Ask Knight (Archived)

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Nathon Detroit

Nathon Detroit

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Mr. 5020 said:
As an OVer, it would be silly to praise God for a bad thing happening. It's not his fault. Why is it different for a good thing happening though?
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It isn't always different.

If I won $100 in the lottery I wouldn't praise God for it. God didn't rig the lottery for me. I simply won by chance.

I praise God for my salvation, my liberty in Christ, for the gifts that He has given me i.e., life, family church etc.

In general, I praise God at the macro level not the micro level.
 
Mr. 5020

Mr. 5020

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Knight said:
It isn't always different.

If I won $100 in the lottery I wouldn't praise God for it. God didn't rig the lottery for me. I simply won by chance.

I praise God for my salvation, my liberty in Christ, for the gifts that He has given me i.e., life, family church etc.

In general, I praise God at the macro level not the micro level.
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Would the church you chose be at your discretion, not God's? The same goes for your spouse, taking care of your health, etc.
 
Nathon Detroit

Nathon Detroit

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Mr. 5020 said:
Would the church you chose be at your discretion, not God's? The same goes for your spouse, taking care of your health, etc.
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Yes. I chose my spouse and my church without God's coercion.

Yet God instituted family and church (as well as government) and delegated specific authority to them. Therefore, you can rightfully praise God for church, family and government as institutions created by God.

Think of it this way.... when something awesome happens to you (say your wife tells you that she loves you) God didn't robotically force your wife to utter those words, however God did create us to love one another and gave us the institution of marriage and family which created the situation where your wife loves you. Therefore you can praise God for that moment because on a macro level He created our reality to make those events possible.
 
Mr. 5020

Mr. 5020

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Knight said:
Yes. I chose my spouse and my church without God's coercion.

Yet God instituted family and church (as well as government) and delegated specific authority to them. Therefore, you can rightfully praise God for church, family and government as institutions created by God.

Think of it this way.... when something awesome happens to you (say your wife tells you that she loves you) God didn't robotically force your wife to utter those words, however God did create us to love one another and gave us the institution of marriage and family which created the situation where your wife loves you. Therefore you can praise God for that moment because on a macro level He created our reality to make those events possible.
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I have a response to this, but I'm having trouble wording it.

[Terminator]
I'll be back.
[/Terminator]
 
Mr. 5020

Mr. 5020

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Knight said:
Yes. I chose my spouse and my church without God's coercion.

Yet God instituted family and church (as well as government) and delegated specific authority to them. Therefore, you can rightfully praise God for church, family and government as institutions created by God.

Think of it this way.... when something awesome happens to you (say your wife tells you that she loves you) God didn't robotically force your wife to utter those words, however God did create us to love one another and gave us the institution of marriage and family which created the situation where your wife loves you. Therefore you can praise God for that moment because on a macro level He created our reality to make those events possible.
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Wouldn't it be the same for evil?

For example, God gave the murderer the ability to hate, and the ability to kill, right?
 
Nathon Detroit

Nathon Detroit

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Mr. 5020 said:
Wouldn't it be the same for evil?

For example, God gave the murderer the ability to hate, and the ability to kill, right?
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True, God does not robotically force men to do wicked things, I pray that you really do agree with that. Therefore a wicked man might thank God for giving him the freedom to do wicked. Yet God hates wickedness therefore that praise would be misguided.

In other words.... as a parent my children might thank me because I give them a degree of freedom to do fun things. But if they abuse that freedom and do bad things, even though they enjoy the freedom that I give them any praise they gave me because of their poor behavior would be misguided. I wouldn't want them to praise me for that nor does God want the praises of wicked men for their wicked behavior.

A wicked man couldn't call his wicked actions good, simply because it was God who gave him the freedom to do wicked things.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! - Isaiah 5:20
 
Mr. 5020

Mr. 5020

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Knight said:
True, God does not robotically force men to do wicked things, I pray that you really do agree with that.
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I do. :up:
Knight said:
Therefore a wicked man might thank God for giving him the freedom to do wicked. Yet God hates wickedness therefore that praise would be misguided.

In other words.... as a parent my children might thank me because I give them a degree of freedom to do fun things. But if they abuse that freedom and do bad things, even though they enjoy the freedom that I give them any praise they gave me because of their poor behavior would be misguided. I wouldn't want them to praise me for that nor does God want the praises of wicked men for their wicked behavior.

A wicked man couldn't call his wicked actions good, simply because it was God who gave him the freedom to do wicked things.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! - Isaiah 5:20
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The point was that it makes no more sense to praise God for good things than it does to criticize God for bad things. Do you agree with that?
 
Nathon Detroit

Nathon Detroit

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Mr. 5020 said:
I do. :up:
The point was that it makes no more sense to praise God for good things than it does to criticize God for bad things. Do you agree with that?
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Uh... no, not exactly, and I just explained why. :)

Let me try again....

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Good things are from God. Bad things are all the things that are not from God. Praising God for bad things would be misguided praise, while praising God for good things would be proper.

Now one might say... didn't you say you praised God for the freedom? And therefore couldn't a wicked guy praise Him for that freedom as well? To which I answered "sure"! Yet that praise would be misguided if that person used his freedom for wickedness and here is why....

A person can misuse a gift!

I might thank my father for giving me an axe. I thank him because I needed the axe to chop down trees for firewood. My father also gave my brother an axe and my brother is thankful for the gift, yet my brother misuses his gift and chops up his wife into little pieces :shocked: (that's a really awful thing). The gift is still good! Misusing the gift is bad.

Praising the father for the gift is good! The son praising the father for misusing the gift for evil would be misguided.
 
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