Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
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I agree, not only that a heart that is already hardened can harden it's self further.
Make your choice @Blain.
The Lord Jesus Christ died for all. His salvation is freely offered to all...........That is Mercy.....His Grace in action.
And that comes from a hard heart that doesn't know mercy? Are we the evil ones for spreading this GOOD NEWS to all?
None of which leads rationally to “living in an eternal state of sin is forbidden”. Your assertion is not supported by Scripture.
Here is the fathers eternal mercy being the key that Jesus uses to unlock there hearts.
Notice Jesus saying my father gives me the bread the life and the word
John 6:31-33
New International Version
31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Gods eternal will for you is the father wants for you to have belief for you, it highlights the plan for salvation, and again highlights the fathers mercy and the sons mercy being an eternal will from the beginning.
John 6:40
New International Version
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
The father inherent mercy is seen by the son at the cross and before the cross in the unbelievers unsaved
Moreover jesus declares he desires to see mercy
well if they had eaten of the tree of life they would have lived in sin forever, that's why he prevented them. Living in sin forever is forbidden full stop period.
Anyhoo think what you like.
I know my bible.
Scripture does not say that.
You made a truth claim regarding Scripture that Scripture doesn’t support, so you clearly don’t know it as well as you think you do.
Display your ignorance if you like.
it's ok I know your only intent is to question my belief and leave me with a closed mind
Have. A nice day in your denial
Yes it is feely offered to all but as for who receives it well that depends because some can receieve it and some cannot this is why the subject of free will is so hotly debated it can only mean one truth yet we seem to have several different truths each one right in their own minds.
Tell me this what does it take to be saved? what is required?
But, He does not want them to perish...
You have a hard time swallowing that.
Yet, you claim He is sovereign and does all as He desires.
The key here is?
He wants man to have free will.
Why?
So there can be a genuine interaction between man and God in love.
For that reason, God is pleased that He succeeded in creating a real life.
A life that is not free to reject Him is not a real life!
.......
That is a Calvinism lie.
Show me the verses they used to justify that stand, and I'll show you how they failed the context test in determining its meaning.
the intelligence of dark mind springs to mind with you for reasons you bring on yourself
Jordon... I thank God, I see you as one who thinks yet like a little kid.
Otherwise... I would worry about you.
You offer very little of real substance.
You tell stories.
Because you do not realize that what you are attempting to deal with is an actual reality,
and not a game to play.
.....
Why would anyone tell an unbeliever that? Who of us knows if God predestined them to be saved? BUT all Christians know that man is morally obligated to obey God -- including the demands of His gospel.
But thanks for your lame post. It shows just how desperate you FWers are since FWT is totally bankrupt and cannot be supported by coherent arguments from scripture. You just have to grasp at any straws you can, don't you?
2 Peter 3:9 KJV
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
In 2 Peter 3:9:
The Greek word underlying the English word "all": πάντας
Transliteration: pantas
Part of Speech: Adjective (accusative masculine plural)
Meaning: all, every, everyone
Beza 1598 Greek that underlies the KJV for the English word "all":
Source:
https://archive.org/details/1598-beza-greek-latin-nt/page/n1093/mode/2up
Truly God is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.
πάντας (pantas) is not referring to a select few or group (the Elect) but to "all," or "everyone."
The context of the chapter also supports this as well.
Contextual Point #1. - 2 Peter 2:20–22 proves that the people returning to sin had real opportunity for repentance
These people have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ then become entangled again.
If repentance belongs only to the elect, these non elect apostates never had escape. Peter refutes that idea by stating plainly that they escaped and turned back. Therefore repentance is presented as something offered universally, not to a secret subset.
2 Peter 2:20–22 proves that the people returning to sin had real opportunity for repentance.
These people have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ then become entangled again. If repentance belongs only to the elect, these non elect apostates never had escape. Peter refutes that idea by stating plainly that they escaped and turned back. Therefore repentance is presented as something offered universally, not to a secret subset.
Contextual Point #2. - 2 Peter 2:1 teaches that even the ones who perish were “bought”
“But there were false prophets also among the people … even denying the Lord that bought them.”
This is not limited atonement.
These are lost people who perish, yet Peter says they were “bought.”
If Peter believed in a limited, elect-only repentance, he could not say that Christ bought those who deny Him and bring swift destruction upon themselves.
This verse alone shows Peter believes the scope of the Lord’s work extends to all men, even those who refuse it.
2 Peter 2:1 teaches that even the ones who perish were “bought”
“But there were false prophets also among the people … even denying the Lord that bought them.”
This is not limited atonement.
These are lost people who perish, yet Peter says they were “bought.”
If Peter believed in a limited, elect-only repentance, he could not say that Christ bought those who deny Him and bring swift destruction upon themselves.
This verse alone shows Peter believes the scope of the Lord’s work extends to all men, even those who refuse it.
Contextual Point #3: - Peter intentionally brings up Noah to establish a universal pattern of God’s patience
2 Peter 2:5 KJV
“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
Peter chooses Noah for a reason.
He is not merely giving a historical example.
He is creating a pattern.
He is showing how God deals with mankind before a universal judgment.
Two details matter greatly.
(1) “the old world”
This word is universal.
It does not refer to the elect only.
It does not refer to a small group.
It refers to all mankind living at that time.
(2) Noah was “a preacher of righteousness”
Noah was preaching righteousness to the same “world of the ungodly.”
This means the preaching was aimed at all people.
Noah did not preach only to the elect.
He preached repentance to all humanity even though only eight responded.
God extending warning and preaching to the entire world proves His patience was toward the whole world.
So God is long suffering to "us-ward" (all of humanity) today.
So the "us-ward" in 2 Peter 3:9 is a reference to all men universally and not just to the Elect.
If “us-ward” meant a select elect class, then verse 9 would say:
God is not willing that any of the elect should perish.
Yet in Calvinism, the elect were never in any danger of perishing.
Therefore “us-ward” must refer to the human subjects of judgment.
#
2.
....Truly
.....
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
In 2 Peter 3:9:
The Greek word underlying the English word "all": πάντας
Transliteration: pantas
Part of Speech: Adjective (accusative masculine plural)
Meaning: all, every, everyone
Beza 1598 Greek that underlies the KJV for the English word "all":
Source:
https://archive.org/details/1598-beza-greek-latin-nt/page/n1093/mode/2up
Truly God is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.
πάντας (pantas) is not referring to a select few or group (the Elect) but to "all," or "everyone."
The context of the chapter also supports this as well.
Contextual Point #1. - 2 Peter 2:20–22 proves that the people returning to sin had real opportunity for repentance
These people have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ then become entangled again.
If repentance belongs only to the elect, these non elect apostates never had escape. Peter refutes that idea by stating plainly that they escaped and turned back. Therefore repentance is presented as something offered universally, not to a secret subset.
2 Peter 2:20–22 proves that the people returning to sin had real opportunity for repentance.
These people have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ then become entangled again. If repentance belongs only to the elect, these non elect apostates never had escape. Peter refutes that idea by stating plainly that they escaped and turned back. Therefore repentance is presented as something offered universally, not to a secret subset.
Contextual Point #2. - 2 Peter 2:1 teaches that even the ones who perish were “bought”
“But there were false prophets also among the people … even denying the Lord that bought them.”
This is not limited atonement.
These are lost people who perish, yet Peter says they were “bought.”
If Peter believed in a limited, elect-only repentance, he could not say that Christ bought those who deny Him and bring swift destruction upon themselves.
This verse alone shows Peter believes the scope of the Lord’s work extends to all men, even those who refuse it.
2 Peter 2:1 teaches that even the ones who perish were “bought”
“But there were false prophets also among the people … even denying the Lord that bought them.”
This is not limited atonement.
These are lost people who perish, yet Peter says they were “bought.”
If Peter believed in a limited, elect-only repentance, he could not say that Christ bought those who deny Him and bring swift destruction upon themselves.
This verse alone shows Peter believes the scope of the Lord’s work extends to all men, even those who refuse it.
Contextual Point #3: - Peter intentionally brings up Noah to establish a universal pattern of God’s patience
2 Peter 2:5 KJV
“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
Peter chooses Noah for a reason.
He is not merely giving a historical example.
He is creating a pattern.
He is showing how God deals with mankind before a universal judgment.
Two details matter greatly.
(1) “the old world”
This word is universal.
It does not refer to the elect only.
It does not refer to a small group.
It refers to all mankind living at that time.
(2) Noah was “a preacher of righteousness”
Noah was preaching righteousness to the same “world of the ungodly.”
This means the preaching was aimed at all people.
Noah did not preach only to the elect.
He preached repentance to all humanity even though only eight responded.
God extending warning and preaching to the entire world proves His patience was toward the whole world.
So God is long suffering to "us-ward" (all of humanity) today.
So the "us-ward" in 2 Peter 3:9 is a reference to all men universally and not just to the Elect.
If “us-ward” meant a select elect class, then verse 9 would say:
God is not willing that any of the elect should perish.
Yet in Calvinism, the elect were never in any danger of perishing.
Therefore “us-ward” must refer to the human subjects of judgment.
#
2.
....Truly
.....
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
John 16 8-9
And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me;
Acts 16:31~~~believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved......YOU AND YOUR HOUSEHOLD......(ANYONE AND ALL CAN BELIEVE for salvation.)
2 Cor 6:2
For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.