Discussion Why I do not believe you can accurately prophesy about an election.

While I agree with the fact that all men have free will, God also has a will, and it is not thwarted by men's choices.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 16:4 The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Isaiah 46:10-11 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

Isaiah 14:24 The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand...

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

Job 42:2 “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted."

There's only so much screwing up that mankind can do, when God has a plan in place.

 

I don't disagree that trying to prophesy election results is a rather silly business, though

 

If that were true, we would have killed each other a long time ago (hence He sent the flood because man kind was so evil, only 8 were righteous, and so on). Remember, all the good comes from God, and we all turned our backs on Him, thus He does not have to stop any evil. The facts He does throughout our history so often only shows His love.

Well then it would not be choice, but we would be forced so no one would chose thus no one would be saved.

Uhm, I don't know...maybe because He is God? God is in charge who the Kings of the Earth are. It was His will that Biden is elected. And how He achieved that? Many times in the Bible God sends an unclean Spirit to an unbeliever who listens the unclean Spirit and essentially does what God wants. Can God do that? Yes because we sinned He will use evil to punish us.

Does this mean we have no free will? By no means, if we had no free will we would never sinned, but our choices are part of God's plans. For example God will set your life certain way so you make certain choices. I like F1 for example but had I been born is USA and lived there, I would probably watch Nascar. God is in full control of everything. How our free will is part of God's plans is beyond my knowledge and understanding.

 

Foreknowledge != determinism. God respects our will, but He also knows the end before the beginning. Therefore it is possible to tap into His foreknowledge if He allows it.

 

I don't know how often they miss it, but to the extent that they do, I suppose it's because they're not perfect. Be careful about formulating doctrine based on experience, especially statistical experience.

 

This forum rules include posters on this forum are "They are those who believe that all the various spiritual gifts (or charisms) listed in the New Testament (including but not limited to the manifestations gifts found in I Corinthians 12:8-10) are active in the Church today and desirable in the life of the individual believer, for the edification of the Body of Christ."

 

There had to be a reason Paul told the Thessalonians (1Th 5) not to despise prophecy, and to test it. If it were always reliable, then why despise it? we rather would run after it. And why the need for testing? The implication is that it can be messy and uncertain at times. Even in the OT they had a "school of the prophets" in Elisha's day, which implies learning; which implies they didn't always get it right. The prophecies we read in Scripture are the cream of the crop; no one is going to hit that mark.

 

No, it's foretelling and forthtelling, either.

 

Because men have free will, as you said, and I agreed with you.

Why would we not pray for this?

Why do you think it wasn't God's will for Paul to die?

 

Sorry, my bad for not reading you closely

Do you believe that suffering or pain is outside of God's will?