Do we have the ability to obey God's Commandments?

redleghunter

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And yet God didn't create us to sin.

The first commandment was don’t eat of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil.

They failed. Explain that.

After that all are children of the ToKoG&E

We'll, we'd be left to explain whether or not God wanted them to eat of the fruit, after expressly commanding them not to. Either man can freely make right or wrong choices, in which case he's morally responsible for his actions, or God made him do it, and He's therefore directly responsible for every one of the most atrocious acts of evil this world has known.

The fact is Adam and Eve were created to either obey or disobey.

It was your leading statement “God didn’t create us to sin” I addressed.

Adam and Eve obviously had the capability to disobey. And they did. I did not mention anything about God wanting them to disobey.

This is what I was answering:

What would be the reason why we could not obey God’s commandments?

In which I responded “sin.”

Perhaps I should have clearly stated that we all suffer from the one sin of Adam which was disobedience.
 
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fhansen

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The fact is Adam and Eve were created to either obey or disobey.

It was your leading statement “God didn’t create us to sin” I addressed.

Adam and Eve obviously had the capability to disobey. And they did. I did not mention anything about God wanting them to disobey.
Ok? But then I'm really not sure what the purpose of your question was. Maybe you could explain the answer:
The first commandment was don’t eat of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil.

They failed. Explain that.
Either way I think we agree, God did not create us to sin, only with the freedom to so do so. Sin was foreseen by Him, not caused by Him.
 
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grasping the after wind

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We'll, we'd be left to explain whether or not God wanted them to eat of the fruit, after expressly commanding them not to. Either man can freely make right or wrong choices, in which case he's morally responsible for his actions, or God made him do it, and He's therefore directly responsible for every one of the most atrocious acts of evil this world has known.

Or God created a being capable of rebellion for His own purposes. In which case man can freely make right or wrong choices and is responsible for those choices and God is responsible for creating the situation in which His righteous and sovereign commands can be disobeyed by His righteous and sovereign Will. As nothing can come into existence outside of the Will of God, and yet God's commands are disobeyed, I suggest that it is likely the case that God has a use for rebellion against his commands. Additionally I do not see rebellion against his commands as usurpation of God's sovereignty because I consider the likelihood that God's Will and God's commands may not be equivalent if it is God's Will that rebellion is an option for those He has given commands to. God's Will is tied to God's purpose for his creation and if God's purpose for creation requires the possibility of rebellion then I suspect that rebellion and redemption have always been God's Will and an important part of God's purpose for his creation.
 
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Hammster

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We'll, we'd be left to explain whether or not God wanted them to eat of the fruit, after expressly commanding them not to. Either man can freely make right or wrong choices, in which case he's morally responsible for his actions, or God made him do it, and He's therefore directly responsible for every one of the most atrocious acts of evil this world has known.
Did God want the fall to happen?
 
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fhansen

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Did God want the fall to happen?
We can't second-guess Him. He told A&E not to eat of the fruit. He'd be more than a bit hypocritical to command that, and want otherwise. The most we can say is that He foresaw the Fall, deemed it worthwhile to create anyway, knowing the beginning from the end, planning to use the Fall for His purposes of ultimately bringing an even greater good out of the evil that had occurred.
 
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Hammster

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We can't second-guess Him. He told A&E not to eat of the fruit. He'd be more than a bit hypocritical to command that, and want otherwise. The most we can say is that He foresaw the Fall, deemed it worthwhile to create anyway, knowing the beginning from the end, planning to use the Fall for His purposes of ultimately bringing an even greater good out of the evil that had occurred.

Could He have prevented it?
 
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DamianWarS

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Would you consider the following statement true or false:

"That whatever God commands implies the ability of the one who receives the command to obey it. Man should not have to ask for grace in order to be obedient."
I prefer:

"Oh God, grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire"
 
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fhansen

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Could He have prevented it?
Of course. But that doesn't mean that He directly willed it any more than He directly wills the torture and rape of a 5-yr old, which He could likewise prevent. If He does will those things, then His will is always done on earth as it is in heaven, and there'd be no reason to ask for that to happen. And, there'd be no guarantee that heaven should be any better than hell; God wouldn't be trustworthy anyway.
 
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Hammster

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Of course. But that doesn't mean that He directly willed it any more than He directly wills the torture and rape of a 5-yr old, which He could likewise prevent. If He does will those things, then His will is always done on earth as it is in heaven, and there'd be no reason to ask for that to happen. And, there'd be no guarantee that heaven should be any better than hell; God wouldn't be trustworthy anyway.
If He could have prevented it, yet didn’t, then there’s a purpose. Would you agree with that?
 
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icxn

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Leviticus 19:27
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
Is this commandment... "required"?
If properly (Romans 7:14) understood, yes, it is required not to espouse any false beliefs concerning the dogmas of our faith as if round cuttings* of our heads, neither mar Christ's ethical teachings (beard) and therefore our actions (corners) with anything immoral.

At least this is my interpretation given the measure of my limited understanding.

________
* Greeks used to offer these as sacrifices to demons
 
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fhansen

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If there’s a purpose, there’s a will. So He wanted it to happen.
So it's impossible for His will not to be done on earth? It's all the same? Good and evil are just terms and God approves and participates equally in one as He does the other?
 
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fhansen

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He can sovereignly allow His will to be overridden, for man's freedom to hold sway. For now. Otherwise it would be absurd to pray for His will to be done , except for the possibility of it not being done. In fact, life would be pretty worthless in the long, eternal, run if not for the fact that He won't allow good and evil (opposition to His will) to coexist forever
 
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Hammster

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He can sovereignly allow His will to be overridden, for man's freedom to hold sway. For now.
Is there a purpose in letting man have freedom?
 
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BCsenior

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Is there a purpose in letting man have freedom?
Must be all about testing to see
WHO will love God enough to obey Him.
Jesus said 4 times in John 14,
"Those who love Me, will obey My commandments."
 
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Hammster

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Must be all about testing to see
WHO will love God enough to obey Him.
Jesus said 4 times in John 14,
"Those who love Me, will obey My commandments."
Anything to support that conclusion?
 
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fhansen

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Must be all about testing to see
WHO will love God enough to obey Him.
Jesus said 4 times in John 14,
"Those who love Me, will obey My commandments."
Yes, Scripture screams from beginning to end that man has the obligation to love God. And that this is a choice, a matter of the will. And we come to understand through Christ that this obligation can become a desire-as we come to know the true God for ourselves. And so the will begins to be rectified, not without the help of grace. God draws us towards and into this right relationship-without coercion.
 
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fhansen

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Is there a purpose in letting man have freedom?
Through freedom man fell. He touched the hot stove. Now we have the opportunity to experience-to know-both good and evil so that, with the help of revelation and grace we might begin to shun evil (hating it as God does) and develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness instead. And so to seek God. Or answer "yes" when He calls.

This world has a purpose. God is perfecting His creation, with a plan that involves created beings coming to recognize their need for Him though hardship and struggle. Otherwise He may as well have just stocked heaven with the elect and hell with the reprobate to begin with and avoided all the ugliness this world has known from the beginning.
 
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