Another cross-post
It is true that we don’t have a choice about being born. God made those choices for us, for whatever purposes he chose. We only know what His Word tells us:
Psalm 139:16
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Acts 17:26
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Notice there is hope in those statements, because there is purpose in our existence; it is not random as some suppose. There is no fear of death here.
On the other hand, we have been given many choices of our own. He made known to us his will. While only ten commands were written in stone, the first five books of the Bible are commonly regarded as the full Law of Moses, which God gave him to record. Even Jews of today still revere these books, calling them the Torah. Men certainly added to these laws, and Jesus himself took offense to all the burdens of tradition that people such as the Pharisees were heaping upon people. Still, we are responsible for our decisions, whether we choose to live by God’s standards or not. As with the example of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt after disobeying God’s command (Genesis 19:26), God does hold us accountable for breaking his laws, but he does provide a way to escape punishment. Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).” Even he lived under God’s law, and to perfection. That is why when he laid down his life as sacrifice for us, he took on the title “Lamb of God.” He was the ultimate sacrifice (See Hebrews 9:26). Through faith in him it is possible for God to see us as perfect, sinless. No sin=rewards instead of punishment. Romans 8:1 summarizes it well: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
One of the drawbacks to living in a universe that we did not create is that we do not get to choose its rules or how it works. We live under the Creator’s laws whether we like it or not, just like we live under the laws of our government, whether we enjoy it or not. As with God’s laws, there are consequences to breaking the laws of any country. That is the way of things.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to think here, but am relating my understanding of God and his universe. Thanks to our God-given freedom, everyone is free to reach his or her own conclusions and believe anything at all, but we will all answer to him in the end. Hebrews 9:27 says: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...”
Be aware that the conclusions we often defend about the validity of all faiths are influenced by the tenets of (man-made) Postmodern thought: the combinations of all genres, the hatred of being defined or categorized, and the acceptance of all diversity. Human culture changes. Just as Modernism fell, so will Postmodernism. According to postmodern understanding hese views may sound narrow, but we are talking about God’s eternal perspective. Like the principles of physics and unlike human thinking, these laws do not change.
---
Wicca is another bag entirely. Based on what I have read about Wicca and what Wiccans say they believe, they follow a god and goddess (sometimes one or the other) who are not the Creator God. The first of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3) states: “You shall have no other Gods before me.”
Some may argue that the original sin was the act of humans becoming separate from nature, but the simple reality was that Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They ate from the tree after he told them not to eat from it. Separation from nature was not the sin; separation came as a consequence of their rebellion. Remember, the curses that followed? Women would now feel pain in childbirth, people would have to work hard to make the ground produce food, and etc. According to language scholars, the Hebrew word for death also denotes “separation” (See: http://www.jewishpath.org/gematriadeathlife.html). Remember that God told them if they ate from the tree they would die? Their death and separation came in different ways, including separation from God, from nature, and eventually from life. We gave up our birthright as God’s stewards over creation when we voluntarily submitted to the usurping authority of the serpent, a.k.a. the devil, when he convinced Adam and Eve to eat the fruit.
In most of its incarnations, Wicca also espouses the practice of magic or witchcraft. God also has things to say about that:
Deuteronomy 18:10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We can see that witchcraft, at its most basic level, is the seeking of insight or power from a source other than God. It is a rejection of God no matter how people may candy-coat it.
Last of all, one of the tenets of Wicca is (paraphrased) “do as you will.” If I’m not mistaken, this tenet is one shared with Satanism. So why in the world is doing our own thing so bad? Discussing Lot’s wife, wasn’t it agreed that her sin was “she put her will before [God’s]?” To have no other gods (Exodus 20:3) also means that we do not act as our own god. God’s will takes precedence over all else. To accept to his lordship is to accept and obey his will. His will is that we have eternal life through Christ and that no one needs to face punishment:
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Psalm 139:16
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Acts 17:26
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Notice there is hope in those statements, because there is purpose in our existence; it is not random as some suppose. There is no fear of death here.
On the other hand, we have been given many choices of our own. He made known to us his will. While only ten commands were written in stone, the first five books of the Bible are commonly regarded as the full Law of Moses, which God gave him to record. Even Jews of today still revere these books, calling them the Torah. Men certainly added to these laws, and Jesus himself took offense to all the burdens of tradition that people such as the Pharisees were heaping upon people. Still, we are responsible for our decisions, whether we choose to live by God’s standards or not. As with the example of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt after disobeying God’s command (Genesis 19:26), God does hold us accountable for breaking his laws, but he does provide a way to escape punishment. Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).” Even he lived under God’s law, and to perfection. That is why when he laid down his life as sacrifice for us, he took on the title “Lamb of God.” He was the ultimate sacrifice (See Hebrews 9:26). Through faith in him it is possible for God to see us as perfect, sinless. No sin=rewards instead of punishment. Romans 8:1 summarizes it well: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
One of the drawbacks to living in a universe that we did not create is that we do not get to choose its rules or how it works. We live under the Creator’s laws whether we like it or not, just like we live under the laws of our government, whether we enjoy it or not. As with God’s laws, there are consequences to breaking the laws of any country. That is the way of things.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to think here, but am relating my understanding of God and his universe. Thanks to our God-given freedom, everyone is free to reach his or her own conclusions and believe anything at all, but we will all answer to him in the end. Hebrews 9:27 says: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...”
Be aware that the conclusions we often defend about the validity of all faiths are influenced by the tenets of (man-made) Postmodern thought: the combinations of all genres, the hatred of being defined or categorized, and the acceptance of all diversity. Human culture changes. Just as Modernism fell, so will Postmodernism. According to postmodern understanding hese views may sound narrow, but we are talking about God’s eternal perspective. Like the principles of physics and unlike human thinking, these laws do not change.
---
Wicca is another bag entirely. Based on what I have read about Wicca and what Wiccans say they believe, they follow a god and goddess (sometimes one or the other) who are not the Creator God. The first of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3) states: “You shall have no other Gods before me.”
Some may argue that the original sin was the act of humans becoming separate from nature, but the simple reality was that Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They ate from the tree after he told them not to eat from it. Separation from nature was not the sin; separation came as a consequence of their rebellion. Remember, the curses that followed? Women would now feel pain in childbirth, people would have to work hard to make the ground produce food, and etc. According to language scholars, the Hebrew word for death also denotes “separation” (See: http://www.jewishpath.org/gematriadeathlife.html). Remember that God told them if they ate from the tree they would die? Their death and separation came in different ways, including separation from God, from nature, and eventually from life. We gave up our birthright as God’s stewards over creation when we voluntarily submitted to the usurping authority of the serpent, a.k.a. the devil, when he convinced Adam and Eve to eat the fruit.
In most of its incarnations, Wicca also espouses the practice of magic or witchcraft. God also has things to say about that:
Deuteronomy 18:10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We can see that witchcraft, at its most basic level, is the seeking of insight or power from a source other than God. It is a rejection of God no matter how people may candy-coat it.
Last of all, one of the tenets of Wicca is (paraphrased) “do as you will.” If I’m not mistaken, this tenet is one shared with Satanism. So why in the world is doing our own thing so bad? Discussing Lot’s wife, wasn’t it agreed that her sin was “she put her will before [God’s]?” To have no other gods (Exodus 20:3) also means that we do not act as our own god. God’s will takes precedence over all else. To accept to his lordship is to accept and obey his will. His will is that we have eternal life through Christ and that no one needs to face punishment:
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."