Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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Blue155 said:
Did Adam have free will? If Adam had free will, yet we do not have free will until we are “chosen” (all while being considered chosen from the foundation of the world, via Calvinism) then someone of the elect had free will but at the same time did not. That means the elect were only capable of choosing evil until they were “regenerated” all while being one of “the elect”. And if they were the elect according to Calvinism, then why the need for being born totally depraved or regenerated? Makes no sense.
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Is God a God of ifs and buts
 
Cameron143 said:
Humorous, but no. Being without unabated freewill doesn't preclude the ability to make choices.
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No such thing as "unabated" freewill. It's an oxymoron. Freedom necessitates boundaries or you end up with chaos.

What do you think you are using when you make a choice if not your volition?
 
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Jordon said:
Yep it says not only was he anointed in the garden he was also anointed at the time when Moses was at the mountain God, there's a huge amount of time there, wouldn't you say.
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was satan there when God called Moses out of Midian? Please provide chapter and verse. thanks.




Jordon said:
There only possibilities that you mention.

Theres many that people mention

The serpent was possessed

The serpent was satan

The serpent was a crafty animal

The serpent ate from the tree of knowledge first before eve

I just wonder tho why should one possibility be any more valid than the other ?

It's because folk law gets imprinted in beliefs is my best guess
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you do not believe that the serpent mentioned in Rev 20:2 is the same serpent mentioned in Gen 3:1?

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Jordon said:
we both agree Jesus was the tree of life

But I wonder are you unsure if Jesus was offering them salvation in the garden.

Or to look at another are you unsure if they where already saved in the garden

Just to touch on something you said even tho God knows the future.

Life still has to take it's cause.
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Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

...

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

according to vs 9, there were trees which were pleasant to the sight and good for food ... and the tree of life also and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

according to vs 16, the trees which were pleasant to the sight and good for food and the tree life were trees from which Adam and Eve could freely eat.

I don't know if it would ever have crossed Eve's mind to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil if satan had not drawn her to it and enticed her to eat.

.
 
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reneweddaybyday said:
was satan there when God called Moses out of Midian? Please provide chapter and verse. thanks.





you do not believe that the serpent mentioned in Rev 20:2 is the same serpent mentioned in Gen 3:1?

.
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I would like to believe it m but I cant believe possibilities with a whole heart ❤️
 
Blue155 said:
Doesn’t change the main point of my questions.
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Maybe this will this is no difference to God knowing who will be his before the foundations of the world

Was Paul a calvinist ?

Galatians 1:15 Paul
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace

Did God call Paul by grace in his mothers womb.

And set him apart for what ?

Your answer is here as to what he was set apart for and when he called him by grace,

Acts 9

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”


Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.


This was God knowing the day when Paul was in his mother's womb he would be called by grace and filled with the holy spirit
 
BillyBob said:
No. Thanks to man's disobedience, we have lost the ability to please God.
Now “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil” (Gen 6:5).
The Bible clearly and consistently teaches (1) man is free to do good or evil, that he is at liberty to do either, but (2) that he is able to do only evil because of his fallen condition.
** G I Williamson **
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so ... is G I Williamson claiming that man will do only evil even though man is free to do good ?

example: natural man will not give to feed the poor even when he sees someone starving ... is that what G I Williamson is pointing out?


... or that any good a man carries out does nothing to make him righteous ?

example: natural man may give to feed the poor ... which is a good thing to do ... but it does not make him righteous. Even though he thinks he's doing good, it's evil. is that what G I Williamson is pointing out?

.
 
Jordon said:
Galatians 1:15 Paul
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace

Did God call Paul by grace in his mothers womb.

And set him apart for what ?
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Acts 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel

.
 
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Jordon said:
Maybe this will this is no difference to God knowing who will be his before the foundations of the world

Was Paul a calvinist ?

Galatians 1:15 Paul
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace

Did God call Paul by grace in his mothers womb.

And set him apart for what ?

Your answer is here as to what he was set apart for and when he called him by grace,

Acts 9

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”


Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.


This was God knowing the day when Paul was in his mother's womb he would be called by grace and filled with the holy spirit
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No, Paul was not a Calvinist. He was an apostle. I already addressed Gal. 1 earlier.

Would you like to answer my questions?

“Are you one of the elect? Were you chosen before the foundation of the world the way Calvinism teaches?”
 
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