Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
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You mean everyone finally agrees with all I believe? That's awesome.
Perhaps one must suppose they do not believe mercy and grace have anything to do with love.
It funny. I listed 3 verses that teach that Jesus only paid for the sins of many and not all...Matthew 20:28, that His blood was shed for many and not all...Matthew 26:28, and that on the cross Jesus bore the sins of many and not all...Hebrews 9:28, but somehow people still believe Jesus paid for the sins of all humanity throughout history. If one can't accept what the Bible clearly teaches unequivocally, how then are they to understand more challenging passages where the meaning is not so obvious?
Her complaint is likely based on the fact that she does not know God, since such knowledge
is acquired only by personal spiritual revelation which, sadly, she derides, as she loves to mock
and scoff such, despite God revealing Himself to people is a promise He made and keeps.
Matthew 11 verse 27 ~ All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
That is correct! And, their reasoning is not something that can be turned on like a light switch. It takes the enabling work of the Spirit to cause such a change..
Maybe others do understand.
And some have answered you.
I think it was @cv5 who mentioned how Paul in Romans5 uses "all" interchangeably with "many". IMO that should make us think because Scripture does not always present for our convenience, cultural norms, linguistic styles... And Paul for instance can be referencing Isaiah and clarifying that "many" should be understood as "all".
There are ways these wordings have been answered by interpreters for generations. Yet each side of the debate won't accept the answers of the other.
Translations are ESV:
Many:
Matthew 20:28"Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Isaiah 53:11–12"By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities... yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."
Hebrews 9:28"So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."
All:
1 Timothy 2:6"...who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
1 Timothy 4:10"For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."
2 Corinthians 5:14–15"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."
Romans 5:18"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."
Titus 2:11"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people..."
John 1:29"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 3:16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
It strikes me as quite odd that any other field of knowledge or understanding is brought in to cloud the issue ofThat is correct! And, their reasoning is not something that can be turned on like a light switch.
It takes the enabling work of the Spirit to cause such a change..
what God's revealed written Word specifically says about the Spirit of Truth not being able to be received by the
world, the world being anyone not called out as a believer in the shed righteous blood of Jesus Christ. But really
it is just more of the same thinking that allows anyone to believe that choosing salad or fries with lunch has any
bearing on the eternal fate of one's soul and what God's revealed written Word has to say of the unregenerated man.
[Rom 5:16, 19 KJV]
16 And not as [it was] by one that sinned, [so is] the gift: for the judgment [was] by one to condemnation, but the free gift [is] of many offences unto justification. ...
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
[Rom 6:3 KJV] 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[Rom 8:14, 29 KJV] 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. ...
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
John 17 v 6 I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours;
You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they know that everything You have given
Me comes from You. 8 For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them.
They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
9 I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You
have given Me; for they are Yours. 10 All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have
been glorified. 11 I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You.
Already pointed out multiple times by @Rufus and also conveniently overlooked by those who don't want to see it.
You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they know that everything You have given
Me comes from You. 8 For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them.
They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
9 I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You
have given Me; for they are Yours. 10 All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have
been glorified. 11 I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You.
Already pointed out multiple times by @Rufus and also conveniently overlooked by those who don't want to see it.
Are you denying now what you wrote earlier? Double-minded much? Duplicitous much?
YOU wrote:
They are no longer in their sinful bodies.
They are simply left with their evil souls.
Torments does control them!
For it forces them to concentrate only on one thing!
Their pain! Nothing else!
Obviously, you believe that the condemned children of hell (Mat 23:15) are NOT in control of their desires...their will. You have unwittingly admitted about the sons and daughters of hell what I have long been saying about the sons and daughters of God in heaven! I have often said that you FWers are going to be like fish out of water in heaven because you guys will no longer have any power to sin because you won't able to! The saints in heaven and in the Eternal New Order, like their sinful, evil counterparts in hell, will be under control of God's indescribable, holy, glorious Presence. The saints will be so awe-struck by Him, they will not be able to sin because sin will never again enter their mind or heart or soul when in the Holy Presence. All the saints will only desire to glorify God, thank Him, sing His praises and eagerly serve Him forever and ever.
Moreover, in the Eternal New Order, the saints in their glorified, resurrected bodies will also be under the control of their new righteous, holy nature. All the old things will have passed away, and all things will be eternally NEW!
So...with Heaven and Hell bearing witness to the total impotence (helplessness) of sinners and, therefore, the saints' total victory over sin, and the condemned hell-bound sinners total controlling, enslavement to it, how could any reasonable and rational person ever think that things are entirely different in this life that comes between Heaven and Hell -- most especially since Time in temporal reality controls human activity (for all we mere mortals are slaves to Time)? likewise God's controls the ways of all the sons of men in this life (Prov 16:1, 9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1; Isa 46:10; Jer 10:23; Dan 5:23; Act 4:23-28; Rom 9:14-18).
Thanks for the low hanging fruit your post provided. Good job, Lady Godiva; for you have exposed the nakedness of your heresy.
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Hhhmmm. I don't think so.
[Mat 9:13 KJV] 13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Evidently, the pre-birth lottery crowd don't even get called!
Correction to my 8674 in which I wrote in part:
The saints in heaven and in the Eternal New Order, like their sinful, evil counterparts in hell, will be under control of God's indescribable, holy, glorious Presence.
I should have written unlike. My bad.
The saints in heaven and in the Eternal New Order, like their sinful, evil counterparts in hell, will be under control of God's indescribable, holy, glorious Presence.
I should have written unlike. My bad.
Who Does the Choosing?You forgot one: Many are called but few are chosen (Mat 22:14). I suppose "many" here also = all without exception?
The phrase “few are chosen” does not imply that God is selectively choosing a few from among the invited. Instead, it reflects the response of the invitees themselves. The Greek phrase ὀλίγοι ἐκλεκτοί (“few are chosen”) consists of two adjectives functioning as nouns, emphasizing the number of those who actually responded properly to the invitation.
Thus, the “choosing” in this context refers to those who chose to attend the banquet with the proper heart and preparation. The parable emphasizes that being called or invited by God does not automatically grant entrance to the Kingdom; it requires a willing and appropriate response from those invited.
amen there are two deaths because we have a body and a spirit
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment:”
Hebrews 9:27 KJV
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
Revelation 20:12-14
Which part of us dies first and which part ascends for judgement ?
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV