Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

[Magenta]

The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians ch 2 v 14

 

[Blue155]

Just because someone doesn’t believe the same on a particular verse, does not mean they are the natural man. The natural man has no use for spiritual things. People who believe in God, Jesus, the Spirit, the inerrant word of God, people who try to walk in the light and have fruit of the Spirit, who have became a Christian according to the word of God, who believes in every miracles that God did that we read in the Bible is is not the natural man.

 

[Bible_Highlighter]

Faith is assurance and conviction. My believing doesn't guarantee that but the faith that comes from the Word does.

Heb.11:1
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

So I disagree that believing which, is an act of my will and faith are the same thing. The two, my will and the Word, must go together but it is the word that holds all the power to create faith.

I agree that faith involves confidence and assurance, as Romans 8 shows that the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). However, when comparing Hebrews 11:1 in the KJV and the NIV, the difference in wording does affect how we understand faith. The KJV says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” while the NIV reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The KJV emphasizes faith as something tangible, a substance and evidence that gives reality to what is hoped for. The NIV, however, turns this into a more subjective inner feeling of confidence. That distinction matters because the Calvinist understanding of faith tends to treat it as something God unilaterally imparts apart from human choice, whereas the KJV wording harmonizes better with what Scripture elsewhere teaches, that faith involves man’s response to God’s Word.

While I fully agree that the Word of God is the source of faith (Romans 10:17), Scripture also shows that man must choose to believe what he hears. This is where I differ from your Calvinist view. I believe in prevenient grace, that God graciously enables and empowers the will to respond to His Word but does not override it. God frees the will so that genuine belief is possible, not forced. Thus, faith is not a hostile takeover of the will but a cooperative response between God’s grace and man’s decision to trust Him. When one hears the Word, the Spirit works to persuade the heart, but each person must yield to that persuasion. In that sense, faith is both substance, meaning real and active, and evidence, meaning our voluntary conviction of unseen truth. The confidence and assurance that follow come through the Spirit’s witness within, confirming that we truly belong to God, not because He made us believe but because we freely believed in response to His gracious call.

In the original Greek, the verse reads, “Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων” (Estin de pistis elpizomenōn hypostasis, pragmatōn elegchos ou blepomenōn). The word ὑπόστασις (hypostasis) literally means “that which stands under” or a foundation, something that gives reality and substance to what is hoped for. The word ἔλεγχος (elegchos) means “proof,” “evidence,” or “demonstration.” Therefore, the KJV’s rendering, “substance” and “evidence,” is more faithful to the literal sense of the Greek. It portrays faith as something solid and real, not merely an inward feeling or psychological assurance. Modern renderings like “confidence” and “assurance” (NIV) shift the meaning toward subjective emotion rather than objective spiritual reality. Thus, the KJV more accurately captures what the Greek expresses, that faith is the God-enabled foundation and proof of unseen truths, grasped through our willing response to His Word. Again, it is also worth noting that Modern Bibles do tend to favor Calvinistic ideas in a few select places, reflecting theological bias in their translation choices. They are the new kids on the block and their Greek text is an artificially constructed Greek text that was never used by the church until 1881. A Unitarian (George Vance Smith) had helped Westcott and Hort on the English Revised Version and they even fellowshipped with him. This Unitarian wrote a book afterwards and said theological doctrines were changed. I have personally catalogued 77 Changed doctrines in Modern Bibles. You can check them out in my PDFs at www.affectionsabove.com.




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[sawdust]

God does create the soul, and He creates it good. The transference of corruption comes from the parents. That's the point being made in Genesis 5 where Adam has a son in his own likeness and imagine, and Psalm 51 where David says in sin did my mother conceive me. The transference of sin comes from the parents.

He does not create it good, He declares it to be good because it is in accordance with His will. God cannot create anything innately good for God alone is good and God is uncreated.

Yes from the parents in the body. Flesh gives birth to flesh. Jn.3:6 We do not get our souls from our parents so no transference of corruption there. The sin nature is not a "virus" that one soul can catch from another soul but is a genetically formed law that "short circuits" (so to speak) the body and prevents the body functioning as God originally intended. This is why it is prone to genetic malformation, disease and ultimately death. It is this malfunction that deceives the mind (a function of the soul) for the soul is born into darkness and has no truth upon which to access. Rom.7:23 Hence, the light and truth of God enters by means of His grace to suppress the flesh and allow the mind to see the truth. The mind does not have to comprehend great spiritual truths to understand the Gospel. We are led (by God) to see right from wrong and the judgement upon the difference. Jn.16:8 The Gospel is the light that confirms the judgement we all deserve and gives us a way out of death. There is a moral aspect that any man can see if they so desire to see it because God makes sure He sees it just as He makes sure every man recognises His existence through creation. (No-one needed to be spiritually alive to understand that spiritual truth, God exists and is all powerful) If he never got to the Gospel it is because he rejected God's drawing.

 

[Cameron143]

He does not create it good, He declares it to be good because it is in accordance with His will. God cannot create anything innately good for God alone is good and God is uncreated.

Yes from the parents in the body. Flesh gives birth to flesh. Jn.3:6 We do not get our souls from our parents so no transference of corruption there. The sin nature is not a "virus" that one soul can catch from another soul but is a genetically formed law that "short circuits" (so to speak) the body and prevents the body functioning as God originally intended. This is why it is prone to genetic malformation, disease and ultimately death. It is this malfunction that deceives the mind (a function of the soul) for the soul is born into darkness and has no truth upon which to access. Rom.7:23 Hence, the light and truth of God enters by means of His grace to suppress the flesh and allow the mind to see the truth. The mind does not have to comprehend great spiritual truths to understand the Gospel. We are led (by God) to see right from wrong and the judgement upon the difference. Jn.16:8 The Gospel is the light that confirms the judgement we all deserve and gives us a way out of death. There is a moral aspect that any man can see if they so desire to see it because God makes sure He sees it just as He makes sure every man recognises His existence through creation. (No-one needed to be spiritually alive to understand that spiritual truth, God exists and is all powerful) If he never got to the Gospel it is because he rejected God's drawing.

What is your definition of the soul?

 

[Me_Clay]

That is not a judicial basis for anyone's salvation. Since you believe that God just carte blanche saves all infants, babies, children, etc., then what would be His judicial basis for doing that since all of us come into this world born in Adam.

Which judiciary system are you referring ?

 

[sawdust]

While I fully agree that the Word of God is the source of faith (Romans 10:17), Scripture also shows that man must choose to believe what he hears.

I said that he must believe and that it is an act of his will.

This is where I differ from your Calvinist view.

I don't have a Calvinist view.

I believe in prevenient grace, that God graciously enables and empowers the will to respond to His Word but does not override it.

I don't believe He empowers the will to respond. Man was created to respond. Responding is normal. God suppresses the flesh so the sin nature must release the mind from the captivity of it's anti-God status. Then the person can respond according to what they prefer, light or dark.

It portrays faith as something solid and real, not merely an inward feeling or psychological assurance.

Agreed which, is how I know my believing, an act of my will, is not faith because I haven't always known with absolute confidence if God would keep His word but I act as if He will (believing) because I have prior evidence (faith) and that is how the power of the word transforms my believing into faith. As the children's song goes, "faith is like a muscle, use it and it will grow". You use what you have, believing the word when you don't know, and faith grows.

 

[Magenta]

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor ch 3 v 17). If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (Rom 8 v 9b). The world cannot receive the Spirit of truth, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him (from John 14 v 17). Those not in Christ are not free (see Heb 2 v 15). Praise God if He has rescued you from the dominion of darkness! (see Col 1 v 13)

 

[Jordon]

I agree that faith involves confidence and assurance, as Romans 8 shows that the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). However, when comparing Hebrews 11:1 in the KJV and the NIV, the difference in wording does affect how we understand faith. The KJV says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” while the NIV reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The KJV emphasizes faith as something tangible, a substance and evidence that gives reality to what is hoped for. The NIV, however, turns this into a more subjective inner feeling of confidence. That distinction matters because the Calvinist understanding of faith tends to treat it as something God unilaterally imparts apart from human choice, whereas the KJV wording harmonizes better with what Scripture elsewhere teaches, that faith involves man’s response to God’s Word.

While I fully agree that the Word of God is the source of faith (Romans 10:17), Scripture also shows that man must choose to believe what he hears. This is where I differ from your Calvinist view. I believe in prevenient grace, that God graciously enables and empowers the will to respond to His Word but does not override it. God frees the will so that genuine belief is possible, not forced. Thus, faith is not a hostile takeover of the will but a cooperative response between God’s grace and man’s decision to trust Him. When one hears the Word, the Spirit works to persuade the heart, but each person must yield to that persuasion. In that sense, faith is both substance, meaning real and active, and evidence, meaning our voluntary conviction of unseen truth. The confidence and assurance that follow come through the Spirit’s witness within, confirming that we truly belong to God, not because He made us believe but because we freely believed in response to His gracious call.

In the original Greek, the verse reads, “Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων” (Estin de pistis elpizomenōn hypostasis, pragmatōn elegchos ou blepomenōn). The word ὑπόστασις (hypostasis) literally means “that which stands under” or a foundation, something that gives reality and substance to what is hoped for. The word ἔλεγχος (elegchos) means “proof,” “evidence,” or “demonstration.” Therefore, the KJV’s rendering, “substance” and “evidence,” is more faithful to the literal sense of the Greek. It portrays faith as something solid and real, not merely an inward feeling or psychological assurance. Modern renderings like “confidence” and “assurance” (NIV) shift the meaning toward subjective emotion rather than objective spiritual reality. Thus, the KJV more accurately captures what the Greek expresses, that faith is the God-enabled foundation and proof of unseen truths, grasped through our willing response to His Word. Again, it is also worth noting that Modern Bibles do tend to favor Calvinistic ideas in a few select places, reflecting theological bias in their translation choices. They are the new kids on the block and their Greek text is an artificially constructed Greek text that was never used by the church until 1881. A Unitarian (George Vance Smith) had helped Westcott and Hort on the English Revised Version and they even fellowshipped with him. This Unitarian wrote a book afterwards and said theological doctrines were changed. I have personally catalogued 77 Changed doctrines in Modern Bibles. You can check them out in my PDFs at www.affectionsabove.com.




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Faith that saves is the lords faith m, but your still kicking your goad and your still bashing that dead horse called Calvinism, in the Last 50 posts you've made you've mentioned bashing calvinism everytime m.

Well rant on if it makes you happy but who's going to accept your word of none stop twining and condemnation of falsely accusing peoples faiths and walks.

Absolutely nobody, your just full of idealism,

and your still kicking against your goad. and you still haven't acknowledged before people are saved they kick against the lords active will in them.

You won't because that goes against your self exalting ego, that places yourself above people in there walk.

But your just no different to any other person with bitterness trying to workout your own salvation by being dogmatic of others, or wishing your life away thinking by condemning people you'll find favour.

Your a thief robbing people of there faith there walk and your an embarrassment to yourself and Gods will for mankind.

 

[sawdust]

What is your definition of the soul?

It is the invisible essence of who we are. It contains our personality and where we build character. It consists of:
consciousness (of self and others)
thinking (in all it's forms, rational, imagining, problem solving, creative etc.)
emotion
volition
conscience.

It is created in God's image (invisible) and likeness (having the capacity for personhood as outlined above)

As much as I love to say "dogs are people too!" They are not people. We are and a living soul is one who breathes because that soul is in a body that needs to breathe to stay alive. The soul (in us) is life in itself, specifically human life created in God's likeness. The Son is fully God and fully man and we were designed to reflect Him from the start.

 

[Magenta]

Ezekiel 36 v 27 I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

 

[Cameron143]

It is the invisible essence of who we are. It contains our personality and where we build character. It consists of:
consciousness (of self and others)
thinking (in all it's forms, rational, imagining, problem solving, creative etc.)
emotion
volition
conscience.

It is created in God's image (invisible) and likeness (having the capacity for personhood as outlined above)

As much as I love to say "dogs are people too!" They are not people. We are and a living soul is one who breathes because that soul is in a body that needs to breathe to stay alive. The soul (in us) is life in itself, specifically human life created in God's likeness. The Son is fully God and fully man and we were designed to reflect Him from the start.

Would the mind and the heart be part of the soul?

 

[Genez]

God does create the soul, and He creates it good. The transference of corruption comes from the parents. That's the point being made in Genesis 5 where Adam has a son in his own likeness and imagine, and Psalm 51 where David says in sin did my mother conceive me. The transference of sin comes from the parents.

The male's sperm transfers the corruption.
Not, the woman's ovum.

The woman sinned first, but it was though Adam that sin entered the world. (Romans 5:12)

God assigned the woman's ovum for the foundation for the sinless Messiah (Genesis 3:15)

.

 

[Genez]

Would the mind and the heart be part of the soul?

The Greek calls the mind - 'nous.'

The Greek calls the heart -'kardia.'

AI helps...

The Greek word for mind is "nous" (νοῦς), which refers to intellect or understanding. It encompasses the faculties of perceiving, reasoning, and moral judgment.

Kardia (καρδία) is the Greek word for "heart," which refers not only to the physical organ but also to the figurative center of a person's thoughts, emotions, and will. In biblical contexts, it represents the core of human life and moral decision-making.

 

[Jordon]

Would the mind and the heart be part of the soul?

Romans 12.2
Hebrews 4.12

 

[Jordon]

Just because someone doesn’t believe the same on a particular verse, does not mean they are the natural man. The natural man has no use for spiritual things. People who believe in God, Jesus, the Spirit, the inerrant word of God, people who try to walk in the light and have fruit of the Spirit, who have became a Christian according to the word of God, who believes in every miracles that God did that we read in the Bible is is not the natural man.

People who have been saved have the spirit in conflict with the the nature of themselves to prevent them from doing what they want.

Because mans nature needs a saviour m.

 

[Magenta]

Romans 12 v 2

Romans 12 v 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

 

[Magenta]

Hebrews 4 v 12

Hebrews 4 v 12 The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 

[Jordon]

Hebrews 4 v 12 The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Petty much

 

[Jordon]

I said that he must believe and that it is an act of his will.



I don't have a Calvinist view.



I don't believe He empowers the will to respond. Man was created to respond. Responding is normal. God suppresses the flesh so the sin nature must release the mind from the captivity of it's anti-God status. Then the person can respond according to what they prefer, light or dark.



Agreed which, is how I know my believing, an act of my will, is not faith because I haven't always known with absolute confidence if God would keep His word but I act as if He will (believing) because I have prior evidence (faith) and that is how the power of the word transforms my believing into faith. As the children's song goes, "faith is like a muscle, use it and it will grow". You use what you have, believing the word when you don't know, and faith grows.

well why would you not believe God empowers man to respond when Godly sorrow enables the heart to repent ?