Can God do all things???

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Dave:

----------
| From: suprdave@lightspeed.net
| To: higher-fire@prairienet.org
| Subject: Re: Can God do all things???
| Date: Monday, October 13, 1997 2:55 PM
| 
| Pastor Joe said:
| >Debate it if you like, but just because God *will* not do something, or
He
| >*chooses not* to do something, does not mean He does not have the
ability to
| >do it.
| 
| Dave:
| Again, God cannot force anyone to serve Him. God cannot:
| 
| 1. Lie
| 2. Make the devil repent
| 3. Make athiests into believers in Him
| 4. Make one receive the Holy Ghost
| 
| and so forth. It seems as if there is some "strange teaching" that
| God could "make us"...He just chooses not to. This is totally
| unscriptural. Didn't He say in Deut.30:19 "Choose life or death,
| blessings or cursings"? So the choice is up to the people, right?


Not always.
Look at Exodus 7:2, 3, 5
2  Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron they brother shall
speak unto Pharoah, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
3  And *I will* harden Pharoah's heart, and multiply my signs and my
wonders in the land of Egypt.
5  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth
mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

Exodus 10:1
1  And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharoah: for I have hardened
his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs
before him:

An example of this.

Also Exodus 9:12  And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharoah, and he
hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

But...there were times when Pharoah hardened his own heart.
Exodus 8:15  But when Pharoah saw that there was respite, he hardened his
heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord said.

So, I guess my logic here is, if the Lord **can** intervene to harden
someone's heart, then it also follows that the Lord **can** intervene to
soften someone's heart.  It is clearly seen from the above passages that
God **can** and *does* intervene when doing so fits with a bigger plan.


Now, I am going to announce my official withdrawal from this debate by
quoting this:
"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God
is stronger than men...But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty;" I Cor. 1:25,27

We, while in our weak human state, will never understand completely *why*
God does everything he does.  But to state that simply because God *does
not* do something means he therefore *cannot* is, IMHO, foolish.  Does it
then follow that just because God *did not* create the grass purple and red
polka dotted that it is then beyond his power???  Come on.

Anneliese