Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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We've discussed God's commands as made to human volition.
I have asked several times, but have never heard anyone explaining to anyone how they circumcised their hearts and ears.

Please elucidate us with your superior knowledge. Tell us all how you obeyed the command to do this.
 
God's Word is effective in overcoming the "vile and desperately heart" of mankind. God's Word is life ... God's Word imparts life ... God's Word is power.

in your statement above, you have weakened that which God tells us is power and life and spirit to something easily overcome by makind's "vile and desperately heart".





you speak as one who has authority to discern between the thoughts and intents of the heart ... yet we know there is only One who is able to do so ... you really have no idea why a person believes Scripture.
.
Evidently the word of God is not able to overcome the heart in those who don't believe. It is only able to overcome the hearts of those who believe. It is only the power of God to salvation to those who believe.
But all this ignores what God is actually doing in salvation. He is coming to His people with the intention of saving them. And He does by giving a new heart and spirit and indwelling them with His Spirit. This is exactly the new covenant promise so eloquently articulated in Ezekiel 36:26-27.
 
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I have asked several times, but have never heard anyone explaining to anyone how they circumcised their hearts and ears.

Please elucidate us with your superior knowledge. Tell us all how you obeyed the command to do this.

Hey...that's easy for a FWer to explain since he can raise himself from his own spiritual tomb. And since he can do that, it's easy peasy for the Studiers of this world to rip open their own chest, tear out their old heart and replace it with a new one. And they do all the above AFTER they come to faith that was effectuated by their "freewill".
 
Eternal life is one thing.
We can not lose our salvation.

For we were bought at a price.
We are now being "His property."
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God?
You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
Therefore, honor God with your bodies."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20​
No one is going to rob God of what He has purchased with His blood!
We can not lose our salvation for that reason!

This life that we are now experiencing in time is for when God desires that we walk in the Spirit and sound doctrine.
Correct doctrine to reveal the nature, and thinking, of Christ.

Now is a different matter in not losing anything. For we can become complete losers in time by following false doctrines
that have us revealing to the world and the angels an artificial Jesus.

Here in time. Right now. Is when we can lose out on blessings that God had planned for our future with Him.
Yes! For we can lose!
Lose our eternal rewards. Rewards that will be given only to those who pleased God by their discerning way of life
while still here on earth.

False doctrines sucker many away from the gold, silver, and precious stones that God wants us to guard and treasure in our hearts.


For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has
been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will
suffer loss, but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames."
1 Corinthians 3:11-15.
See what that says?

Losers can not lose their salvation!
But, we can lose out in what He wants to bless us with for eternity.
Finding ourselves ashamed in a state of knowing we have not pleased the Lord with our lives.

False doctrine is the curse!

It was our refusing of correction that robs and steals from us the treasures God wishes to bestow upon us for eternity,
and for granting us in time to be having us experience Life more abundantly!

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14​

You see it?

It says that only a few find *life!*
Not, that only a few find salvation.

What is that life?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they
may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10​

Getting suckered by what appeals to our natural way of survival thinking with false doctrine is no minor offense!
Bonding with others, and finding acceptance because of it, produces losers. Stop patting each other on your backs.


Enuf said...
so true, Genez ... and so sad that the person to whom you were speaking responded with "TL;DR" ... however, some have read and taken it to heart ... :cool:
.
 
Evidently the word of God is not able to overcome the heart in those who don't believe. It is only able to overcome the hearts of those who believe. It is only the power of God to salvation to those who believe.
But all this ignores what God is actually doing in salvation. He is coming to His people with the intention of saving them. And He does by giving a new heart and spirit and indwelling them with His Spirit. This is exactly the new covenant promise so eloquently articulated in Ezekiel 36:26-27.
Ezekiel36-25-26s.png

Ezekiel 36 verses 25-26 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
:)
 
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More of your context = non sequitur and thus actual contextual wording = non sequitur. The non sequitur is what you post to deflect and redirect from the actual Scripture we're dealing with.

I don't write this for you even though I'll address you:

Ask yourself if Paul is talking about what he as a mature Christian knows at the point of writing 1Cor about 25 years post-crucifixion vs. what everyone knew before Christ's crucifixion. Pre-crucifixion they knew the Gospel being proclaimed and evidenced by God with signs that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah the Son of God. Some believed Him. Some rejected Him, including Paul until post-resurrection.

25 years post-crucifixion Paul has tremendous knowledge including advanced doctrinal understanding which he's talking about in this section of 1Cor2 and saying if the rulers of the time of Christ knew all of what Paul now knows, they would never have crucified Jesus.

Paul's looking back to that time with knowledge of things about the entirety of God's Plan - "the deep things of God" 1Cor2:10 - and the real person of Messiah and putting it all together and in effect saying, 'if they only knew.'

You can take some of this reality back to Acts2 and see how Peter with advancing knowledge - as God was continuing to unfold His Plan in history just 50 days post-resurrection - convinced some about what they had done in crucifying Jesus.

Context is not non-sequitur. Words are important. Paul beginning in 1Cor2:6 is dealing with advanced Christian doctrine well beyond the foundational message of the Gospel that Jesus is the Christ. That's the context of 1Cor2:8.

Translate: I don't really know if those who murdered Christ were wise or foolish people. I don't know if they murdered Christ because they rejected His gospel or "advanced Christian doctrine".

Nice theory though about Paul's "advanced Christian doctrine". :rolleyes:

And since you're so big on context, how come you haven't noticed that the Gr. term rendered "foolishness" appears 7 times in the NT: 6 of those just happen to be in 1Cor and the other is in 2Cor.? I wonder if the "message of the Cross" was foolishness to those who are perishing (1Cor 1:18) because they rejected the plain ol' foundational Gospel of Forgiveness or "advanced Christian doctrine"? And were such people wise or fools in your eyes?
 
Hey...that's easy for a FWer to explain since he can raise himself from his own spiritual tomb. And since he can do that, it's easy peasy for the Studiers of this world to rip open their own chest, tear out their old heart and replace it with a new one. And they do all the above AFTER they come to faith that was effectuated by their "freewill".
Ah, yes, the raising themselves volitionally to new life, which they NEVER explain, just insist they did by choosing to believe what they hear as foolishness while incapable of receiving the spiritual things of God which they are as yet opposed to, though they love to pretend the gospel is not heard as foolishness in that state by butchering other verses, and also dishonestly pretend they do not equate being spiritually dead with being physically dead, but we know the power of Christ only works through those who hear and those who hear are those who are called, even though they will also tell us everyone hears when obviously everyone does not, and Jesus even told us why that is. In their theology the flesh brings forth fruit unto life even though Scripture proclaims the opposite, but it is all part and parcel of their Pelagian heresy, since to them man is not the creature God's Word proclaims him to be.
 
Ezekiel36-25-26s.png

Ezekiel 36 verses 25-26 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
:)

Yeah, yeah.. But the really big FWT HEADLINE NEWS is that all that stuff you quote above follow on the heels of the real miracle: Bad Trees producing good fruit; self-resurrection from the dead and evil hearts producing the godly fruit of repentance and faith. And all of this pales in comparison to what God does after the fact. :rolleyes:
 
One thing is for sure, knowing about God by reading scripture or being taught is entirely different than knowing and being known by God.

Some have both, some have the first, but not the latter.

And then there are those who don't have either! So, where do you think you fit in?
 
The reason I know you don't understand those verses because you believe in election. Those verses say God gave the Gentiles Repentance. The way you are explaining it would mean God gave all Gentiles Repentance. Is EVERY GENTILE TODAY SAVED BECAUSE GOD GAVE THEM REPENTANCE? IT'S ONLY 8 BILLION GENTILES CURRENTLY. ARE THEY ALL GIVEN REPENTANCE?

Is there a verse that says that God gives repentance to all Gentiles w/o exception?
 
Yeah, yeah.. But the really big FWT HEADLINE NEWS is that all that stuff you quote above follow on the heels of the real miracle: Bad Trees producing good fruit; self-resurrection from the dead and evil hearts producing the godly fruit of repentance and faith. And all of this pales in comparison to what God does after the fact. :rolleyes:
Oh, well, the corrupt tree not being able to bring forth good fruit is just one of the very very many things that Jesus said that the FWer rejects. They have a very selective way of applying the revealed truths of Scripture, since they must contradict and outright deny so much of it in preference to their self-exalting idol. It is built into their Pelagian heresy. They must have that bad tree bringing forth good fruit or their whole phony system falls apart, which it really ought to like the castles in the air it is.

Matthew7-17-18-Luke6-4afrom-John15-4-5.png

Matthew 7 v 17-18, Luke 6 v 4a and from John 15 v 4-5 ~ Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. Apart from Me you can do nothing.
 
I am just saying these particular churches are using the tragedy in hopes to motivate a movement. Now whether it's going to be blessed by God and people get on fire for God or not only time will tell. But I have witnessed some movement because I haven't seen packed out churches in awhile and the altars full of people Repenting and being filled with the Holy Ghost. And according to statistics this is only happening in certain Churches so clearly God is either free to move in some churches because the people are submissive unto God and the other Churches are still trying to follow their incorrect doctrines. But it's definitely a great thing to see so many people crying out to God. Haven't seen anything like this since the 1970s Revivals. But like I said only time will tell.
but the danger is some may be getting on fire for God out of anger, which could lead to many people being treated unjustly by Charlie's policies, where by you get more tragedies.

The thing is when you get a really high figure claiming they love God and I'm not talking about Charlie, I'm talking other people who claim they love God,. people in power who persuade people to vote on Christian values, and they say there going to make a change but they don't, Christians don't then vote no more no matter who tries to change there mind.


I never heard of Charlie either but having watched some of his documentaries he stood for many Christian values, he would go everywhere talking to kids who where not even Christian, getting in heated debates with them, but he showed a good level of tolerance, was never to forceful in his approach.

And now he's been shot. Its why the churches don't get involved in these affairs.
 
You'd think that "irresistible" grace would have prevented that rejection, after all it is suppose to guarantee sinners see sense, how much more should it have made a perfect creature (before his fall) see the error of his ways? :)

No, only you would think such nonsense! God clearly decreed the Fall. He predicted the Fall and to facilitate it, He cast his arch enemy down to earth instead of to the lake of fire after he sinned. The Fall was always the eternal plan!
 
No, only you would think such nonsense! God clearly decreed the Fall. He predicted the Fall and to facilitate it, He cast his arch enemy down to earth instead of to the lake of fire after he sinned. The Fall was always the eternal plan!
Of course it was. It doesn't say that He chose us in Adam before the foundation of the world.
 
And then there are those who don't have either! So, where do you think you fit in?
She has made very plain through multiple posts that she is void of the latter and the former is useless without that.

Matthew11-27.png

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.
 
She has made very plain through multiple posts that she is void of the latter and the former is useless without that.

Matthew11-27.png

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.
She outright denied Peter received revelation of this sort when Jesus affirmed that he had.
 
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