Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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Surely you mean that we were predestined because God foreknew that we would turn to Him! You really didn't mean according to the good pleasure of HIS will.
The super-determinist take on the term "predestined" has already been crushingly de-Calvinized and debunked on this thread in the most thoroughly comprehensive manner.

Try and keep up will you....:rolleyes:
 
Some Calvinists I ran into love to make Darth Vader memes in their reference to their understanding of God. So why would they compare their understanding of God to Darth Vader? It’s because the very belief is not only unbiblical it also teaches that God is unloving.
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Like Father like sons? Is that what you are trying to say....:unsure:
 
What has that got to do with what I said?

Phil.2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.

This is about us working out the salvation we have been given. Nothing to do with the choice God made as to which salvation package you would be given.

Stay on track Cameron. You have a tendency to change topic.
You were saying God willing and doing had to do with the manner of salvation and not for individuals. I established that God's pattern is to will and do of His good pleasure in people.
 
The super-determinist take on the term "predestined" has already been crushingly de-Calvinized and debunked on this thread in the most thoroughly comprehensive manner.

Try and keep up will you....:rolleyes:
I don't suppose I'll get an answer from You but have you even noticed that people are not even remotely bothered by you calling them Calvinist probably a thousand times in this thread ?

Don't people who love there faith like these people do normally stick up for the name given to them by there church, like catholics and Jews,

I haven't seen one person you've called a calvinist once take any notice of you in like hundreds.of.times?

Is there something not computing in your brain or something ?
 
You were saying God willing and doing had to do with the manner of salvation and not for individuals. I established that God's pattern is to will and do of His good pleasure in people.

You have brain cells of Teflon.
 
I call it the "dumb as a bag of hammers" soteriology fit only for the willfully ignorant.
Only the "one verse wonders" who refuse to do their homework choose to drink the super-determinist snake oil.

[Pro 1:22 KJV] 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
the hearts speaks what it's fond of springs to mind..when was the last time you was generous ? Could you tell me.something good about yourself

You've. Made an disgrace out of yourself in
this thread, I can't imagine what you will be like when you get older but what I do know is time runs out fast as you get older I've heard it said so many times by the elderly in there experience of old people they say if People are still bitter and mean in there 50s they get really sour in there 60s and pass the point of no return.

How old are you ?
 
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the hearts speaks what it's fond of springs to mind..when was the last time you was generous ? Could you tell me.something good about yourself

You've. Made an disgrace out of yourself in
this thread, I can't imagine what you will be like when you get older but what I do know is time runs out fast as you get older I've heard it said so many times by the elderly in there experience of old people they say if People are still bitter and mean in there 50s they get really sour in there 60s and pass the point of no return.

How old are you ?
Well at least I haven't lost my sense of humor.......or irony. Neither have I lost my common sense for that matter.
 
In Calvinism,

as you probably know "all" does not mean "all"

"world" does not mean "world"

people are created by God with a nature which prohibits them from believing the Good News until He divinely and uniquely activates (regenerates) them before belief,

all this means that....

Christ Jesus gave false hope to all those who heard Him teach if the were not created for salvation from before time.
I would change what you wrote to:

"In the bible, the word translated 'all' doesn't always mean 'everybody without exception'." For example, does this verse mean that every single person from Judea and the region around the Jordan was baptized by John?:

“Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mr 1:5 NKJV)

Similarly with "world". When Caesar issued his decree that all the world should be taxed, it meant the whole Roman empire, not every single individual on earth:

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” (Lu 2:1 NKJV)
 
I would change what you wrote to:

"In the bible, the word translated 'all' doesn't always mean 'everybody without exception'." For example, does this verse mean that every single person from Judea and the region around the Jordan was baptized by John?:

“Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mr 1:5 NKJV)

Similarly with "world". When Caesar issued his decree that all the world should be taxed, it meant the whole Roman empire, not every single individual on earth:

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” (Lu 2:1 NKJV)
Excellent points, Mr. Lamb...
 
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Like Father like sons? Is that what you are trying to say....:unsure:

I am simply recognizing a pattern here. Other patterns could easily be mentioned to reinforce what I am saying, yet the real battle for truth should stay rooted in Scripture and in real world examples. These are what bring down the strongholds set up in the minds of men on this subject.

May God bless you.



....
 
Makes no difference! We do not have a God who changes. If He were to change, it would be impossible to determine His thoughts. God has always had a people that He calls His own [His Elect]. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And, He will have mercy on his people today, just as in the past.

Right, God does not change. His character, His promises, and His desire for all to repent remain consistent. The question is not whether God changes, but whether His dealings with people across history are always identical in every detail.

Scripture shows that God has had a people in Noah’s day, a people in Abraham’s day, a people under Moses, and now a people in Christ. That does not mean He never broadened the invitation. The New Testament reveals a widening of mercy that was not fully seen before.

God still has an elect, yet He chooses to save those who believe the gospel. His will is that all come to repentance, and He genuinely offers salvation to everyone. If God’s mercy is only for a preselected group, then the repeated invitations to repent become meaningless. The call to believe is real. Rejection is possible. The same God who never changes still reaches out to all.

If regeneration must happen first before belief, then preaching the gospel becomes a hollow formality, because the real saving act (i.e. regeneration of the heart) has already taken place before the person ever hears or responds to the message. This is why I have heard Calvinists say over the years that Calvinism is the gospel. Yet Scripture does not define the gospel as a system that replaces a real choice with a forced outcome. First Corinthians 15:1-4 spells it out plainly. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day. That is the good news we are commanded to preach so that people can believe and be saved.



....
 
Right, God does not change. His character, His promises, and His desire for all to repent remain consistent. The question is not whether God changes, but whether His dealings with people across history are always identical in every detail.

Scripture shows that God has had a people in Noah’s day, a people in Abraham’s day, a people under Moses, and now a people in Christ. That does not mean He never broadened the invitation. The New Testament reveals a widening of mercy that was not fully seen before.

God still has an elect, yet He chooses to save those who believe the gospel. His will is that all come to repentance, and He genuinely offers salvation to everyone. If God’s mercy is only for a preselected group, then the repeated invitations to repent become meaningless. The call to believe is real. Rejection is possible. The same God who never changes still reaches out to all.

If regeneration must happen first before belief, then preaching the gospel becomes a hollow formality, because the real saving act (i.e. regeneration of the heart) has already taken place before the person ever hears or responds to the message. This is why I have heard Calvinists say over the years that Calvinism is the gospel. Yet Scripture does not define the gospel as a system that replaces a real choice with a forced outcome. First Corinthians 15:1-4 spells it out plainly. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day. That is the good news we are commanded to preach so that people can believe and be saved.



....
Much of what you say I agree with. Then you go off the rails with a statement such as:
He chooses to save those who believe the gospel.”
Please explain how this is possible when He chose us before time began!
Of course we must believe, and hearing His word along with the work of the Holy Spirit will draw us to Christ. That is His work and His alone!
I totally agree that the gospel is to go forth asking all to repent and believe. That call goes out because we do not know who belongs to God and who does not. It is God who determines who it will have an affect on, and all others will remain without excuse.
God has always protected His people like a mother hen. None will be left behind.
I will never understand why men wish to be in control of their own destiny rather than placing their trust in the work of Christ. I suppose that we have a pride and think more highly of ourselves than we ought. . . . .
 
I would change what you wrote to:

"In the bible, the word translated 'all' doesn't always mean 'everybody without exception'." For example, does this verse mean that every single person from Judea and the region around the Jordan was baptized by John?:

“Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mr 1:5 NKJV)

Similarly with "world". When Caesar issued his decree that all the world should be taxed, it meant the whole Roman empire, not every single individual on earth:

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” (Lu 2:1 NKJV)
It's what they do all the time here David, they even automatically assume somebody else's faith being expressed by a person in the bible is that person own faith and not the lords faith, and they then claim it's there's faith straight away, they won't even answer is it the lords faith that's being delivered, and that's how there answering.
I don't see that you can read faith being expressed as your own straight away, faith is a gift

Here's an example look

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

You see here there is no need to ask the lord to increase your faith, but I bet you many would

6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
 
So nothing required of you then. :)
It's hard to work out a salvation one doesn't possess. Even you believe in prevenient grace.
Required is an interesting choice of words. Nothing required is different from no response. God's grace always elicits a response. Some reject and some receive. That's not in question. The question is why?
 
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I am simply recognizing a pattern here. Other patterns could easily be mentioned to reinforce what I am saying, yet the real battle for truth should stay rooted in Scripture and in real world examples. These are what bring down the strongholds set up in the minds of men on this subject.

May God bless you.
Of course. I recognized your pattern and point.
 
The super-determinist take on the term "predestined" has already been crushingly de-Calvinized and debunked on this thread in the most thoroughly comprehensive manner.

Try and keep up will you....:rolleyes:
You're just trying to be silly again, aren't you?