Grace Blogs

The Doctrine of God: Week 24
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, by Wayne Grudem.
Chapter 16, God’s Providence:  If God controls all things, how can our actions have real meaning?  What are the decrees of God?

This week we continue the discussion of God’s Providence as we take on one of the most controversial topics - the problem of evil.

 

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In this series we are examining the mid-life calling to rescue the Children of Israel who are being held as slaves in Egypt.  In the process of communicating to Moses, we see his “what if” world develop.  What do I mean by Moses’ “What If” world?  Have you ever been in a situation in which you know how you should act, but find yourself negotiating your options?  For example, “I know I should tell this person that they are wrong in how they are acting, but What if they get upset with me?  Or, “I know I shouldn’t let my friend talk badly about others, but what if I don’t listen . . . who else will they be able …

 

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In week #3 we will enter “World” #3 and #4.  Both examples underscore Moses’ concern regarding his personal performance.  The first centered on Moses being considered a hypocrite, a fake, a phony.  In the second, Moses uses the excuse that he can’t speak well enough to actually do God’s will.  In both instances God not only provides assurance for Moses to act, but power to believe.  In both excuses we see ourselves shining through; people who think God’s calling is directly related to our perception in ability.  Like Moses, God doesn’t ask us to know how we will do His will as much as he asks us to trust what he says and then act.  We hope that this teaching …

 

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In week #2 we examine Moses’ “What if world” #2.  In modern terms, Moses was concerned about not being taken seriously.  Due to this concern, Moses was hesitant to act on what God had told him to do.  All of us face this same dilemma at some time in our life: “What if” I do this and then “What if” [insert potential consequences here] happens.  Sure, each of us needs to evaluate potential side effects of life-choices, but Moses crossed the line of simply being discerning and being doubtful of God’s decision to send him.  Think about it, Moses actually is questioning God’s judgment!  Moses had entered the “Wonderful Word of What If.”  In today’s teaching, you will find an …

 

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Have you ever been in a situation in which you know how you should act, but find yourself negotiating your options?  For example, “I know I should not let my child get away with his or her wrong attitude, but if I stopped to deal with this every time it happened I would never get anything done!”  Or, “I know I shouldn’t act like this to my husband or wife, but if I don’t get upset and yell I will never be heard!”  I call this world “The Wonderful World of What If.” 

In this series we will examine the life of Moses and his “what if” world while finding ways to combat our tendency to first think about manage our …

 

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Trusting in Jesus is meant to result in your freedom.  Today we continue to discuss how false teaching can instead burden us down by making us think that we must add something to our trust of Christ in order to be truly accepted by God. 

Throughout this series we will try to help you understand the freedom that God offers us through Christ and the dire responsibility we have to defend this truth from those who would seek to add or take away the central and exclusive role that Jesus has is Salvation.

Today’s teaching will flow from Galatians 5:7-15.

 

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