Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

[reneweddaybyday]

But is there response going to be right with out the aid God, (some kind of enabling ?.

I can't see it.

But I can see enabling

The Word of God ... either read or preached ... is the "aid of God"

Hebrews 4:12a For the word of God is quick, and powerful ...

"quick" [Greek = zaō = living]

"powerful" [Greek = energēs = active]

God's Word is alive and active ... fully capable of yielding fruit ...

those who believe will receive the blessing God promises ...

those who reject will receive the consequence.
.

 

[reneweddaybyday]

God actually has a long history of telling people to do things they can't do. That's how He gets the glory. Gideon comes to mind.

Free willers contradict and deny so many Scriptures it is mind boggling

rolleyes ... so if/when God tells folks to do things they actually can do ... and those folks do them and receive the blessing promised ... God does not get the glory????

verses relating to the healing of Naaman:

2 Kings 5:

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.


In 2 Kings 5:17 Naaman said he would not offer sacrifices to any other gods ... he would only offer to the LORD.
.

 

[lrs68]

@Magenta
You don't believe you are able to do what God commands.

 

[Rufus]

Maybe you're like your Reformed ancestors and proclaim a lie that was never said in order to kill the one that proves your doctrine to be false?

I have no "Reformed ancestors" that I'm aware of. Is Reformed Theology a genealogical trait that is passed on?

 

[Magenta]

Historical facts

The Genevan council tried Servetus, with Calvin providing arguments against him.

Servetus was found guilty of heresy for his denial of the Trinity and infant baptism.

Although Calvin requested that Servetus be executed by a more humane execution,
sword rather than by fire, the Council refused and Servetus was burned at the stake.

The execution was a decision of the Genevan city council, which acted on the advice of other reformed cities.

Little wonder fee willers repeatedly lie about this.

Just another lie, and more logical fallacies, from their camp.

 

[lrs68]

Why do you ask: Are you sporting a martyr's complex?

A martyr for posting the actual words that come directly from God Himself and then choose to believe those words? No martyr, just someone who believes God doesn't lie like man made doctrine will without hesitation.

 

[cv5]

God actually has a long history of telling people to do things they can't do. That's how He gets the glory. Gideon comes to mind.

That only works when the counterparty/beneficiary in faith and by volition, complies with His will. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and Paul comes to mind.

God has a long history of working wonders through those who RECEIVE HIM.

[Jhn 7:17 NKJV] 17 "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or [whether] I speak on My own [authority].

 

[Rufus]

Is it hard to understand? From our perspective we exhibit "free will". From God's perspective everything is going as planned. Who knows the mind of God? Since He knows the future, this life we live is like a rerun for Him. According to His Justice, all humanity is condemned because their motivation for living is love of self before love of God. If He condemns all humanity, He would be merciless. If He saves everyone, there would be no justice in His kingdom and disobedience would run rampant. His only choice is to save a few of His choice. That is when you get baptized in the name of the Father by His granting you repentance for your sins so that you turn to Him for forgiveness. He then leads you to the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins through faith in His Son's death on the cross. Jesus is the only human who was perfect because he loved His Father and obeyed Him unto death. He wasn't supposed to die, so that in a sense, life is owed to him. He gives this life to those whom the Father chooses. The life that He gives is His Holy Spirit which in Isaiah 63: 9-10 is referred to as "the angel of His presence". Angel because it can be sent, and where the Holy Spirit is, the Father is. The Holy Spirit acts as a portal through which the Father can enter the being indwelled in order to communicate, speak through, and empower to do His will. Our reality is in the mind of the Father. He is the invisible Almighty God who is everywhere at once, can do anything, create out of nothing, knows what everyone is thinking and feeling, knows everything, transcends time, and has no beginning. A being that has always existed must be creating many other realities. He is the Father of all realities, and ours is just one of them. In our reality He places a living, thinking, feeling, being with his own will in it and calls him His Son. The Father interacts with our reality through His Holy Spirit which is the presence and power of God the Father. He fills His Son with His Holy Spirit so that the Father resides in His Son's being. The Son then becomes the image of the invisible God because the Son loves the Father and shows his love through obedience. Together, the Father through His Son, and for His Son, creates everything that exists in our reality. Because the Father loves His Son, He puts all creation under the Son's feet which makes His Son Lord of our reality. That would make the Son Lord and God of our reality but the Father is the Lord and God of all realities including His Son's.
When Jesus ascended up to heaven after he lived, died, and rose, he went to get glorified. That means that the Father was going to give him a glorified spiritual body made up of those who get baptized with the Holy Spirit by him. It is through this Holy Spirit that both Father and Son can enter our beings to change our motivation for living from love of self to love of God first and all others as we love ourselves. It is this Holy Spirit that connects us and we become one with the Father and Son.
I thank God for changing me by controlling my will by changing it to His. Jesus said that his bread was to do the Father's will. Isn't that what we should all be praying for, to do His will and not ours. Those on the outside say we are being forced because their wills don't align with God's. Those on the inside appreciate that God the Father and Son have entered their beings to assist them in the choices they make in their lives.

Don't you know that man's ways are NOT in himself? See: 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

Maybe you should quit looking at spiritual truth from the human perspective and start from God's instead!

 

[lrs68]

I have no "Reformed ancestors" that I'm aware of. Is Reformed Theology a genealogical trait that is passed on?

Are you and your parents and your grandparents Reformed?

I've never met one that was the first of their family yet. It's typically following the same beliefs as Dad, Grandpa, great Grandpa, etc.

 

[Rufus]

A martyr for posting the actual words that come directly from God Himself and then choose to believe those words? No martyr, just someone who believes God doesn't lie like man made doctrine will without hesitation.

What were those "actual words that come directly from God Himself"?

 

[Rufus]

Are you and your parents and your grandparents Reformed?

I've never met one that was the first of their family yet. It's typically following the same beliefs as Dad, Grandpa, great Grandpa, etc.

To the best of my knowledge no one in my family was a Christian, let alone of the Reformed Tradition.

 

[Magenta]

@Magenta
You don't believe you are able to do what God commands.

I do not believe I circumcised my own heart. I believe what Scripture says on this matter.

How did you circumcise yours? Do please tell, and stop with all your evasions and lies.

Though I doubt the truth is forthcoming from you.

Your obfuscations do not hide the fact of what you are doing.

 

[Rufus]

​

Somebody tell @BillyBob that he is missing a key takeaway:​

Adam was agonizing on a plan TO SAVE HIS BRIDE!​

​

2 Adams​

2 gardens​

2 brides​

​

The super-determinists fail to "see" this.​

​

[Isa 44:18 KJV]
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand.

[Jhn 3:3 KJV]
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see G3708 the kingdom of God.

ὁράω horáō, hor-ah'-o; properly, to stare at (compare G3700), i.e. (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear:—behold, perceive, see, take heed.

Oh...so that's why Adam concealed is sin!?

 

[lrs68]

What were those "actual words that come directly from God Himself"?

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so you and your offspring would live

 

[lrs68]

To the best of my knowledge no one in my family was a Christian, let alone of the Reformed Tradition.

That is wonderful and I am happy for YOU

 

[Cameron143]

That is because Gideon didn't believe God but if he did like Joshua then he would have fulfilled what God told him to do immediately.

Can you share scripture that teaches this?

You do realize the army originally organized was insufficient for the task was insufficient as well apart from God's help?

 

[lrs68]

I do not believe I circumcised my own heart. I believe what Scripture says on this matter.

How did you circumcise yours? Do please tell, and stop with all your evasions and lies.

Though I doubt the truth is forthcoming from you.

If God tells me I can do something why do you think He needs me to comply to the rules you think I need?

 

[lrs68]

Can you share scripture that teaches this?

You do realize the army originally organized was insufficient for the task was insufficient as well apart from God's help?

Those in the desert were insufficient against the Giants in the Promised Land but had they just did what God told them to do they wouldn't have died just miles away from the Promise.

 

[Cameron143]

That only works when the counterparty/beneficiary in faith and by volition, complies with His will. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and Paul comes to mind.

God has a long history of working wonders through those who RECEIVE HIM.

[Jhn 7:17 NKJV] 17 "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or [whether] I speak on My own [authority].

So you agree? Another odd way of saying...You're right.

 

[Magenta]

If God tells me I can do something why do you think He needs me to comply to the rules you think I need?

Did God tell you you could circumcise your heart? You are changing the subject now. Just more evasive dishonesty from you.

Just as I suspected. Good bye.