Paradoxes

"All that the Father gives me will come to me; And he that cometh to me, I will not put him outside." John 6:37.

Several doctrines of the Word of God appear contradictory, paradoxical. Here are a few examples.

From all eternity, before the foundation of the world, and therefore independently of all merit on our part, God has chosen us in him, in Christ (Eph. 1: 3). But it is equally true that all men are responsible for coming personally to the Lord : "Let him that thirsts come ; That he who seeks to take the water of life free" (Rev. 22:17). Jesus has masterfully combined these two doctrines in the verse of the day in which he emphasizes the sovereign will of God in the election of those who wish to come to him to obtain salvation.

The sovereign election of God and the responsibility of man to accept Jesus Christ, the gift of God, are two doctrines that appear contradictory and irreconcilable for our limited human intelligence. God alone can harmonize them. Wanting to do so leads only to insane speculation in those who do not bear the difficulty of mystery.

Other doctrines of the Scriptures seem incompatible with our limited ability to understand :

- Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of man, that he be fully God and fully man ;

- Scripture is the work of human authors, bearing the imprint of their own style, and yet it is the very Word of God : "All Scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). "Holy men of God have spoken, being driven by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21).

- God is the Almighty God (Gen. 17.1), yet evil and its author exist.

Wanting to analyze the person of Jesus Christ leads only to heresies ; Exploring the mechanism of the inspiration of the Scriptures leads to reject their divine origin; Seeking to probe the problem of the origin of evil is vain. The thoughts of God are infinitely greater than those of men : "My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways," says the LORD, "for as the heavens are lifted up above the earth, so are my ways Lifted up above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts "(Isa. 55: 8, 9). Let us not enter into such debates and elevate our thoughts "above what is written" (1 Corinthians 6: 6), for Satan is quick to make these mysteries offered to our faith causes Of pride and disunity.

Source (To pleasing the Lord)