Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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BillyBob said:
I see no evidence to show that you are here to understand God in any way.
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I seek truth. If my search of truth is in opposition to the way the moderators of this web-site thinks, and they want to
censure my thoughts, then the only thing you have to do is to report my comment to the moderators. Then I will be banned and you are free to not see my comments anymore. Whatever: I wish you a nice day !

Finally comment: If I get banned from this site, I might spread the word that this site is very restricted and the moderators are in opposition to seekers like me. Just as you know it.
 
the_seeker said:
I seek truth. If my search of truth is in opposition to the way the moderators of this web-site thinks, and they want to
censure my thoughts, then the only thing you have to do is to report my comment to the moderators. Then I will be banned and you are free to not see my comments anymore. Whatever: I wish you a nice day !

Finally comment: If I get banned from this site, I might spread the word that this site is very restricted and the moderators are in opposition to seekers like me. Just as you know it.
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the_seeker said:
I seek truth. If my search of truth is in opposition to the way the moderators of this web-site thinks, and they want to
censure my thoughts, then the only thing you have to do is to report my comment to the moderators. Then I will be banned and you are free to not see my comments anymore. Whatever: I wish you a nice day !

Finally comment: If I get banned from this site, I might spread the word that this site is very restricted and the moderators are in opposition to seekers like me. Just as you know it.
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Pardon me, I believe that I must go outside and shake the dust from my feet.
 
Nedsk said:
I just asked you questions that you can't answer. Its ok i get it.
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I have asked you several questions you have so far not answered.

Your erroneous assumptions and false accusations are a reflection of who you are.

Circling the drain with you is not on my list of priorities.
 
Rufus said:
Quit whining already. Fine me a passage that says that God will have mercy on whoever wants it.
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And yet listen to Paul lay waste to the claims of total depravity"

[Act 17:22-24, 26-27 NASB] 22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; … 26 and He made from one [man] every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

Total depravity…busted.
 
Cameron143 said:
Why don't you answer? You might learn something.
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Something for you to learn..

Agapē does not compel ("It does not insist on its own way" – 1 Cor 13:5b ESV)

Irresistible grace insists on its own way.

God's means of loving us is grace.

God's form of love is agapē.

Irresistible grace is not agapē.

That God saves us is his ultimate expression of love.

This expression of love cannot utilize irresistible grace.

Irresistible grace is NOT how God saves us.
 
Romans7-18-24a.png

Romans 7 v 18-24a I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!
 
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HeIsHere said:
That God saves us is his ultimate expression of love.
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That is why He does not leave it up to man.

Meh. Except great men like you. You are special, yes?

You managed to pull off in the flesh what Jesus said was impossible!

Yes, very impressive. God was not required at all.

According to you...
 
the_seeker said:
Well to be honest with you Jordon;
No.

Admittely we have a volcano in Norway in the the arctic island of Jan Mayen, but I have never been there.
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what I meant was , have you have ever been an angry Norwegian ready to burst with an untamed tongue 😝
 
BillyBob said:
Seems like a statement that accurately reflects the God of the Bible. After all, we are told “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”
Oh, I forgot! You believe this makes Him unfair. . . . :rolleyes:
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Here is the god of all arbitrariness.

Enjoy, I prefer the God of the Bible who does not create trillions of humans for destruction to display his personal glory.

Arbitrary God.JPG
 
HeIsHere said:
And yet listen to Paul lay waste to the claims of total depravity"

[Act 17:22-24, 26-27 NASB] 22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; … 26 and He made from one [man] every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

Total depravity…busted.
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The verses don't speak about depravity. They merely express God's design and interest in man's salvation, much like 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 1. But...if perhaps they might grope for Him...sounds alot like 2 Timothy 2:25. And the verses do not deal with the reality that the natural fallen man does not seek or grope after God.
 
HeIsHere said:
Something for you to learn..

Agapē does not compel ("It does not insist on its own way" – 1 Cor 13:5b ESV)

Irresistible grace insists on its own way.

God's means of loving us is grace.

God's form of love is agapē.

Irresistible grace is not agapē.

That God saves us is his ultimate expression of love.

This expression of love cannot utilize irresistible grace.

Irresistible grace is NOT how God saves us.
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You suffer from a low opinion of God. God's grace is not irresistible because of force, but because of the overwhelming magnitude of love and mercy and grace that is manifested. If you have ever experienced this, you would know why no one resists it.
 
Romans 1 - 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise!f Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. 31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.

32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
 
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