Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
- Thread starter LifelongLearner
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Would it change anything?
You boasted previously that you read PhD's,Doctors of Philosophy,who write about scripture.
Presumably that's where you gain your understanding of the Bible.
However, you didn't describe them as Christian PhD's.
When we read the Bible we have to discern the context and relativity of any scripture(s) to the whole narrative.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me.
Those verses,including verse 45,reiterate God's Election of his Chosen if we recall 1 Corinthians 2. Where we are told the natural mind cannot understand the things of God because they are spiritually discerned.
That coincides with the calling of God,the Holy Spirit. And,precludes the notion the natural mind can choose to follow Christ of its own volition.
It also coincides with the ministry in parables and why Jesus only taught the Gospel in parable form.
“And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto YOU to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is NOT given.” Matthew 13:10-11
WHAT!!! Regeneration is the birth from above. Spirit gives birth to spirit. That is regeneration.
No, Sawdust's example is absurd since there is no preceptive/soteriological teaching in the shortest verse in the bible!
But it even gets worse for your wanna-be Einstein: Even so...there is theology and practical application in that very short verse for ALL God's people! And I'm betting that you don't have the first clue about either, do you?
Taking Sawdust's absurd example to its logical conclusion would mean that no Christian today is morally obligated to obey what Jesus told only to his disciples in Jn 15:17! The command only applies to them since they had the super-duper, special, unique, incomparable, apostolic calling upon them.
ROFL
She wasn't even quoting me. You have no idea what's going on.
Then are you confessing your constant finger pointing? No-one set you as judge did they?
You know what they say about pointing a finger at someone? You always have three pointing back at you.
Yes.
They receive a new heart AFTER they, as a nation, in a WILLFUL act of true contrition...... RECEIVE Him.
And not before.
Despite the implacable yet preposterous Calvinist falsehoods floating around here.
These determinists are either utterly ignorant (and therefore biblically illiterate), or they are guilty of willful obfuscation as regards these prescient OT passages.
[Hos 5:15 KJV] 15 I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
[Hos 6:1-2 KJV]
1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
And these clear unequivocal statements by Jesus Himself.
[Luk 13:34-35 KJV]
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [doth gather] her brood under [her] wings, and ye would not!
35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until [the time] come when ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Conclusion: The dogma of the Calvinists/super-determinists is tragically false.
Didn't Judge told the truth.Then are you confessing your constant finger pointing? No-one set you as judge did they?
You know what they say about pointing a finger at someone? You always have three pointing back at you.
Do you know what rhetorical questions are? Why do you think YOU understand Prov 20:24?
You know that you are dancing around the fact that Jesus was specifically addressing the Disciples in this discussion because of the reason why only they were called to be the Disciples of God manifested in the flesh.So is every one of God's chosen! You're arguing that none us were called at a specific for a specific purpose, which is absurd on the face of it. God just arbitrarily called the Body of Christ for no particular reason.
You were the one who said you were made willing to believe. Said nothing about being made alive.
You don't seem to know what you said. How can I trust you with what God says?
I'll pass.
Have a good one Rufus.
Of course, I was made willing to believe because God effectually/irresistibly raised me from the dead (Eph 1:18-20). I have very often said that LIFE precedes faith -- both logically and theologically. Once I was made alive, I believed! It seems to me you may never have experienced Christ's resurrection life or power.
Thanks for you confessing that you aren't a disciple of Christ. It appears you're traveling on broad path that leads to destruction. Who is your Master since it isn't Christ? Satan?
No! Regeneration is LIFE that is in a person's soul BEFORE he is born from above. The new birth is what makes this recipient of God's precious gift of life aware and conscious of that life within. Kinda like how physical life and birth plays out in Natural Revelation -- in the real world. The baby in the womb was alive months before its birth!
Erroneous assumptions, wrong conclusions.
Not to mention that your oft-repeated Calvinist soundbites have been debunked.
Being alive to God and in relationship with Him doesn't automatically make one believe God's word as true, just ask Adam.
ps. Or Lucifer for that matter.
Religious sounding pseudo-philosophical baffegab fit for the rubbish heap.More ignorance on your behalf.
Totally useless, but certainly not harmless.