B-A-C
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- Joined
- Dec 18, 2008
- Messages
- 11,995
Deut 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Gen 22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
Exod 20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."
Psa 66:10 For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.
Psa 66:11 You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
Psa 66:12 You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.
Jas 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
Jas 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Jas 1:4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
Jas 2:22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
1Pet 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
1Pet 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pet 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The Greek word translated as “tempted” here is πειράζω (peirazō), which can mean both:
So then... if God already knows your heart... and He already knows the future... why does He test people?
Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."
Job 1:12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.
The thing in the story of Job is... Job passed the first test. So what does God do? Gives him a harder test.
Job 2:3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause."
Job 2:6 So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."
... and yet...
Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
So then.... does God know the future of our choices? I believe He does. Does God know if we truly love Him?
If so... why does He test us?
Not only does God test us.. but we are told to test ourselves.
2Cor 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
2Cor 13:6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
2Cor 13:7 Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved.
2Cor 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.
Is it possible... that while God is omnipotent, He blocks Himself from knowing certain things?
..or...
Maybe God already knows all the answers... but we don't... Maybe the testing is for our sake... not His.
Here is my personal take on this...
One day people will stand before the judgment seat of God.
God won't judge them on what they "might" have done. He will judge them on what they did or didn't do.
Judgment is based on deeds, not potential. Testing provides the evidence of our choices and character.
You don't graded before the test. You get graded after the test.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
Gen 22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
Exod 20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."
Psa 66:10 For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.
Psa 66:11 You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
Psa 66:12 You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.
Jas 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
Jas 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Jas 1:4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
Jas 2:22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
1Pet 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
1Pet 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pet 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The Greek word translated as “tempted” here is πειράζω (peirazō), which can mean both:
- To tempt (with the intent to cause failure or sin), and
- To test (to prove character or faithfulness).
So then... if God already knows your heart... and He already knows the future... why does He test people?
Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."
Job 1:12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.
The thing in the story of Job is... Job passed the first test. So what does God do? Gives him a harder test.
Job 2:3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause."
Job 2:6 So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."
... and yet...
Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
So then.... does God know the future of our choices? I believe He does. Does God know if we truly love Him?
If so... why does He test us?
Not only does God test us.. but we are told to test ourselves.
2Cor 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
2Cor 13:6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
2Cor 13:7 Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved.
2Cor 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.
Is it possible... that while God is omnipotent, He blocks Himself from knowing certain things?
..or...
Maybe God already knows all the answers... but we don't... Maybe the testing is for our sake... not His.
Here is my personal take on this...
One day people will stand before the judgment seat of God.
God won't judge them on what they "might" have done. He will judge them on what they did or didn't do.
Judgment is based on deeds, not potential. Testing provides the evidence of our choices and character.
You don't graded before the test. You get graded after the test.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
