The Truth Shall Set You Free
Open Theism concerns itself primarily with one issue...the omniscience of God. Omniscience defined,
simply means having the ability to know all things. But what exactly does it mean to say that God knows
all things? I believe that God only knows all things that are logically knowable or that can be known. He has an intimate awareness of all events and things visible and invisible that have ever existed up until this
present moment. I would even include all future possibilities to this vast sum of knowledge. I'm sure
everyone who believes that there is a God would agree with this as far as it goes. However, there is a
large, vocal group of believers who take the omniscience of God much further. They believe that God also has certain, total, exhaustive, absolute foreknowledge of the future. It is at this point where Open Theists and Classical Theists part company in disagreement.
I titled this "The truth shall set you free" because I want people to see that if they believe in something that takes away their freedom, then it logically follows that what they believe in cannot in fact be true. If you hold to a belief that robs you of your freedom to live and choose your own path in life, then that belief must be false, or even worse, a lie. It's one thing to mistakenly believe in something that's not true, but when a person believes a lie, this also implies that there is a liar, and the one who believes the lie has therefore been deceived. Hmmm, have we ever heard of a deceiver being mentioned to us in the Scriptures?
I believe it's only been in Satan's best interest for people to believe that God sees the future, and
I titled this "The truth shall set you free" because I want people to see that if they believe in something that takes away their freedom, then it logically follows that what they believe in cannot in fact be true. If you hold to a belief that robs you of your freedom to live and choose your own path in life, then that belief must be false, or even worse, a lie. It's one thing to mistakenly believe in something that's not true, but when a person believes a lie, this also implies that there is a liar, and the one who believes the lie has therefore been deceived. Hmmm, have we ever heard of a deceiver being mentioned to us in the Scriptures?
I believe it's only been in Satan's best interest for people to believe that God sees the future, and
consequently he has been actively promoting this harmful idea to us for centuries. How is it in his best interest? As the enemy of our souls, he knows that if he can get us to believe that God already knows the complete future details of all our individual lives, then most of us will tend to resign ourselves to accept everything that happens to us without a struggle or question. It especially harms our prayer life, by subtly undermining our confidence in it. Why pray if God already knows what's going to happen? It also adversely affects our willingness to share the gospel with people, because if we believe God already knows who will be saved, as well as when and how it will happen, then why bother worrying about it?
From man's perspective, there is really nothing freeing about believing that God knows our future,
From man's perspective, there is really nothing freeing about believing that God knows our future,
unless of course we just want to continue living in sin and be able to use that as an excuse. I've
heard several Christians play that card after committing some sinful act, saying "Well, God knew I was
going to do such and such." "God knew I was going to this, God knew I was going to do that, God knows what I'm going to do tonight, tomorrow, next week, next year, blah, blah blah." This only results in an attitude of resignation which often keeps us locked into sinful patterns of behavior, or difficult life situations, from which we could easily break out of...if only we'd make the effort. We tend to take the road of least resistance, especially when we believe God already knows what's going to happen with our lives anyway. Satan wants to rob us of having a joyful, adventurous life of spontaneous interaction with God, and he knows that convincing us that our future is already set in stone is one of the best ways of accomplishing this.
Also, from God's perspective, God Himself loses all freedom if it were true that He could see the
future. He would be completely forced to forever act out whatever He sees Himself doing in the future.
He would have no flexibility, no alternatives, no options open. He would be a helpless slave to His
vision of the future, which is of course a ridiculous idea.
So then, if the truth sets us free, then the notion that God or anyone else can see the future must be
false, since it would only lead to a life of bondage and despair.
-nOFuTuRe
Amen. Good job!
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I think you've kind of missed the point... I don't see God as being a slave to His knowledge of how things play out... He just *knows*. Remember, although we our lives here are bound by time, He is not. He knows because He can "step outside" of time and just see how things *are* in the eternal sense...
Admittedly this is a hard thing for us as humans to understand and/or accept - many do misuse the misunderstanding as an excuse to sin - but we shouldn't change what the Bible teaches just to make things easier to understand or more comfortable.
We still have a responsibility to make wise choices and seek a closer relationship with Him ... and just because He has (what I might call) incidental knowledge of the future I believe He *always* acts according to His nature and character and will use that knowledge to reach out to all of us and draw us closer. The fact that He knows how we will respond just allows Him to do so much, much more effectively.
In other words, His knowing the future doesn't limit our (or His) free will to choose...
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s0nspark,
First of all, thank you for your comment. I hope you won't mind me commenting on your comment in return, and perhaps asking you for some clarification on your position. You say you think I've missed the point, then go on to state that we are bound by time, while God is not, and that He can somehow step outside of time. I was wondering why you believe this to be true...is this something you have read in the Scriptures, or is it something you've simply heard taught or read in some book? Frankly, I've never seen anything in the Bible that would lead me to believe that God exists anywhere other than in the present. He's always lived in this present moment and always will. I understand that He can obviously remember the past completely and accurately, and that He has incredible, extensive plans for the future, but I've never seen any evidence that He is some sort of time traveler that people fantasize about, as in some science fiction movies and books that appear from time to time. You did admit that God knowing the future is "hard to understand and/or accept", but I think it doesn't make sense simply because it's not true. If you have any logical, coherent, clear, biblical basis for thinking God already knows everything that you will say & do for the rest of your life, I'd really like to hear it. It's not my intention to aggressively argue my own position, however, and I'll be content if we don't see eye to eye on this issue. Love and humility between brothers in the Lord is more important to than proving theological positions and opinions. So, with that said, feel free to explain your position in more detail.
-nOFuTuRe
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Everyday I pray that God will save me from my sin. I am so thankful that I am not locked into this life. Psalm 38: 17-18. For I am about to fall,and my pain is ever with me. I confess my iniquity;I am troubled by my sin. This is today, and this is now. Tomorrow, I am praying not to be falling, not to be troubled. Again, I thank God that I am not locked on to the future, but He is my future!
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I read your blog everyday, you have talent in writing, waiting for more articles...
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Want to thank you for interesting posts buddy. Keep posting!
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Super blog, please add some new articles, can't wait !
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Excellent article!
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the author is absolutely right agree with every word
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I'm very interested in this subject and I myself do alot of research as well. Either way it was a well thought out and nice read so I figured I would leave you a comment.
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