Good morning everyone.
I have been gone a few days and I can see you all had some good discussions. I want to respond to something that OtisB.Driftwood wrote 2 days ago. It didn't look like anyone responded to him. If someone did, I am sorry because I must have missed it.
Let us have an open mind and consider this:
Let us make a three basic assumptions first.
First- let's assume there is a God.
Ok, I that is pretty easy for me to do.
Second- assuming there is a God, then He must be the creator and ultimately the destroyer of everything that is or will ever be.
Ok, I can assume this as well. However, I would word it a little differently. He may not be the one who does the destroying but it within his power to control everything. With that being said, nothing happens unless he allows it to happen.
Third- He has a plan, and nothing can occur which does not conform to His plan.
We will never completely understand his plans and how they work. God is everything good and Satan is the absence of good. God does not want bad things to happen but he currently allows some bad things to happen. However, the bible is very clear that on the day of judgement he will punish for those bad things. All he is doing right now is "putting off" the judgement or punishment.
In the Old Testament there exists a council of Angels in God's court. The first angel, Lucifer, or Satan, which can be translated as "adversary," is the Devil's advocate, so to speak, of the court. He is the prosecuting attorney. Let us refer to the story of Job, and the wager that God makes with Satan regarding said Job. Some interpret this story as one of Job's undying piety, and they are not wrong, but it is also very telling of the role that Satan plays in God's plan. God sets the rules by which the wager can be carried out, and Satan must oblige.
Yes, God is in control. If his will is to control a situation he can certainly control it. Satan must oblige when God wants to control a situation. James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
What is my point here? My point is that, given the above mentioned assumptions, Satan is the creation of Him, and no matter the war and the banishing and the continuing struggle over souls, Satan cannot possibly be operating outside of God's will.
Your point is flawed. God can control every situation but he gives us free will. He gave Satan free will as well. Free will allows us to do things outside of Gods will. God wants to be glorified and he can not be glorified if he forces us to everything he wants. He wants us to choose him and not be forced to follow him. What glory would he receive from us being forced to follow him? If you forced someone to love you would it really be love? Would you have any joy from that? How much greater is it for you to have someone love you by their own choice?
Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts (allowing their free will) 1:26 - God gave them over to shameful lusts (free will again) Romans 1:28 - he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done (free will again).
It is my contention that evil, and the personification of said evil, Satan, could not possibly exist without His approval, for nothing can occur that does not abide by God's plan.
Again, God can control us. He can also control Satan and will control him (and us) at the day of judgement as described in Revelations, Romans and in other places of the bible.
Romans 2:5 - because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Therefore, the Devil's work is God's work, and by extrapolation, God's work is also the Devil's work.
That is incorrect.
He gave us free will but will punish those that are not saved.
Romans 3:25 - he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He will leave a lot of sin unpunished until the day of judgement but the sin itself is not "his work" as you stated above. Free will allows us to sin but God's plan is for us is for us not to sin. The whole "free will" thing has caused all of us to actually live outside of Gods plan because of the first (original) sin of Genesis (Adam and Eve).
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