OPINIONS - WE HAVE THEM, GOD CANNOT

God cannot have opinions. So? So let's look at some scriptures.

Isa 46:10 (NIV) "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."

Rev 1:8 (NIV) ""I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.""

Rev 21:6 (NIV) "He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life."

Rev 22:13 (NIV) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

Isa 44:7 (NIV) "Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let him foretell what will come."

Dan 10:14 (NIV) "Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.""

John 16:13 (NIV) "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

Rom 14:1 (NIV) "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters."

The above verses let us know that God knows everything - there is nothing hidden from him, because he is eternally present in all of history past and present. And as we will see from the definitions of OPINIONS, God cannot have any.

Opinion, 1. A belief not based upon absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind; what one thinks; judgment. 2. an evaluation, impression, or estimation of the quality or worth of a person or thing. 3. the formal judgment of an expert on a matter in which his advice is sought. 4. in law, the formal statement by a judge, etc. of the law bearing on a case

Since all opinions are based upon partial knowledge, since there is always uncertainty, a lack of positive knowledge. Since God knows all that has and will happen, God cannot have an opinion.

Well, even so, isn't everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions; to their own beliefs about how they should live. (Besides, no one is perfect.) Doesn't the bible mean what you want it to mean, doesn't it all depend on your opinion?

No, it doesn't all depend on your or my or our opinions! Where we cannot get unbiased fact, knowledge about a subject, opinions are unavoidable, but when we can go to a source with all the facts and an eternal perspective, we had better agree with it. God is this source.

GOD HAS NO OPINIONS ABOUT ANYTHING!

Here is another dictionary's definition of opinion:

Yes, some of the Bible is not plain and simple, Roman 14:1 says: "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters." There are some disputable matters such as When Jesus will physically return, and just what type of Church government is the "right" type of Gov., how we should celebrate communion, whether or not we should celebrate Christmas, and other matters. But there are some things that our God has put forth so plainly in the Bible that there is no valid question as to what he means; In such cases we step into the sin of rebellion when we try to get around the plain meaning. In these cases we have no right to our opinion. We either obey or sin. We need to stop deluding ourselves, if we truly love him, we will obey him. (John 17:3)

Some of these areas are:

Jesus' physical birth, death, resurrection, return to this earth and the resurrection from the dead of all who are His. (1 Cor 15)

That the only way to become a Christian, to be born again is by putting our faith, our hope and confidence totally in Him, believing that he paid our sin debt on the cross. (Rom 10:1-13; Acts 4:12)

The Ten Commandments are still in effect - not that we can be saved by obeying them, but that they are included in the 2 great commandments of love, therefore if we break one of the ten, we sin.

Exo 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

Exo 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Exo 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, Exo 20:6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exo 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Exo 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exo 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Exo 20:13 "You shall not murder.

Exo 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.

Exo 20:15 "You shall not steal.

Exo 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Exo 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Any type of sexual sin be it fornication, adultery, or homosexuality is sin.

Prov 6:16-20 (NIV) "There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. 20 My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching."

1 Cor 6:9-10 (NIV) "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

These are all sin, not because I say so, but because God says so. It is not my opinion, but God's statement of fact. Habitual sinning will keep you out of heaven.

There are times when we innocently think and do wrong because of ignorance, we honestly didn't know better. But when we do know Father's will for our attitude and conduct we have no right to an "OPINION" of our own. We cannot excuse ourselves from obeying new understanding by saying that "That's not the way I learned it."

All of our thinking and doing must be submitted to what the Bible teaches as we continue to go on to maturity. We cannot go on to maturity if we won't look for what the Bible teaches. Willful ignorance is itself sin.

HOW ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU TRYING TO ARGUE YOUR OPINION AGAINST WHAT GOD SAYS IS FACT? IF SO YOU ARE SINNING.

It is often hard to give up our opinions even after we see that God says otherwise. But call this reluctance what it is - PRIDE - and repent.

Don't be quick to change positions just because someone is gifted with words, but if after prayerful study of the Bible you see you are wrong, switch. If you have been arguing with God, turn from it now. Humble yourself that you may know Him. (John 17:3; Acts 17:1-11)

This is the day of salvation. To turn it down because you want more time to do your own thing is to play with eternity apart from God.

If you have questions or comments, contact me at: tomkarenjones@yahoo.com

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