(I recently came across a Facebook post that made several interesting statements that will be answered here in the fbq's (Face Book Questions section) over the course of the next few days or weeks as I can get to them. The first of these is...)
If God created everything
Then he created sin (Genesis says so, don't bother arguing this.)
“If God created everything, Then he created sin. (Genesis says so, don't bother arguing this.)” Taking something out of context in order to support an untrue statement is not the proper way to state a premise. Genesis does not state, anywhere, that God created sin. In fact, Scripture states again and again that God did not create sin. (Genesis 1:31; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5, and others). In fact, to take this a step further, God could not have created sin, because sin itself is not a created thing. It is not a substance, it is not a being, it is not a spirit, it is not matter. Sin is not a created thing. John MacArthur describes is as “a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature.”
This “lack of moral perfection” that MacArthur speaks of, is lawlessness, or rebellion against God. It is a free will choice made by individuals to reject God and chose a Godless existence. Since God is the ultimate example of perfection and good, a lack of God automatically creates a lack of perfection and good. Otherwise known as sin, or evil.
When God created Adam and Eve, the very first humans, they were without sin, but He created them with the ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. Was that a flaw in God's plan? No, actually, it wasn't. He could have easily made them without that freedom to choose, and they would have loved and obeyed God and everything would have been peachy. Right? Again, no. Yes they would have loved God, but their love would have been flawed. It would not have been a true love. In order for love to be true, to be real, the subject must freely chose to love the object without any coercion whatsoever. The danger in this is obvious. The subject might not make that choice, even if it is the logical choice to make. In Adam and Eve's situation, the serpent, Satan, coerced them into making the choice to disobey God, and thus sin entered into the world.
It is no different than the relationship between a child and a parent. The child wants to go outside. The parent allows the child to go outside, but tells the child to stay in the yard. Thus, the parent has created a situation where the child has the ability to disobey the parent. If the child rebels and leaves the yard, is the parent guilty? No, of course not. Even if the parent knew the child would disobey, the child still had the freewill to make the decision to either obey and stay in the yard, or disobey and leave the yard.
Freedom of choice means just that – the freedom to make a conscious decision, and the opportunity to make the wrong choice is inherent in that freedom. We can choose to follow God, believe in Jesus, that He died for your sins, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Making this choice leads to righteous living and eternal life in heaven (Jeremiah 29:13; 2 Timothy 2:19). Or, we can choose to reject God and follow our own life path which leads away from God and into sin, evil, and eternal life in hell (Proverbs 16:5; Matthew 25:46). The choice is ours, the decision is ours, and we have no one to blame but ourselves for the choice we make (Galatians 6:7).
If God created everything
Then he created sin (Genesis says so, don't bother arguing this.)
“If God created everything, Then he created sin. (Genesis says so, don't bother arguing this.)” Taking something out of context in order to support an untrue statement is not the proper way to state a premise. Genesis does not state, anywhere, that God created sin. In fact, Scripture states again and again that God did not create sin. (Genesis 1:31; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5, and others). In fact, to take this a step further, God could not have created sin, because sin itself is not a created thing. It is not a substance, it is not a being, it is not a spirit, it is not matter. Sin is not a created thing. John MacArthur describes is as “a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature.”
This “lack of moral perfection” that MacArthur speaks of, is lawlessness, or rebellion against God. It is a free will choice made by individuals to reject God and chose a Godless existence. Since God is the ultimate example of perfection and good, a lack of God automatically creates a lack of perfection and good. Otherwise known as sin, or evil.
When God created Adam and Eve, the very first humans, they were without sin, but He created them with the ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. Was that a flaw in God's plan? No, actually, it wasn't. He could have easily made them without that freedom to choose, and they would have loved and obeyed God and everything would have been peachy. Right? Again, no. Yes they would have loved God, but their love would have been flawed. It would not have been a true love. In order for love to be true, to be real, the subject must freely chose to love the object without any coercion whatsoever. The danger in this is obvious. The subject might not make that choice, even if it is the logical choice to make. In Adam and Eve's situation, the serpent, Satan, coerced them into making the choice to disobey God, and thus sin entered into the world.
It is no different than the relationship between a child and a parent. The child wants to go outside. The parent allows the child to go outside, but tells the child to stay in the yard. Thus, the parent has created a situation where the child has the ability to disobey the parent. If the child rebels and leaves the yard, is the parent guilty? No, of course not. Even if the parent knew the child would disobey, the child still had the freewill to make the decision to either obey and stay in the yard, or disobey and leave the yard.
Freedom of choice means just that – the freedom to make a conscious decision, and the opportunity to make the wrong choice is inherent in that freedom. We can choose to follow God, believe in Jesus, that He died for your sins, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Making this choice leads to righteous living and eternal life in heaven (Jeremiah 29:13; 2 Timothy 2:19). Or, we can choose to reject God and follow our own life path which leads away from God and into sin, evil, and eternal life in hell (Proverbs 16:5; Matthew 25:46). The choice is ours, the decision is ours, and we have no one to blame but ourselves for the choice we make (Galatians 6:7).
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