Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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LifelongLearner said:
Many have probably realised i don't think we can exercise free will, even think it's impossible for us to. Won't explain why i think it's an impossiblility for us yet, think it's useful for some to express why they think it exists first.

I have no doubt we have and can make choices throughout life, however, think our options are far more restricted than most realise. What do you think?
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Just my opinion, we are mortal and sin is in us since the fall of man. So free will can be excersised sin or not. I don't trust my mind and my desicaions if the word does not apply with God's word. Are worst enemy is ourselves. Just a opinion and life long experience. I've heard pastors say don't go with what you think. Bible. Basic, instructions, before, leaving,earth.
 
Romans7-14-John8-34-Jeremiah13-23-Romans3-10.png

Romans 7 v 14, John 8 v 34, Jeremiah 13 v 23, Romans 3 v 10 ~ We know that the law is spiritual; but
I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good - you who are accustomed to doing evil. There is no one righteous, not even one.
 
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Magenta said:
Romans7-14-John8-34-Jeremiah13-23-Romans3-10.png

Romans 7 v 14, John 8 v 34, Jeremiah 13 v 23, Romans 3 v 10 ~ We know that the law is spiritual; but
I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good - you who are accustomed to doing evil. There is no one righteous, not even one.
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And this warning message is made even stronger by the Truly, truly!
 
rogerg said:
Yes, I admit it, but I disagree - nothing was needed from me, but that God chose me - it was given as a free gift, hence entirely from God's grace and mercy, not by my works. God is an exceedingly gracious and merciful Father through Jesus Christ the Savior. Apparently, you haven't experienced it yet. That is not to say that I don't desire Christ as Savior, but that desire came after and from salvation, not as a way to salvation.

[1Pe 2:3 KJV] 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious.
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And there we go. We have an admission.....
Not a confession, an admission. Big difference.
 
ChristRoseFromTheDead said:
It says demons believe that God is one, not that they have faith in God's words. Demons can't be saved because God has provided no way for them to be saved to be able to put their trust in. James was rebuking the belief that merely believing there is only one God is what saves.
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This issue comes up in these discussions because certain FWers want to
conflate knowing God exists (through creation) with believing the gospel.

BillyBob said:
And this warning message is made even stronger by the Truly, truly!
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Truly! And yet one of our legendary-in-his-own-mind FWers rewrote the verse to change
what Jesus said, because FWers largely reject what Scripture says of the natural man...
He rewrote it to say the only slaves to sin are those who choose to sin, and that is atheists. :rolleyes:
 
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Rufus said:
Of course, people can "believe in vain" because their faith was spurious to begin with.
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Makes sense that those who enter through their own will instead of through the saving power of Christ can fall away.

Whereas those given to Jesus by God, He will never cast out.

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John 6 v 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
 
lrs68 said:
Actually Paul wrote that each person has been given a measure of Faith. It has nothing to do with salvation but how God made the human being.

Honestly, the lengths you will go out of your way to distort a verse from the Bible for your personal beliefs is baffling. You do realize liars are one of the first mentioned to not inherit Heaven?
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And other FWT falsehood! Prove it from scripture.
 
Magenta said:
Makes sense that those who enter through their own will instead of through the saving power of Christ can fall away.
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No one can come to saving faith apart from God implementing all his heart-related works He promised in the New Covenant. No, new heart, no circumcised heart, no law of God written on the heart, no God-given faith in a heart can only produce fake faith!
 
Jordon said:
hey Rufus, I've been away for 5 days, I wondered if Rufus was your really name.

I think the poster may never have saw my intension correctly, but anyway comments made 5 days ago mean nothing to me now, in the sense of letting them upset me.

But they still mean something in the sense that I feel a senses of empathy for a person being consumed by religious abuse,

It's Diffacult to know really if a person consumed by religious hatred is a person who has been inflicted by it also, I guess I'm still learning on that one, but I believe I'm mature enough to learn.

So but the poster may not have fully realised, I had identified key traits in people consumed by religious hatred, after studying people's attitudes on YouTube, all with the same issues which was having issues with imaginary false idols.

But what all these people didn't realise was, they never should have been having issues with false idols, because what they where believing was all false.

It's a bit sad because they then encourage everybody else to have issues, with something that really shouldn't have became an issue, but then they get more of an issue, because you can't even talk to them about it without it leading to arguing about religious hatred.

Yep I think the poster didn't realise I was analysing real people's attitudes and characters and how they can become, I think he thought I was making it up or something.

Which may happen to a normal person too.

Anyways what's been and gone as gone.

Moving forward

What's your views on a pricked conscience being a type of enabling grace also.
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God's moral agents have consciences and those consciences reside in the human heart. Unless God does a supernatural work in a person's heart, no one's conscience will soften or become sensitive toward the Gospel of Truth.
 
ChristRoseFromTheDead said:
None of those say faith is a gift, except perhaps Romans 12:3, which says God has allotted to every man a measure of faith.
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That's a lie! Paul never said that in Rom 12:3.

Rom 12:3
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of YOU: Do not think of Yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of Yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given You.
NIV

How does "you" or "yourself" = all humanity w/o exception? You might wanna consider getting your fanciful imagination off steroids. Did Paul address his epistle to all mankind w/o exception? :rolleyes:
 
Rufus said:
That's a lie! Paul never said that in Rom 12:3.

Rom 12:3
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of YOU: Do not think of Yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of Yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given You.
NIV

How does "you" or "yourself" = all humanity w/o exception? You might wanna consider getting your fanciful imagination off steroids. Did Paul address his epistle to all mankind w/o exception? :rolleyes:
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That is not an accurate translation of the Greek
 
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ChristRoseFromTheDead said:
That is not an accurate translation of the Greek
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Well...I have a newsflash for you: ALL my translations (which number about 12 or so) say otherwise. I'm supposed to believe that all those various teams of language scholars got it wrong over all these years? :rolleyes:

To whom did Paul address his Roman's epistle: To everyone in the world or to the saints?
 
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