Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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Last time: being able choose is not freewill.

Then? What would you call not being allowed to choose?

If we were not living in a fallen world, and evil thinking people did not exist?
Our volition would give license to having free will.

And, if you believe that only God has free will?
That would mean He wanted people to be created to go to Hell.

Free will has its limitations in this present world we live in.
 
Then? What would you call not being allowed to choose?

If we were not living in a fallen world, and evil thinking people did not exist?
Our volition would give license to having free will.

And, if you believe that only God has free will?
That would mean He wanted people to be created to go to Hell.

Free will has its limitations in this present world we live in.
you have it backwards again, God created mankind with his will.

He created mankind in his image, and since he desires none should perish, he desired that before he created mankind,

Anyhoo the only free will you have is a result of inheriting a sin nature, free will in mankind is a license to sin, which you do nearly everyday here 🙂
 
Last time: being able choose is not freewill. It is volition.

I showed you the definition of volition. Just because you want to make the claim that will and volition are two separate things does not make it so. We make decisions according to our will. That is a volitional act. They are the same thing.

Again.
volition
American


[voh-lish-uhn, vuh-] / voʊˈlɪʃ ən, və- /
noun

  1. the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing.


    She left of her own volition.
    Synonyms: choice , discretion
  2. a choice or decision made by the will.
  3. the power of willing; will.

A volitional choice is your will in action and it is either from a will that has been freed by grace or it is a will in bondage to sin. Ergo, when living by means of God's grace, our will is free.

We do choose, but we choose according to what is exercising influence over us.

No, we choose according to what we desire. Which is how we can still sin. James 1:15

So...I can choose to walk in the Spirit or the flesh. Once I choose, I will be influenced by the one I have chosen. At the same time, God is always working in me to conform me to the image of Christ. I have 0 control of this.

That makes no sense. On one hand you choose to walk by means of the Spirit but you have no control over your growth? You just chose to co-operate so you do have some control especially considering a fruit of the Spirit is self-control.

You have effectively said you never sin. If you have chosen to walk by the Spirit (and you say you have) and you can only make decisions based on the one influencing you, then logically you can only make right decisions and therefore never sin.

None of us can do what is right and good in the sight of God apart from grace. This is not about God's work in the process but what we are doing or failing to do.

As long as you think your choices are not the consequences of your freed will, but are solely based on the influence of God, you will never need to confess or repent, for it is impossible for you to do wrong.

In other words, I waste my time discussing anything with you because logically, it is inconceivable you can be wrong.

Have a nice life. :)
 
Show me the Bible Verse then because I can present many that prove you are wrong.

[1Co 2:13-14 KJV]
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Gal 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Act 18:27
And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

[Luk 1:77 KJV] 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

[Phl 1:28-29 KJV]
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
 
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[1Co 2:13-14 KJV]
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Gal 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Act 18:27
And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

[Luk 1:77 KJV] 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

[Phl 1:28-29 KJV]
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

@lrs68

Forgot to include this one

[2Pe 1:1 KJV]
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
 
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I never said we are not influenced, I said we are not in bondage to the influence. We can choose an alternative if we so desire. The slave to sin cannot, the slave to Christ can. In order to make the choice between two things (in this case two opposing things) one's will must be free.

I really don't think this is a hard concept to understand.

Once again, you never answered my question. "Can you choose to sin or not?
Paul called himself a servant (doulos) of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A doulos is one who has freely subjected himself or herself to the person served.

Deuteronomy 15:12-17

12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.

16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;

17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.


The doulos, as Paul refers to himself, is a servant who is described in Lev 15:16-17. This person has been set free of his or her bondage, yet he or she freely pledges to serve the master for the whole of his or her life.

in our case, we are set free from our bondage when we are born again ... and we freely pledge to serve the Lord Jesus Christ the whole of our life.

.
 
And another issue.........God draws ALL people. Not just the calvies.
Has someone said only the Calvies are drawn? Just looks like another dishonest misdirect from you.

Do all come? No. Do those given to Jesus by God come? Yes they do.

2peter1-3-8s.png
 
No being a slave to Christ is nothing like being a slave to sin it is one that is amazing when submit yourself to him with utter surrender like everything in your being he opens up himself to you in glorious ways.

That is what it is like to be a slave to Christ Paul understood this and even called himself a slave to Christ

Which is, yet, another profound paradox in scripture. Once a sinner is freed from the bondage of his sin nature, this sets him free to faithfully serve His new Master the Lord Jesus Christ in righteousness. Every human being serves on master or the other.








 
nope ... until you provide the post number, your claim that a "sarcastic free willer said when an unbeliver does good there doing evil" is as imaginary as your use of the imaginary misnomer "free willer".

.
nope I don't like repeating myself . Because showing the actions of a sarcastic free willer suffering with hate may do some good but so far all the hate I've tried to help people with here in this thread has only made the sarcastic free willer hate more, so nope I showed you and I wont be showing you again 🙂. Because I know even if i show you again you will not listen anyway, as you've done already
 
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I showed you the definition of volition. Just because you want to make the claim that will and volition are two separate things does not make it so. We make decisions according to our will. That is a volitional act. They are the same thing.

Again.
volition
American


[voh-lish-uhn, vuh-] / voʊˈlɪʃ ən, və- /
noun

  1. the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing.


    She left of her own volition.
    Synonyms: choice , discretion
  2. a choice or decision made by the will.
  3. the power of willing; will.

A volitional choice is your will in action and it is either from a will that has been freed by grace or it is a will in bondage to sin. Ergo, when living by means of God's grace, our will is free.



No, we choose according to what we desire. Which is how we can still sin. James 1:15



That makes no sense. On one hand you choose to walk by means of the Spirit but you have no control over your growth? You just chose to co-operate so you do have some control especially considering a fruit of the Spirit is self-control.

You have effectively said you never sin. If you have chosen to walk by the Spirit (and you say you have) and you can only make decisions based on the one influencing you, then logically you can only make right decisions and therefore never sin.

None of us can do what is right and good in the sight of God apart from grace. This is not about God's work in the process but what we are doing or failing to do.

As long as you think your choices are not the consequences of your freed will, but are solely based on the influence of God, you will never need to confess or repent, for it is impossible for you to do wrong.

In other words, I waste my time discussing anything with you because logically, it is inconceivable you can be wrong.

Have a nice life. :)

They have blinded themselves.

When speaking to Calvinists, it is not like speaking to someone with a different opinion or a different view.

There is a reason they must constantly remove their proof text from the surrounding context.
It is not a genuine discussion.

Those who are trained to employ many different tactics like redirection, post hoc rationalizations, cherry picking verses etc.,
They are looking for converts to the system.

They must present the system as being the ultimate truth, the highest level of understanding so that people will be persuaded by it.

Notice how they they will eventually come to "you are saving yourself" false accusation.

This is a tactic they employ,.....guilt, accuse people of taking glory away from God.

It is all psychological, and the people who fall for this false "system" tend to fall into a certain group.:censored:
Sometimes the "covert" part fails and they show who they really are.

It is really sad this system has become ubiquitous in the churches because it never used to be.
 
sawdust said:


I never said we are not influenced, I said we are not in bondage to the influence. We can choose an alternative if we so desire. The slave to sin cannot, the slave to Christ can. In order to make the choice between two things (in this case two opposing things) one's will must be free.

I really don't think this is a hard concept to understand.


Once again, you never answered my question. "Can you choose to sin or not?

Will you be able to make a choice between two "opposing things" in the eternal, visible kingdom of God? Will the choice to "sin or not" actually be a moral/spiritual option in the kingdom? Or...will you be in total bondage to holiness, righteousness and goodness? If the latter, then how would your will be free?
 
And another issue.........God draws ALL people. Not just the calvies.
There is a “general call” which goes out to all men. This call is refused by most men, yet leaves them with no excuse. However, the “effectual call” by the Holy Spirit cannot be refused. It is a call that works a change in those to whom it is sent. A change that provides us with a saving knowledge and a desire to know God.
Effectual means exactly what it infers, it will not fail to achieve its purpose. Only the Elect receive this drawing to Christ.
Being Elect does not mean that you are a Calvinist, it means you are God's chosen!
God has always had a chosen people. . . . . . and it is His purpose to save them.
 
They have blinded themselves.

When speaking to Calvinists, it is not like speaking to someone with a different opinion or a different view.

There is a reason they must constantly remove their proof text from the surrounding context.
It is not a genuine discussion.

Those who are trained to employ many different tactics like redirection, post hoc rationalizations, cherry picking verses etc.,
They are looking for converts to the system.

They must present the system as being the ultimate truth, the highest level of understanding so that people will be persuaded by it.

Notice how they they will eventually come to "you are saving yourself" false accusation.

This is a tactic they employ,.....guilt, accuse people of taking glory away from God.

It is all psychological, and the people who fall for this false "system" tend to fall into a certain group.:censored:
Sometimes the "covert" part fails and they show who they really are.

It is really sad this system has become ubiquitous in the churches because it never used to be.
You don't care what you say, how you say it or who you aim your comments at. All you done everyday since I've been here is label people almost everyday

constantly abusing peoples faith can result in people losing hope, developing low self esteem even stress leading to mental health issues as well even trauma, which then can cause a person to develop self destructive tendencies.

And don't say it doesn't happen because my mum helped people her whole life being on the end of peoples abusive comments all the time 😢.

You really need to stop
 
You don't care what you say, how you say it or who aim your comments at. All you done everyday since I've been here is label people,

constantly abusing peoples faith can result in people losing hope, developing low self esteem even stress leading to mental health issues as well even trauma, which then can cause a person to develop self destructive tendencies.

And don't say it doesn't happen because my helped people her whole life being on the end of people abusive comments all the time 😢.

You really need to stop

Truth matters.
 
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nope I don't like repeating myself .
you wouldn't have to repeat yourself if you had actually provided the post number ... which you never did, notwithstanding your insistence that you did.

You know ... and Magenta knows ... you have yet to provide factual support for claims made.

Proverbs 6:16-19

16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

.
 
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You know ... and Magenta knows ... you have yet to provide factual support for claims made.
Says the person who entered this thread breathing out lies and false accusations, then talking about how Christians ought to behave!

Don't expect me to try to find all your lies.