Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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They were prophesying about certain things that would so happen to take place during the Church age,
But, they were not prophesying that there was to be a Church age in itself.


Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking
in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become
its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the
Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches
of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24-27​

Because of prophesy, the Jews had been waiting for the Lord to establish His kingdom on earth for the Jews to flourish in.
The appearance of the Church shocked and took everyone by surprise.
For no prophesy pointed to the Church age specifically.
The Church was a like hidden secret weapon, that God launched on the enemies of God after the Cross took place.
Yup. God kept the Church under wraps so that Satan could not front run it with any schemes.

Satan tried.....and failed....to thwart the ministry of Jesus and the Crucifixion.

1Co 2:8 - Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
 
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It all works and works FLAWLESSLY. No gaps no holes no doubts.

If.....you understand it. And it takes decades of dedication and sweat equity....😰
For me prophecy is more important for my current state, following the prophetic word of the lord for me helps me to realise his ways in my heart.
The lord can speak to me in my heart, which means really every child of God is being spoken to just like the prophets did.

For that reason there's no need for prophets anymore either, but theres still a need for God's message being spoken. And absolutely any child of God can relay his message now, because only the people led by spirit in the old t could be a prophet, which really means every child of God now in a way is a type of prophet because there led by the spirit.
 
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Friend, there is only one "end of the age" for the Church. And you are smack-dab in its final fleeting moments.

The stage is set for the anti-Christ beast system whether you believe it or not. The signs are literally everywhere. Right on cue. The 800lbs prophetic gorilla being the Nation Israel.....☺️
Well that's all good but since every child of God can be led by the spirit we would all know if end times was about to happen.
 
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Conclusive. And concatenates with HUNDREDS of other prophecies. Hundreds. The Nation Israel, AFTER the tribulation, AFTER legitimate REPENTANCE, are recommissioned to their original mandate (that which they abandoned)....as a nation of priests and teachers to the gentiles. And this time (the millennium) they will not blow it and will serve the Lord faithfully.

Luk 13:35 - 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.

For those who tell us that Israel is now become the Church?
They who think that must have no idea that the following passage exists in Scripture.
For it speaks of something that has yet to take place.
Which will happen during the Millennium after the seven-year Tribulation ends.

And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” Zechariah 8:22-23​
That can not be speaking of the Church having replaced Israel!
For that passage covers both the Jews and Gentiles as separate entities.

“In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”
FWIW....

grace and peace!
 
Indubitably. That prophesied holy nation and kingdom of priests already exists

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the ecellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9

Jews had its own priesthood to God…

In contrast to Israel?
The Church is a Royal Priesthood.

Royal because Jesus is the King of kings!
And, the Church?
Is the King's bride =
Making the Church, Royalty.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people;
that you should show forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. '
1 Peter 2:9

Israel was simply to be a nation of priests!
Not a Royal priesthood.


And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you
shall speak to the children of Israel.” Exodus 19:6​

Though the Church consists of both Jews and Gentiles, the Church is uinique and set apart from the purpose God had set aside for Israel.
 
Flesh-cannot-please-God.png

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. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Romans 3 verses 11-12; Romans 8 verses 5-8; 2 Timothy 2 verses 25-26

I don't think the free willies have that passage in their Bible.
 
I don't think the free willies have that passage in their Bible.
The free willies actually understand who wrote that passage, when and why.
And the Calvinists certainly do not. For if they did, they would no longer be Biblically illiterate Bible tweet Calvinists.

[Rom 3:9 KJV]
What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

[Rom 3:10 KJV]
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Psa 14:1
[[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.]] The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Psa 14:2
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

Psa 14:3
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
 
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I have never said human don't have desires. I said the sin nature which, is not a human being, does not have desires, it is a reactive impulse.


The only thing you have proven is you cannot comprehend what is said.

Thank God for free will. Bye.

Give me chapter and verse on your lame theory "reactive impulse". And since you admit that all humans have desires, then those desires can be either be godly or ungodly, for all humans also have a nature -- just like God has a nature. The difference, of course, is that God's nature is holy; human nature is profane. (And, yes, God also has desires.)
 
The one I just quoted is the fulfillment of the first thing God said to Israel when they reached Mt Sinai.

And now if you will obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall become a special treasure to me above all the nations, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall become a kingdom of priests to me, a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel. Exodus 19:5-6
Within 40 or so days they broke the covenant and that promise was deferred until the holy nation of God was born at Pentecost from above.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the ecellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9
If you want, start a thread on this and we'll go through every prophecy you want and I'll show how all of it has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled in Christ and his body
Act 2:19
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour (pillars) of smoke:

Act 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before G4250 that great and notable day of the Lord come:

*************************************************************************************************************

"pillars of smoke" = mushroom clouds, probably nuclear weapons

The KJV translates Strong's H8490 in the following manner: pillar (2x).
Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
  1. pillar, column
    1. palm-like spreading at top
***************************************************************************************************************

"day of the Lord" = BEGINS at the great tribulation , the "time of Jacob's trouble", and continues in the reign of peace afterwards

**************************************************************************************************************

The birth of the Church age (at Pentecost), occurs BEFORE (and ends before) the "day of the Lord", the tribulation, because we are "snatched" by the Bridegroom to be taken our Fathers house (John 14:2-3)

The KJV translates Strong's G4250 in the following manner: before (11x), before that (2x), ere (1x).
Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
  1. before, formerly
Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
πρίν prín, prin; adverb from G4253; prior, sooner:—before (that), ere.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon [?](Jump to Scripture Index)
STRONGS G4250:
πρίν ((according to Curtius, § 380 comparitive προιον, προιν, πρίν)), as in Greek writings from Homer down:
1. an adverb previously,formerly (cf. πάλαι, 1): 3Macc. 5:28 3Macc. 6:4, 31; but never so in the N. T.
2. with the force of a conjunction, before, before that: with an accusative and aorist infinitive of things past (cf. Winers Grammar, § 44, 6 at the end; Buttmann, § 142, 3); πρίν Ἀβραάμ γενέσθαι, before Abraham existed, came into being, John 8:58; also πρίν ἤ (cf. Meyer on Matthew 1:18), Matthew 1:18; (Acts 7:2); with an aorist infinitive haying the force of the Latin future perfect, of things future (cf. Winer's Grammar, 332 (311)): πρίν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι, before the cock shall have crowed, Matthew 26:34, 75; Mark 14:72; Luke 22:61; add, John 4:49; John 14:29; also πρίν ἤ, Mark 14:30; Acts 2:20 (where L T Tr WH text omit ἤ); πρίν ἤ, preceded by a negative sentence (Buttmann, § 139, 35), with the aorist subjunctive having the force of a future perfect in Latin (Buttmann, 231 (199)), Luke 2:26 (R G L T Tr marginal reading, but WH brackets ἤ), and R G in Luke 22:34; πρίν ἤ, followed by the optative of a thing as entertained in thought, Acts 25:16 (Winers Grammar, 297 (279); Buttmann, 230 (198)). Cf. Matthiae, § 522, 2, p. 1201f; Alexander Buttmann (1873) Gram. § 139, 41; Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2, p. 720ff; Winers Grammar (and Buttmann), as above.
 
cv5 said:


Wrong again little buddy. REPENTANCE from the HEART must come FIRST, which is in fact the qualifying requirement for entry in the New Covenant. THEN and only then do God's promised blessings flow.

You are utterly clueless in terms of accurate Bible knowledge in every possible dimension and metric, and certainly in the running for the most Biblically illiterate person on this board. You would think it impossible to be 100% wrong 100% of the time, nevertheless, you have achieved the impossible in this regard.

And BTW, your entire grasp of eschatology is likewise an appalling disaster. It cannot possibly be more erroneous, and is so at every point.

This is a blatant, bald-faced lie! First, The New Covenant is unconditional in nature. Secondly, the NC promise to God's OC people that the Fear of the Lord would be instilled within them was fulfilled in Cornelius before he was saved, as I proved in a two part series a few days ago.
 
Nope! Because when Jesus was on earth, He was revealing and setting up His New Covenant to go in effect on Pentecost after His death (Heb. 9), which began in Jerusalem after His resurrection (Lk. 24) which has conditions of how be saved to which man must respond to (Acts 2)!

Try again!!

All the conditions in the New Covenant are unilateral! This is what makes the New Covenant UNLIKE the Old, which was bilateral in nature. God fulfills all His NC promises. And the New Covenant had already been revealed to Israel hundreds of years prior to the Advent of Christ.
 
Repentance is commanded. And individual doesn't obey until he has received a new heart and the Spirit. Until one's nature is changed, they will continue as they were.

Well this is the incorrect order once again.

It does not take a change of nature to believe ... it takes the Good News correctly taught first and foremost and no one is born unable to respond positively to the Good News >>>> NOT in scripture.

It grieves me to no end how the Baptist churches have been infiltrated with this nonsense.

I concur with the SBC... :( the church destroyed from within, more >>>> :mad::(

Calvinism is an Abominable Theological Position

Posted on July 2, 2013 by sbcissues


I am at the end of the road with the issue of Calvinism in the SBC.


I do not believe the Bible comes close to teaching that God hand picks who is and is not saved. I do not believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus died for a select group of individuals and that eternity is reserved for “God’s four and no more.” I do not believe the Bible teaches that man is dead in his trespass and sin to the extent that he is totally incapable of responding to God’s revelatory work found in the Scriptures nor His reconciliatory work rooted in the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of an unbeliever. I do not believe a lost person must be “born again” so that he MAY repent and then exercise believing or saving faith to become part of God’s forever family. I do not believe the Bible ANYWHERE teaches that God’s call to salvation is an irresistible call that the lost person automatically responds too… like Lazarus did when Jesus called him by name to come out of the grave.

I do not understand how anyone who reads the Bible can come to conclusions similar to these. I really cannot understand that.

This is like telling a dying man to drink but I am holding the cup that has the life giving water that he needs to live. If I do not give it to him, he dies. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone, especially God, could declare that this kind of message is “good news” to the world. Calvinism posits that the gospel is good news for the elect, those whom God has chosen to saved. Many will go on to say that the gospel is even “good news” to the non-elect in that His glory is magnified as those NOT CHOSEN are condemned to hell. The interesting caveat here is that the ones making that pitiful statement ALWAYS use THEM to describe the non-elect. There is no reference to any possibility of THEM being in danger of eternal damnation; it is always THEM.

The Bible says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe. In Calvinism, this CANNOT be true. For until one is regenerated, the gospel has NO POWER to save. Regeneration in the Calvinist system applies to sanctification… it is effectual calling that brings about conversion and THEN repentance and belief kick in and until this time the gospel has NO POWER TO SAVE.

Source - SBC
 
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Well this is the incorrect order once again.

It does not take a change of nature to believe ... it takes the Good News correctly taught first and foremost and no one is born unable to respond positively to the Good News >>>> NOT in scripture.

It grieves me to no end how the Baptist churches have been infiltrated with this nonsense.

I concur with the SBC... :( the church destroyed from within, more >>>> :mad::(

Calvinism is an Abominable Theological Position

Posted on July 2, 2013 by sbcissues


I am at the end of the road with the issue of Calvinism in the SBC.


I do not believe the Bible comes close to teaching that God hand picks who is and is not saved. I do not believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus died for a select group of individuals and that eternity is reserved for “God’s four and no more.” I do not believe the Bible teaches that man is dead in his trespass and sin to the extent that he is totally incapable of responding to God’s revelatory work found in the Scriptures nor His reconciliatory work rooted in the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of an unbeliever. I do not believe a lost person must be “born again” so that he MAY repent and then exercise believing or saving faith to become part of God’s forever family. I do not believe the Bible ANYWHERE teaches that God’s call to salvation is an irresistible call that the lost person automatically responds too… like Lazarus did when Jesus called him by name to come out of the grave.

I do not understand how anyone who reads the Bible can come to conclusions similar to these. I really cannot understand that.

This is like telling a dying man to drink but I am holding the cup that has the life giving water that he needs to live. If I do not give it to him, he dies. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone, especially God, could declare that this kind of message is “good news” to the world. Calvinism posits that the gospel is good news for the elect, those whom God has chosen to saved. Many will go on to say that the gospel is even “good news” to the non-elect in that His glory is magnified as those NOT CHOSEN are condemned to hell. The interesting caveat here is that the ones making that pitiful statement ALWAYS use THEM to describe the non-elect. There is no reference to any possibility of THEM being in danger of eternal damnation; it is always THEM.

The Bible says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe. In Calvinism, this CANNOT be true. For until one is regenerated, the gospel has NO POWER to save. Regeneration in the Calvinist system applies to sanctification… it is effectual calling that brings about conversion and THEN repentance and belief kick in and until this time the gospel has NO POWER TO SAVE.

Source - SBC
Do you object to God choosing to make Israel into a nation and to be His people while not doing so for every other nation? Or does this sicken you too?
 
Do you object to God choosing to make Israel into a nation and to be His people while not doing so for every other nation? Or does this sicken you too?

That was for service not for individual salvation, your corporate salvation ideas are not in scripture.
 
Except for those whom God has not hand selected and decreed to be saved... for those nothing is possible but to die in their sin.
For someone who professes to be careful with the words of scripture, why do you continually fail to concerning election? You know that selection is to make a choice from out of pool of candidates. And you know that this isn't what God does. Instead, God elects, which means He chooses not out of a pool of possibilities, but chooses a people and then creates that people. He did this with Israel, and this is why the elect were chosen before the foundation of the world.
 
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That was for service not for individual salvation, your corporate salvation ideas are not in scripture.
Service is certainly included...Ephesians 2:10...but is only possible once salvation has occurred. The elect are saved to be the people of God, and this so the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth.
 
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Do you object to God choosing to make Israel into a nation and to be His people while not doing so for every other nation? Or does this sicken you too?
they won't even recognise God going against the will of man that lives in the flesh, in many many verses, you've got no chance m.