Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
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Do you have experiential knowledge of when your heart circumcision took place?
He was friends with Abraham thier choosing had nothing to do with them but he promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land promised.
at he thing is they did and he gave them a law that wouod determine the outcome of them inheriting the land . Just before Moses died and they entered later they received the law
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Deuteronomy 30:15-19 KJV
if anyone has bothered reading the Old Testament what they chose and did for many generations is plainly written they chose the latter the cursing and death.
airs importsnt to hear what God said when he makes covenants they went from this being “chosen “
“but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”
2 Chronicles 6:6 KJV
to this because of thier behavior
“And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”
2 Kings 23:27
His choosing didn’t erase thier choices . Many people don’t bother learning what he told them it was “ if you obey me I’ll bless you and make you fruitful in the land “ but if you don’t if you break my covenant you will be destroyed and scattered into all nations and from the land I gave your ancestors “
Being chosen isn’t everything like Jerusalem eas chosen and it’s people later they were cast off because they didint uphold thier end of the covenant
“And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.”
Deuteronomy 28:63 KJV
throughout the history of mankind ... all the way back to Genesis 4, God has dealt with mankind ... God gives His Word and mankind either receives God's Word or does not receive God's Word.
Case in point – Abel and Cain:
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
In order for Abel to offer by faith, Abel had to have heard the Word of God ... faith by hearing and hearing by Word of God (Rom 10:17).
In the case of Cain ... Gen 4:3 says in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
From NET Notes:
Heb “And it happened at the end of days.” The clause indicates the passing of a set period of time leading up to offering sacrifices.
God did not have respect to Cain's offering, God saw Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell, God further reached out to Cain ... Cain rejected God's Word, killed Abel, and then complained when God pronounced judgment.
Genesis 4 is the example showing that God gives His Word which is either received or not received by mankind ... and God continuing to reach out, as in the case of Cain ... even after Cain had murdered his brother ... God's faithful witness.
Genesis 4 reveals the blessing of receiving God's Word in faith and the consequence of suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
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False Equivalency! Was Cameron talking about God's judgment or God's gospel of salvation? Yes, the final arbiter on Judgement Day will be Christ, but is Christ the final arbiter of man's eternal destiny prior to the Day of the Lord? Or is the sinner in charge of his eternal destiny in this age?
Another satanic half truth! Faith itself is a divine gift to God's elect! While the Gospel is indeed the message of life and truth, this is not the whole story! You totally leave the Holy Spirit out of the equation -- who Himself is the Spirit of Truth and will effectually lead all the Father's elect into all [Gospel]Truth
Well...for your info "entrance [in]to finality" is inaugurated in this age -- not on Judgment Day. Judgment Day is the culmination of all that has gone before.
And you don't know...you have no answer for who is the final arbiter of man's eternal destiny in this age?
My, my...the lies just so glibly roll off your lips. Cameron never said faith itself is a whim but rather in the context of his post, he said the choices are men are often made on a whim! And he would never say that anyway, because he understands fully that Faith is God's gift to his chosen people.
Well said
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4 KJV
We either choose this good part like Mary did
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
John 5:24 KJV
“And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:39, 41-42 KJV
Apparently Mary chose to listen to Jesus word and Martha was complaining rather than sitting beside her
If we don’t choose his word we’re left in this position
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
John 12:48 KJV
He’s never changed he’s always spoken his word to man telling them about good and evil and the results of each and then offers them the choice to live and not die
he doesn’t change
To the very last day of anyone repents and believes the gospel they’ll be saved if they refuse to they won’t be because of thier own choice when given the truth of the information found in the gospel
And not only that...but because Studier has steadfastly refused to give us a simple "yes" or "no" answer to Jeremiah's rhetorical question in 13:23a, then I think it's very safe to conclude that he also believes leopards can change their spots and Ethiopians can change his skin. And this means that Israel could indeed have done good! Israel could have "cooperated" with God by repenting and believing the gospel.
The FWer opinion often trumps what Scripture actually and explicitly says.And not only that...but because Studier has steadfastly refused to give us a simple "yes" or "no" answer to Jeremiah's rhetorical question in 13:23a, then I think it's very safe to conclude that he also believes leopards can change their spots and Ethiopians can change his skin. And this means that Israel could indeed have done good! Israel could have "cooperated" with God by repenting and believing the gospel.
Oh...that happened way after he "believed", if indeed at all. He didn't need to love God in order to believe the gospel. His "faith" didn't have to work through love. Everything happens to believers AFTER THEY exercise their "freewill" to repent and believe. Then they get a new heart, even though the old one was entirely sufficient for their salvation. And they get their hearts circumcised by God even though unregenerate sinners came to faith in Christ while hating Him simultaneously. And the Fear of the Lord is instilled into them afterwards, even though this grace is required for spiritual understanding and knowledge, which again the wicked and fools detest -- yet, the FWers by the power of their "freewill" overcame this obstacle, as well -- on their own -- in their own power.
I have a question for all you FWers re this passage:
John 1:4-5
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
NIV
My question is this: What exactly is this "darkness" that didn't comprehend the light?
John 1:4-5
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
NIV
My question is this: What exactly is this "darkness" that didn't comprehend the light?
Yes, the FW view all seems such a glaring denial of what Scripture teaches, but they don't see it.
I do wonder what separates our ability to understand the breadth and depths of these simple teachings.
But even saying an unregenerated person lives all the time in the flesh gets denied as if even
in their mixed up theology a person who is not regenerated is at the same time regenerated.
They must contradict themselves and I see it often because they hold to error.
They claim the natural man needs nothing but then will turn around and say they never said his heart was good enough. It really is confused. His heart REQUIRES being changed because it is not good and nothing good can come of it as is. With the heart one believes. The nonsense that gets spouted is just ridiculous, such as being told only certain people choose to sin and how the thinking and reasoning abilities of man are not included in his flesh nature. Just unbelievable. The natural man is defined as darkness itself (seeing your last post now...) The natural man cannot comprehend the light but that gets denied. He sees and hears and understands just fine according to FWers.
Well, I would amend your statement as follows:
Free will isn't about the majority of what's being discussed for the past 100 pages.
Free Will per the OT is about choosing right or wrong (Gen. 3:1-5, Deut. 30:19).
Free will per Jesus is about the ability to seek after God (Matt. 7:7) and accept Him as Savior (Matt. 23:37).
Free Will is all about when God comes to a person, awakens them, manifests Himself to a person that person can accept or reject God.
Nowhere is free will found, so we still come out ahead.
Just because one has zero discernment regarding the natural man man compared to the
spiritual man, does not dismiss the plethora of teachings regarding the unregenerated person.
Like you are blind to everything the Bible says about the state of man and his unregenerated heart?
If that is the case you are worse off than I suspected.