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Does God react, relent or change in response to man?

Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by Skandelon, Feb 4, 2011.

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  1. Skandelon

    Skandelon <b>Moderator</b>

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    These passages seem to indicate that he does, and not one of them gives any type of qualification or explanation which would lead its readers to believe that God would not respond or react to his people. Why do we allow our doctrinal constructs keep us from relating to God as a real person who reacts and responds to us through life? Could our complex dogmas, and divine speculations keep us from relating with God in the way He intends?

    Jeremiah 18:7-10:
    "If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it."

    Gen 6:5
    The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

    Amos 7:4
    This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" 6 The LORD relented concerning this: "This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD.

    Ex. 32:11
    But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" 14 And the LORDrelented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

    Ps. 106:23
    Therefore he said he would destroy them-- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

    Luke 11:9
    And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you. 10 For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. 11 And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake? 12 Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?
     
  2. freeatlast

    freeatlast New Member

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    There is no question that the workings of God are marvelous to see and to try and understand. When we limit ourselves with narrow understandings about God we limit the God we say we understand thus falling short of truly knowing Him as He has given revelation of Himself.
    Hyper this and hyper that does not do credit to the God we serve when they are not also balanced with the patients of God and the volition of man.
    So to your question the answer is yes He does, but none of those things alters the ultimate outcome of His plan.
     
  3. Robert Snow

    Robert Snow New Member

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    Yes, God has chosen, of His own free will, to respond to some of our responses. He didn't have to do it this way, God could be the tyrant some DoG's would have us believe, but He didn't do it that way. Just look at Jonah and Nineveh.
     
  4. quantumfaith

    quantumfaith Active Member

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    Exactly!!!! Great point. However, I think we all would add that He is certainly "not surprsed" by any path or decision that his creation takes among the possibilities that he has offered.
     
  5. Cypress

    Cypress New Member

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    " Could our complex dogmas, and divine speculations keep us from relating with God in the way He intends?"

    I have come to see that they do, and am seeking to avoid these failures as they are revealed. Better to relate to God as He reveals Himself than going with assumptions contrary to experience. For example, retreating to the omni doctrines can be flawed because they tend to have God fitting what we think omni anything means.
    Avoiding these dogmas and speculations has allowed me to help my teenage to young adult children keep a robust and abiding faith in God in a tough environment. It is a wonderful testament to God when they are the ones their peers go to for answers to life's tough questions. In simple terms.......it's where the rubber meets the road that counts. God is good! And that ain't no assumption.:thumbs:
     
  6. quantumfaith

    quantumfaith Active Member

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    :thumbs::thumbs:

    I hope some one is counting. :)
     
  7. Iconoclast

    Iconoclast Well-Known Member
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    The God of the bible does not.
     
  8. Skandelon

    Skandelon <b>Moderator</b>

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    Iconoclast, whether you realize it or not by cutting and pasting this creed you are only supporting the point I was attempting to make.

    None of these statements or verses undo the verses I presented, they simply reveal MORE of God. By suggesting that one part of His revelation somehow undoes another part presumes an element of paradox and mystery is not intended. And it could keep us from relating to God in the way Moses and some others clearly did.
     
  9. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    Does God react, relent or change in response to man?

    No
     
  10. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    That creed is a direct contradiction and cannot be true.

    You cannot say that God decreed ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER COMES TO PASS, and say he is not the author of sin, that is a contradiction.

    It is clear that God answers prayer, so yes, God does react to men.
     
  11. Skandelon

    Skandelon <b>Moderator</b>

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    I actually meant to just refer to the scripture references in the creed, not the conclusions they draw from those verses. Thanks for clarifying
     
  12. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    No it's not.
    So God is not immutable?
     
  13. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    Of course it is a contradiction, and denying it does not change that fact.

    What does God answering prayer have to do with being immutable? He answered prayer in the past, he answers it today, he will answer it in the future.

    You guys portray God like he is made of stone, as if he is not a person.
     
  14. Skandelon

    Skandelon <b>Moderator</b>

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    If you affirm that Christ was fully God and you also affirm that Christ interacted and reacted to man, not fully knowing the future of the end times, and choosing to enter into time, space and the material world, then why couldn't you also affirm the ability of God himself doing so if He so desired?
     
  15. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    No, you not understanding it(and neither do I) doesn't make it a contradiction. Only I would say that God ordained all things to come to pass.


    well, you are saying that God reacts to something we do. It means he is changing something. God answering prayer isn't reacting or changing unless you are using a different definition of reacting.

    We have to remember that God is spirit and not a person just like us. God doesn't change. We change. We see places where God "repented" but do you really thing God changed his mind? Did he really have all intentions to do one thing and decided to do another? this is where omniscience come into play. In our eyes, God is repenting. This is how he expresses it to us. But to Him, He was planning to do that all along.
     
  16. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    You're talking about Jesus Christ as human. I'm not denying the ability of God doing something. What I'm saying is that God doesn't change for man. He is the same. He isn't dependent on man. He doesn't change because of man.
     
  17. Skandelon

    Skandelon <b>Moderator</b>

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    Then how do you reply to the clear implications of the passages presented in the OP?
     
  18. Alcott

    Alcott Well-Known Member
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    How is it he "repented" of his plan to destroy Ninevah Jonah preached to the people there and they changed their ways?
     
  19. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    Answered in previous post...

     
  20. jbh28

    jbh28 Active Member

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    here........


     
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