Satan serves God's plan involuntarily, likely unknowingly, even as he rebels.
We all do.
#Calvinism
Discussion
Not an expert in Calvin. I know very little, but if the statement is true, then satan and all that rebelled, did not actually rebel and are in fact serving his will. They will then be punished for all eternity for doing so...
That statement equates to, we are God's puppets, and he'll throw us away if he wants.
That is seems to be a very different concept than what is taught throughout both old and new testament.
You got close-ish.
Satan really rebelled, as did Man. Both are deserving of hellfire, as both reject God's grace.
God knew these things would happen as a result of granting agency/beingness to us, but that (in the greater sense) suits His plan. It would be reasonable and accurate to say that God preordained these things. God even tells of of His predestination.
Think carefully: If any of the events within Creation, including how Man or Satan acts, could upset God's plan, then God is not God.
Yet: Man was really granted agency by God, and we really used it to rebel against Him. We did that, not God. It's not as paradoxical as one would think upon closer inspection.
Man exists within the bounds of Creation, which was divinely engineered towards God's ends, not ours.
#Calvinism is what happens when you take God literally for his Word: that he maintained absolute sovereignty over Creation, exists above time and space, and disposes of His creatures as it pleases it Him.
Yet have heart, God is holy and just and His plan is good. Trust in God, and He will make his grace irresistible to you, as was preordained before time.
For a good intro argument for Calvinism, I recommend this light read.
We are creatures of Creation, not puppets, and all of Creation conspires to serve the divine plan of God.
"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." -God
It isn’t that simple. Free will exists, but every choice that is made is willed by God.
That is a very dangerous line of thought. By that line of thinking, a man can justify any action by declaring that God will it.
The confirmation of thought would be that if God did not will it, then he would stop the action in its tracks.
That my friend, is not the gospel of Christ.
All events within Creation suit God's plan, but that's different from God liking our sin.
God hates sin but allows Man his agency because it suits His plan.
It isn’t a thought. It is a fact. God is all powerful, meaning that NOTHING can go against His will. Just because that doesn’t make sense to the human mind, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
That does not justify sin. We have been commanded not to sin, but we have been destined to do so anyway. The elect have been chosen to beg for forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Do you think God does not know every choice you will make in your life? That would be blasphemous. He is all powerful and all knowing. He has forever known every choice you will ever make. He has forever know that Satan would rebel against Him. He has forever known that Adam and Eve would disobey Him.
God is the creator and sustainer. Nothing happens except that which is willed by Him. The truth of His being is infinite and infinitely complex. What we see as a contradiction will be made clear in the hereafter.
Someone's getting excited... Let's not become overly combative over scripture first of all, and 2nd, you just gave a long list of assertions that are actually not fact. They're interpretations and schools of thought on the nature of God and your relationship to him. There are many interpretations.
When Christ was faced with similar debate over fine doctrine he handled it simply and we would be wise to do the same...
Matthew 22:34-40
34 ¶ But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
And in rebelling unknowingly fulfills God's purposes.
My wife does this to me all the time. It's called a set-up. She doesn't want to go out, so she causes an argument an hour before knowing that I'll cancel.
She gets what she wants... But I'm the one who canceled. Her plan was to stay home, I acted, her plan was fulfilled and I am then punished.
If this is how some are interpretating God's plans, then we will kindly need to disagree.
Shalt a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
-Amos 3:6
Evil could not do evil consciously.
It is the separation from God which creates evil in the first place.