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In Our Image [message #5057]

Mon, 09 February 2009 16:46

william
Messages: 1474
Registered: January 2006

Senior Member
Administrator

Hombre,

In the thread "Marriage" you made this observation:

Quote:

To encapsulate:

William is saying:

Marriage is about MORE than a piece of paper ( The divorce statistics
ought to be enough to tell anyone that )....but he ( William ) leaves it
for us to determine/recognize/understand/ discern for ourselves what that
is...he assumes that we know.

'.....For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another;)...' ~ Rom 2:14-15

..and indeed we DO know...even those who are NOT saved know. We should
begin to stop this nonsense that those outside of the church ( i.e. the
unsaved/unregenerated ) don't have minds to think with. They most
certainly do, I have just quoted Gods' Word which declares that He Himself
has already written His laws into their hearts ( 'by nature' : i.e. they
are born with this intrinsic knowledge ).

People CHOOSE to do what they do, and the consequences are a result of
their choices. That is why those who reject Christ are competent to stand
trial before God on that day: they KNEW what was right, yet they chose to
reject it.

All of the moral laws that have been written, including those which God
HImself has written into the hearts of unregenerate men have shown little
evidence of being respected or followed because they exist. This is the
lesson that God has attempted to teach mankind from the garden through the
dispensation of Moses law. It is not about what one CAN or CAN'T do, it is
about the heart and whether we will make choices based upon what we know
to be good, righteous etc., for bigger reasons than simply and blindly
following road signs, because they are there.

That does not discount however, the fact that the law in it's purpose
was/is good.

Specifically you mention the idea that we gentiles have God's law written
on our hearts... this got me to thinking about the creation of man.

Obviously Paul makes this statement and I take it at face value, but do
you think (or anyone else) that he is saying that the Jews did not have
this internal knowledge and the gentiles did? I assume the answer is no
(although I do think it is interesting that Paul phrased it in the way he
did!).

But to continue...

At what point did this knowledge-written-on-the-heart appear? At the
formation of the man, or did it come later when God actually gave the
command to Adam? Or did it come after Adam and Eve disobeyed?

I don't have an answer myself, only questions! Perhaps someone has some
insight that will benefit us all.

Blessings,
William

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