Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

[Magenta]

And you say the concept of free will is worldly, lol.

It is a vain man-exalting philosophically based precept elevated to Bible doctrine when it is not in the Bible at all.

John 3 verse 6, Romans 8 verse 7, Galatians 5 verse 17, 2 Timothy 3 verse 13, Romans 3 verse 18 ~ Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. The flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other. Evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

[Magenta]

Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." John 8 v 34 Not, only those who choose to sin or only atheists. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Romans 3 v 23 - all have sinned...

 

[Genez]

I have asked for a definition of "free willer" or "FW/FWer" and ... crickets ...

whenever the term "free will", "free willer", "FW/FWer" is loosely defined, whatever definition is provided is not something I believe ... so shrug, not talkin' about me.

example ... sorry to pick on you BillyBob, but your post with the term was just above the post Genez submitted



nobody believes that "their FW actions ... alter the course of God's plan".
.

They talk in circles, of their own circle... excluding others... as if they have a mystery doctrine of their own.

That is what the Gnostics were famous for.

 

[Magenta]

Romans 3 v 9B-18~ Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. As it is written, “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The venom of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery lie in their wake, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

 

[Jackson129]

Either they found grace in the eyes of the Lord like Noah and heard the word of the Lord and believed like Abraham, or they did not. Salvation has always been by grace through faith.

Im wondering then if the name of God would be the same to them? Is the great spirit who created all things how thier mind interpreted God?its an interesting concept.

 

[Genez]

It is a vain man-exalting philosophically based precept elevated to Bible doctrine when it is not in the Bible at all.

John 3 verse 6, Romans 8 verse 7, Galatians 5 verse 17, 2 Timothy 3 verse 13, Romans 3 verse 18 ~ Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. The flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other. Evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

How can others quote your words to respond to them?

CAN"T.

It's billboard posting.

And, why do you always have a woman teaching men in your pictures?
That is unbiblical.

 

[HeIsHere]

They talk in circles, of their own circle... excluding others... as if they have a mystery doctrine of their own.

That is what the Gnostics were famous for.

Yes, and they will look for common ground at first and then slowly move towards trying to proselytize with eisegesis and out of context verses.

 

[Magenta]

LOL @ universal axioms being taken out of context. The free will crowd have zero verses to support their heresy.

Adam had one thing he was not to do and he did it. Then all creation was corrupted but the FWer says man is good.

That is called Pelagian heresy. Some of you think you are so special that what the Bible says of humanity does not apply to you.

Pelagian heretics insist man is inherently good. From within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. Mark 7 verses 21-22 Every inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Genesis 8 verse 21b Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one! Job 14 verse 4 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matthew 7 verse 18

 

[Kroogz]

After ALL of these you have posted it should be a done deal already. There is nothing more we can say! If people choose to not believe the verses then thats that. We do a lot of street evangelizing over here (I thought calvinism prevents people from doing that?) and when I was first getting started I kept on WASTING MY TIME debating with the Jehovah's witnesses who are also there with their signs day in and day out. The Lord revealed to me that its a FRUITLESS effort to throw pearls before swine, they do know all the arguments and they KNOW their fake bible has corrupted John 1:1 and other verses but INSIST on continuing in error. I have stopped debating with these guys and just do what God has called ME to do, and have reached a lot more people.

BTW folks I aint calling yall Jehovah's witnesses or nothing, just made a point! I bet some of you are in a process of LEARNING and GROWING. You'll get there And if not, OH WELL

Make this make sense.
We are close to 6000 responses in this thread.

We are inundated with..... Total inability, total darkness,total depravity, mankind cannot choose to believe, the natural man cannot understand the things of God.

How do you "reach" people with this kind of witness?

It's ALL a WASTE OF TIME....none can understand.

 

[GWH]

The verse doesn't say why the number is as it is, and I didn't give a reason other than the verse says what it says. For someone who claims to promote unity, it would probably be better if you didn't fabricate other's beliefs.
And I don't disagree with scripture; simply your understanding of it.

The multitude cited in Rev. 7:9 are "Whoever is thirsty, and whoever wishes for the water of life" in Rev. 22:17,
which is why the number of the saved is a great, because "God loves everyone and enables/invites them to seek salvation".

You disagree with the obvious meaning of Rev. 7:9 & 22:17.

A few months ago I easily agreed with your understanding of rather debatable chapters in Revelation,
but it is like pulling teeth for you to agree with the obvious meaning of one simple verse!

 

[Blain]

LOL @ universal axioms being taken out of context. The free will crowd have zero verses to support their heresy.

Adam had one thing he was not to do and he did it. Then all creation was corrupted but the FWer says man is good.

That is called Pelagian heresy. Some of you think you are so special that what the Bible says of humanity does not apply to you.

Pelagian heretics insist man is inherently good. From within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. Mark 7 verses 21-22 Every inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Genesis 8 verse 21b Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one! Job 14 verse 4 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matthew 7 verse 18

Hey Magenta I just wanted to say I absolutely love this piece of work you made here it looks stunning

 

[Pilgrimshope]

I have asked for a definition of "free willer" or "FW/FWer" and ... crickets ...

whenever the term "free will", "free willer", "FW/FWer" is loosely defined, whatever definition is provided is not something I believe ... so shrug, not talkin' about me.

example ... sorry to pick on you BillyBob, but your post with the term was just above the post Genez submitted



nobody believes that "their FW actions ... alter the course of God's plan".
.

“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

his plan here seems to include two possible outcomes for them based upon what they did in response to God delivering them and making a covenant with them

and it doesn’t seem to be that he’s going to just impose his Will independently from what he’s told them. What I’m saying is his Will was to make a covenant with them explaining good and evil and its rewards . To give them agency and a a choice of life and death good and evil blessing and cursing and then all the To choose

 

[Magenta]

Hey Magenta I just wanted to say I absolutely love this piece of work you made here it looks stunning

Thank you Blain, and good morning! How are you doing today?

 

[Cameron143]

Im wondering then if the name of God would be the same to them? Is the great spirit who created all things how thier mind interpreted God?its an interesting concept.

The level of revelation of God has come progressively throughout history, so it is difficult to know exactly what OT saints understood. But the NT does give some clues. John 8:56 has Jesus saying Abraham rejoiced to see His day, saw it and was glad. I suppose they understood more than many suspect.

 

[Blain]

Thank you Blain, and good morning! How are you doing today?

Good morning and I am doing good just learning the ropes of being a Mod on that forum

 

[Cameron143]

The multitude cited in Rev. 7:9 are "Whoever is thirsty, and whoever wishes for the water of life" in Rev. 22:17,
which is why the number of the saved is a great, because "God loves everyone and enables/invites them to seek salvation".

You disagree with the obvious meaning of Rev. 7:9 & 22:17.

A few months ago I easily agreed with your understanding of rather debatable chapters in Revelation,
but it is like pulling teeth for you to agree with the obvious meaning of one simple verse!

And this is why I saw nothing edifying coming from a discussion with you.
Grace and peace.

 

[Blain]

I would like to say that if free will does exist it should be that it is not our will be done but the Lords, so whether it is important to have it or not doesn't matter in the end
I am on a personal journey of dying to my self and the more I go deeper on this journey the more I see that my will doesn't matter

It is important to note that before we come to salvation I do not believe one can choose God by their own will as it is stated that we must first be drawen to him in scripture

 

[Pilgrimshope]

The multitude cited in Rev. 7:9 are "Whoever is thirsty, and whoever wishes for the water of life" in Rev. 22:17,
which is why the number of the saved is a great, because "God loves everyone and enables/invites them to seek salvation".

You disagree with the obvious meaning of Rev. 7:9 & 22:17.

A few months ago I easily agreed with your understanding of rather debatable chapters in Revelation,
but it is like pulling teeth for you to agree with the obvious meaning of one simple verse!

Does this ring at all brother

“These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭29:1‬ ‭

those of the first covenant

“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭7:4, KJV‬‬

“The law and the prophets ( ot) were until John:

since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”( nt)
‭‭Luke‬ ‭16:16‬ ‭KJV‬‬



“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭7:9-10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

those of this covenant

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭16:15-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

revelation is actually an apacolypse coming from the doctrines of the Bible’s Old Testament and new

 

[Pilgrimshope]

I would like to say that if free will does exist it should be that it is not our will be done but the Lords, so whether it is important to have it or not doesn't matter in the end
I am on a personal journey of dying to my self and the more I go deeper on this journey the more I see that my will doesn't matter

It is important to note that before we come to salvation I do not believe one can choose God by their own will as it is stated that we must first be drawen to him in scripture

On the other hand if we don’t have free Will to begin with …..why do we then need to ask that gods will is done and not our own ?

 

[Blain]

On the other hand if we don’t have free Will to begin with …..why do we then need to ask that gods will is done and not our own ?

Fair point I didn't consider that