An Article on free will

[brightfame52]

nice try the verse has to do with doing good under the law for justification.

next fallacy

Its about our native depravity. We do nothing good, when it comes to pleasing God. A companion scripture Rom 8:8

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They that are in the flesh are the unsaved, unregenerate.

 

[Kermos]

I disagree (as I see the pair of opposites as roughly "good times" and "bad times"), but fortunately for both of us ... I am not a Bible Translator (I am a Registered Architect). So I do not translate "רָע" at all - I have people that do that for me.

Shalom (that means "peace")

Greetings atpollard,

Interesting, you see the pair of opposites as roughly "good times" and "bad times", so, now, you have translated the Hebrew word שָׁל֖וֹם (Strong's Hebrew: 7965. שָׁלוֹם (shalom) -- Peace, completeness, welfare, well-being, safety, prosperity) to "good times" while you, just a Registered Architect, translated the Hebrew word רָע (Strong's Hebrew: 7451. רָע (ra') -- Evil, bad, wicked, harmful, unpleasant) to "bad times". Your translation of Isaiah 45:7 gets closer to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17).

But, you have a אֵיד on your hands. Wait, wait, wait. What did I write? Perhaps I should translate these glyphs for you. Here you go, these are the glyphs which comprise the English word "calamity", even "disaster" (the Hebrew word אֵיד (Strong's Hebrew: 343. אֵיד (ed) -- Calamity, distress, disaster)).

The calamitous event on your hands is you introduced a restriction exclusively to events by your use of the word "times" into the Word of God:

​

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, YHWH, do all these things.​

(Isaiah 45:7)​

​

In effect, your translation of "good times" and "bad times" eliminates people and places.

No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:18), so all people are evil (I cannot help but wonder whether herein resides your disagreement); therefore, God has left us evidence as to why God did not use the word "good" recorded in Isaiah 45:7, but, rather, He used the word "peace". Uh-oh, your "good" inside of your "good times" just translated into a calamity for you.

The Hebrew word עֵת (Strong's Hebrew: 6256. עֵת (eth) -- Time, season) is absent from Isaiah 45:7, so the second half of your "good times" and "bad times" just translated into a calamity for you.

Since all of "good" and "times" and "calamity" and "disaster" are absent from the Word of God recorded in Isaiah 45:7, then you have built upon another man's exclusively-event-focused foundation, and that exclusively-event-focused foundation is your attraction to the word "calamity" (event-in-time) or "disaster" (event-in-time) as a translation for the Hebrew word רָע (Strong's Hebrew: 7451. רָע (ra') -- Evil, bad, wicked, harmful, unpleasant) inside of the Word of God recorded in Isaiah 45:7.

You wrote I do not translate "רָע" at all - I have people that do that for me, but you did translate "רָע" because you assigned the meaning of "bad times" to "רָע".

Man must assiduously adhere to concepts enunciated by the Word of God because even diluting a portion the concepts contained in God's Word is bad. Do you really be a party those who wrongly admonish God's chosen people by giving the opponents of God's pure Word comfort and courage in their deception?

@atpollard, you translated "peace" from Hebrew when you wrote Shalom (that means "peace") (a word and concept which appears in Isaiah 45:7) so you can, and do, translate. I'd like to continue this in the next post.

Peace,
Kermos

 

[Kermos]

Sorry, I missed the question.

No thing.
... or as John 1 opens with: [ESV] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Post in thread 'An Article on free will'

May 30, 2025

What things came into being apart from the Word?

Sorry, I missed the question.

No thing.
... or as John 1 opens with: [ESV] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

• atpollard

Greetings again @atpollard,

Look at your answer "No thing".

God is Sovereign, so "No thing" came into being apart from Jesus the Word which means evil comes not into being apart from God, so God creates the evil just as the Word of God says:

​

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, YHWH, do all these things.​

(Isaiah 45:7)​

​

Look at light, God applies neither create nor make to light, but God wondrously uses I form the light.

Lord Jesus is the light (John 1:4) - Jesus is not created. Man is darkness, even evil, apart from Jesus. Jesus makes peace between God and persons of His choosing.

Thank God that Jesus makes peace!

I fail to understand your motivation to write "No thing" in response to "What things came into being apart from the Word?", yet you return to say you disagree with me for writing the the Word of God declares "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, YHWH, do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7).

Peace,
Kermos

 

[atpollard]

But, you have a אֵיד on your hands. Wait, wait, wait. What did I write? Perhaps I should translate these glyphs for you. Here you go, these are the glyphs which comprise the English word "calamity", even "disaster" (the Hebrew word אֵיד (Strong's Hebrew: 343. אֵיד (ed) -- Calamity, distress, disaster)).

My people (aka Google Translate) say אֵיד = “misfortune”.

 

[atpollard]

Interesting, you see the pair of opposites as roughly "good times" and "bad times"

It is more interesting that you cannot see the pairs of opposites and stop to strain gnats while insisting that I join you in swallowing your camel (God is the source of evil). Perhaps it is a matter of ears to hear what the spirit says.

[… but what do I know. I am just a hack and no MASTER like yourself.]

 

[atpollard]

I fail to understand your motivation to write "No thing" in response to "What things came into being apart from the Word?"

Umm … it was what the question asked:

• "What things came into being apart from the Word?"

… and it was part of what John wrote in God-breathed scripture:

• John 1:1-3 [ESV] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So the opposite of “All things” is “No thing” and if Jesus made “all things” then the answer to what “things” came into being apart from the Word is “No thing.”

 

[atpollard]

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, YHWH, do all these things.(Isaiah 45:7)

Let's tackle this error head on ...

Here is the exact same verse [Isaiah 45:7] translated ... not by me ... but by various teams of linguistic experts of different denominations over a span of over 400 years:

[KJV] (1611, 1769)
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

[WEB] (1833)
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

[YLT] (1862)
Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I am Jehovah, doing all these things.'

[DBY] (1890)
forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things.

[ASV] (1901)
I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.

[HNV] (based on ASV 1901)
I form the light, and create darkness; I make shalom, and create evil. I am the LORD, who does all these things.

[RSV] (1952)
I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the LORD, who do all these things.

[NIV] (1973)
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

[NKJV] (1982)
I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.’

[NASB95] (1960, 1995)
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these.

[NLT] (1996)
I create the light and make the darkness.
I send good times and bad times.
I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.

[NET] (1996)
I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the LORD, who accomplishes all these things.

[ESV] (2001)
I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

[AMP] (2015)
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing peace and creating disaster;
I am the LORD who does all these things.

[CSB] (2017)
“I form light and create darkness,
I make success and create disaster;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

[NASB20] (1960, 2020)
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating disaster;
I am the LORD who does all these things.

[LSB] (2021)
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Producing peace and creating calamity;
I am Yahweh who does all these.

• Note that in the 1800's and earlier, translators used "evil".
• Note that in the 1950's they changed "evil" to "woe". This is not because the translators changed the WORD OF GOD, but because the meaning of the English word "evil" had drifted in meaning since the 1600's when it was first used and carried the meaning of "woe". An "evil wind" or "evil days" were not sinister and against God ... it just meant "bad fortune" or "woe". As that meaning of "evil" fell out of use in English, the translators changed the word to maintain the correct MEANING.
• (Consult a detailed dictionary to confirm the history of the meaning of "evil").
• Note that all modern teams of translators reject "evil" as an accurate translation of Isaiah 45:7. For over 80 years experts have unanimously agreed that God does not create "evil" according to Isaiah 45:7.

Of course, what the heck do all those experts in Hebrew know, right?

 

[Kermos]

John 15:16 emphasizes that Jesus chose His disciples, not the other way around, and appointed them to bear lasting fruit, assuring them that whatever they ask in His name will be given by the Father. This verse highlights the concept of divine selection and the purpose of their mission.
“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Tell us @Kermos.. What were YOU appointed to do?
Where were you appointed to go?
And what fruit have you born that shall remain?
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
Now, pay close attention to the following @Kermos .
John 15:20 " Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

These verses are not for everyone, or every Christian. Jesus is telling his disciples that they will face the same treatment as him: persecution if they obey him, and obedience if they disobey him.

I do wish you people would find different verses to make your point because these do not cut it.

In response to your questions, I boast In Christ alone (Galatians 6:14). Christ chose me to be His friend, and appointed and sent me to testify face to face with Muslims and Buddhists and Sikhs and Hindus and atheists and others and get the Word of God into the hands of such people in their native language by personally handing the Holy Bible into their hands - all of this I did in Christ. The Christ of us Christians says “he who practices the Truth comes to the Light, that his works may be revealed, that they are having been worked in God” (John 3:21).

Salvation and sanctification are exclusively caused by the great glorious loving Lord Jesus Christ who reached down into this hell to redeem His own people unto Himself.

You go around this site with the moniker of "Redemption", yet you reject that it is exclusively Christ, the Acquirer, that pays the acquisition of every single Christian without any input from the acquiree.

We Christians believe Christ says to all His own sheep in all time that He is the exclusive Chooser of Christians unto salvation - He is who He says He is - for His word is “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16) and “I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation).

Like God had me post previously, even in the post to which you replied, you free-willians reject applicability to yourselves regarding these treasured fully independent clauses of Christ by way of your heart's treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) of "These verses are not for everyone".

Now, I have a question for you.

Do you think Jesus calls you friend?

Jesus says "you" with reference to His friends as recorded in John 15:14-19, and Jesus says "you" with reference to His exclusively chosen ones as recorded in John 15:14-19.

The blessing by Jesus to the "you" as recorded in John 15:14-19 is to all believers in all time.

You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you
(John 15:14-19, KJV, NASB1995, and YLT)
​

All glory to God! All praise to the Bread of Life! God alone does all to save the children of God from the wrath of God, and man, who does absolutely nothing to contribute, is the blessed recipient of God’s mercy and God's grace for man's salvation.