made sin for His people. He who knew no sin became sin. Now again, if sin is not a thing then please explain how could Christ be made it? Peter also concurs when he writes in his first letter, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (2:24) Again, (I know that I am being extremely redundant here but...) I ask how could Christ bare the sins of His people in his own body if sin is not a thing and how could “we” be dead to sins?
Sorry for the length of my post, but this doctrine is dear to me. God bless and enjoy your weekend.
Brother Joe
