Quote:
Originally Posted by Pergamum  NEOGILLIST:
So, God created Satan as a fall guy so that Satan would do what God was restrained from doing?
I assertively disagree with your wording and would point you to Patricks fine explanation to counter your explanation. |
Yea, sort of. I heard this position first from a Reformed Baptist pastor. It makes total sense to me. From my understanding of God's sovereignty, the devil is like God's bulldog that He unleashes especially against wicked people, but not invariably (as was the case for Job). Take for instance
Timothy 2:26. I've heard many pastors and even theologians wrongly interpret this verse by thinking that 'his' refers to the devil's will. If you look up the Greek NT, Vines concordance or the Amplified version, it makes it clear that 'his' refers to God's will, which is consistent with our reformed understanding of God's sovereignty. (I don't know, there could be textual variants, of course). The devil is there to do God's sovereign will.
"24(A)The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, (B)able to teach, patient when wronged,
25(C)with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, (D)if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to (E)the knowledge of the truth,
26and they may come to their senses and escape from (F)the snare of the devil, having been (G)held captive by him to do his will. "