Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

[LightBearer316]

Those 4 rules have nothing to do with Christianity. They were synagogue rules that proselytes of the gate (gentile God fearers) had to follow in order to attend synagogues to learn the gospel. James was just telling them to keep doing what they were aready doing and not worry about the pharisees who were telling them that they had to get circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved, ie, become a proselyte of righteousness.

That’s an interesting interpretation. Did you come up with it on your own or did you use Ai to help you? Either way it misses the actual context of why James gives those four prohibitions in Acts 15.

The issue at hand wasn’t synagogue attendance—it was salvation apart from the law. The council gathered to settle whether Gentiles needed circumcision and Mosaic law to be saved (Acts 15:1, 5, 11). When James lists those four restrictions, he isn’t re-imposing ceremonial law or synagogue protocol; he’s identifying the things that would most offend Jewish believers and disrupt fellowship in the mixed Gentile-Jewish churches now forming throughout the empire.

Notice verse 28–29:

“It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things...”​

These weren’t “synagogue rules” but moral and relational safeguards to preserve unity between Jewish and Gentile believers—issues deeply tied to idolatry and pagan worship. Every one of the four items had direct connections to temple idolatry and sexual impurity. Abstaining from them kept Gentile converts from dragging their old pagan practices into Christian fellowship.

Verse 21 (“For Moses of old time hath in every city…”) simply explains why Gentiles would already understand these sensitivities—they’d heard the Law of Moses read in synagogues every Sabbath. It’s not saying these are synagogue requirements, but that Gentiles would recognize the offense those behaviors caused among Jewish believers.

So the decree is not about earning salvation or qualifying for synagogue instruction—it’s about living out salvation in a way that honors Christ and maintains peace within the one body of believers (Romans 14:13–19; 1 Cor 8:9–13).

Grace and peace.

 

[Magenta]

From Acts 15:20 plus 28 Abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements

 

[Cameron143]

My question is if you dont believe in free will.
What do you believe about :

Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Do you think some people have more rewards waiting for them, or do you think its already decided how much tressure awaits before we become a Christian?

Luke 9:23: "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me'"
Do you think that we have to discipline ourselves and it takes constant work denying our flesh daily ? Or Do you believe if someone fails at doing the things we know we ought to do that Jesus instructed us, that its not their fault and was out of their control.

Or do you believe it is our fault completely for the sins we commit?
I personally believe that all my sins are my fault, and Jesus being perfect the sacrifice is the reason I can be forgiven of those sins. I also believe that we have the ability to be faithful servants like in the parable of the talents or be like the unfaithful servant and we will be rewarded in the end to how faithful we were.

Whats your view how free will is taken in consideration here
Thanks in advance.

No one is saying we can't make choices. Obviously, we can. The question is whether our choices are influenced in some way, or free from any limitations. For the will to be truly free, no such limitations can exist.
Dogs make choices. Do they possess freewill? They can make a noise, but that noise will always be a bark. They will never meow. Why? Because they are a dog. They are limited by their nature.
And so it is with man in general, and in fallen man in particular. So when one reads in Romans 3 that none seek after God, this is a limitation.

Hope this helps.

 

[HeIsHere]

No one is saying we can't make choices. Obviously, we can. The question is whether our choices are influenced in some way, or free from any limitations. For the will to be truly free, no such limitations can exist.
Dogs make choices. Do they possess freewill? They can make a noise, but that noise will always be a bark. They will never meow. Why? Because they are a dog. They are limited by their nature.
And so it is with man in general, and in fallen man in particular. So when one reads in Romans 3 that none seek after God, this is a limitation.

Hope this helps.

For the will to be free the ability to make at least one choice freely must exist and it does,

 

[Jordon]

My question is if you dont believe in free will.
What do you believe about :

Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Do you think some people have more rewards waiting for them, or do you think its already decided how much tressure awaits before we become a Christian?

Luke 9:23: "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me'"
Do you think that we have to discipline ourselves and it takes constant work denying our flesh daily ? Or Do you believe if someone fails at doing the things we know we ought to do that Jesus instructed us, that its not their fault and was out of their control.

Or do you believe it is our fault completely for the sins we commit?
I personally believe that all my sins are my fault, and Jesus being perfect the sacrifice is the reason I can be forgiven of those sins. I also believe that we have the ability to be faithful servants like in the parable of the talents or be like the unfaithful servant and we will be rewarded in the end to how faithful we were.

Whats your view how free will is taken in consideration here
Thanks in advance.

freedom of thought is what you have because your will does this

Galatians 5:16–17:
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are unable to do what you may want to do".


Why is your will free ?

Well because it likes to do in want, not because it is free

Is your will free to the spirit ?

No your freedom of thought is.

 

[Cameron143]

For the will to be free the ability to make at least one choice freely must exist and it does,

No choice is made outside one's nature.

 

[Magenta]

No choice is made outside one's nature.

Maybe she means the choice she believes a fetus makes to be born.

 

[HeIsHere]

No choice is made outside one's nature.

You have yet to prove that nature is present at birth.

 

[Cameron143]

You have yet to prove that nature is present at birth.

Does the baby have a human nature at birth, or in the womb? Is it not human until it is born?

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

That’s an interesting interpretation. Did you come up with it on your own or did you use Ai to help you? Either way it misses the actual context of why James gives those four prohibitions in Acts 15.

The issue at hand wasn’t synagogue attendance—it was salvation apart from the law. The council gathered to settle whether Gentiles needed circumcision and Mosaic law to be saved (Acts 15:1, 5, 11). When James lists those four restrictions, he isn’t re-imposing ceremonial law or synagogue protocol; he’s identifying the things that would most offend Jewish believers and disrupt fellowship in the mixed Gentile-Jewish churches now forming throughout the empire.

No I got it from Jewish sources. Gentile proselytes had to obey certain rules to attend synagogues, and James stated those rules. Once Christians were kicked out of the synagogues, and out of necessity moved on into their own gathering, then those rules were irrelevent.

 

[Magenta]

Does the baby have a human nature at birth, or in the womb? Is it not human until it is born?

Now we have to prove a human baby has human nature? Gosh.

The lengths these free willers freely choose to travel to promote and uphold their self-exalting idol is mind boggling.

 

[HeIsHere]

Does the baby have a human nature at birth, or in the womb? Is it not human until it is born?

In the womb, conception, but that is not the point.

So very predictable really, I have just become accustomed to saying at birth, sigh.

 

[HeIsHere]

Does the baby have a human nature at birth, or in the womb? Is it not human until it is born?

 

[Magenta]

In the womb, conception, but that is not the point.

So very predictable really, I have just become accustomed to saying at birth, sigh.

You have yet to prove that nature is present at birth.

So dishonest it's predictable.

 

[Genez]

im clueless in your book.
Well I've been raised by my intelligence parents and sound doctrine, so whist you think you can put me in a box, my little box has its lid open, unlike yours that can't amit your error,

The commandment do not commit idolatry, is that actually sin in your book if you do it ,

But if your led by satan to do it thats evil, is this what your saying.

Coz you make no sense what so ever, and the fact that your now saying I have no idea what evil is it just shows how incredibly ridiculous you are

Your all about yourself sir

Yes, to practice what is evil is a sin.
But, to create rationales to justify what is sin, is not sin, is evil.

As for Israel in Jeremiah's day?
They could practice something that is evil and be not aware it is wrong.
For all the surrounding nations practiced that evil as an everyday norm in their lives.
The Jews that denied what the Word of God had commanded against the evil, in their own thinking
created evil (not sin) by rationalizing ways to justify the sin and to replace God's Word with a lie.

When you begin to find ways to justify your sinning? Your way of thinking that justifies it? That is evil. Not just sin.
Evil contradicts truth and wants to replace the truth with a lie.

When someone wants to lust in his heart for something not his? Trying to take it illegally, and doing so, is a sin.
But? It is afterward, when you begin creating rationales to make what you did as OK? The rationales are evil.
Evil is lying against the truth of God's Word.

Sin comes from impulses coming from our sin nature.
Contradicting the Word of God?
And creating rationales that are nullifying it, to say the sin is OK? That becomes EVIL.

There is a difference.
Sin is easily forgivable.
Just use 1 John 1:9.
Done!
Forgiven!
No change in one's thinking was required.

Evil on the other hand requires thinking that is contrary to accepting sin as being sin.
To overcome evil requires a transformation in thought.
Requires not resisting the Holy Spirit and submitting to learning truth from God's Word to change you way of thinking.
Evil requires accepting the truth to overcome the evil.

You will be with a sin nature until your body dies.
Always able to sin if you do not maintain a true spiritual life.

Now, one can be very self-righteous and not sin overtly.
But, inwardly, he sins in his mind.
The self-righteous seek out evil teachings to tell them that they are actually righteous.

The list goes on.
One must desire to not simply know about God.
But, to know God.

The Pharisees knew a lot about God.
But their evil hearts never knew God.

There is a difference.
Jesus died for the sins of the world.

What will condemn man is not his sins.
Evil is what condemns him

Jesus died for your sins.
He did not die for your evil.

Sins only require confessing and acknowledging your sins to God. (1 John1:9)

As far as evil?

Overcoming evil requires learning knowledge to overcome it with.

To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, ​

just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Revelation 3:21​

We can not stop being with a sin nature till we die.
But, we can stop doing evil by accepting truth while having the Holy Spirit in us to transform our minds.

We need to learn the difference between what is sin, and what is evil.

grace and peace ...........

 

[Jordon]

For the will to be free the ability to make at least one choice freely must exist and it does,

choice for many is what it wants. and sometimes what it can't have.

And if you can't have what you dont have you can't always get it, despite how much your flesh wants that choice to happen, its like waiting for 5 years hoping you can be debt free, you can make a choice to pay the debt of and you will be free or you can not pay it, and want someone to pay it for you. But for that to happen compassion must come first, in the form of Godly sorrow which is actually a quickening to the heart, where by the heart is illuminated, and the heart repents or relents.





There's a difference between what you want and what you get. One is determined by the will of the flesh the other is determined by your actions. Both determined by your flesh. What you get from the spirit is determined by the spirit.

Choice is also about making the right or wrong, and even when saved the spirit is still conflict with flesh because it still wants to do what it wants

Because the will of man lives in the flesh

 

[Cameron143]

So the baby is human at conception but doesn't have a human nature?

Is there a nature giving ceremony I'm not aware of?

 

[Genez]

Does the baby have a human nature at birth, or in the womb? Is it not human until it is born?

God does not impute the human soul to the fetus until it is outside the womb. Greek= Ek kolia.. Hebrew = Nu shema.
The body contains the sin nature. The mother and father produced it.
God created the soul. The soul becomes a slave to the body that God imputes it to at birth.

In the womb, the fetus is synchronized with the mother's emotions and nervous system.
That is called "reflex motility."

Search - Embryonic reflex motility

 

[Cameron143]

God does not impute the human soul to the fetus until it is outside the womb. Greek= Ek kolia.. Hebrew = Nu shema.
The body contains the sin nature. The mother and father produced it.
God created the soul. The soul becomes a slave to the body that God imputes it to at birth.

In the womb, the fetus is synchronized with the mother's emotions and nervous system.
That is called "reflex motility."

Search - Embryonic reflex motility

Scripture?

 

[Jordon]

Yes, to practice what is evil is a sin.
But, to create rationales to justify what is sin, is not sin, is evil.

As for Israel in Jeremiah's day?
They could practice something that is evil and be not aware it is wrong.
For all the surrounding nations practiced that evil as an everyday norm in their lives.
The Jews that denied what the Word of God had commanded against the evil, in their own thinking
created evil (not sin) by rationalizing ways to justify the sin and to replace God's Word with a lie.

When you begin to find ways to justify your sinning? Your way of thinking that justifies it? That is evil. Not just sin.
Evil contradicts truth and wants to replace the truth with a lie.

When someone wants to lust in his heart for something not his? Trying to take it illegally, and doing so, is a sin.
But? It is afterward, when you begin creating rationales to make what you did as OK? The rationales are evil.
Evil is lying against the truth of God's Word.

Sin comes from impulses coming from our sin nature.
Contradicting the Word of God?
And creating rationales that are nullifying it, to say the sin is OK? That becomes EVIL.

There is a difference.
Sin is easily forgivable.
Just use 1 John 1:9.
Done!
Forgiven!
No change in one's thinking was required.

Evil on the other hand requires thinking that is contrary to accepting sin as being sin.
To overcome evil requires a transformation in thought.
Requires not resisting the Holy Spirit and submitting to learning truth from God's Word to change you way of thinking.
Evil requires accepting the truth to overcome the evil.

You will be with a sin nature until your body dies.
Always able to sin if you do not maintain a true spiritual life.

Now, one can be very self-righteous and not sin overtly.
But, inwardly, he sins in his mind.
The self-righteous seek out evil teachings to tell them that they are actually righteous.

The list goes on.
One must desire to not simply know about God.
But, to know God.

The Pharisees knew a lot about God.
But their evil hearts never knew God.

There is a difference.
Jesus died for the sins of the world.

What will condemn man is not his sins.
Evil is what condemns him

Jesus died for your sins.
He did not die for your evil.

Sins only require confessing and acknowledging your sins to God. (1 John1:9)

As far as evil?

Overcoming evil requires learning knowledge to overcome it with.

To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, ​

just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Revelation 3:21​

We can not stop being with a sin nature till we die.
But, we can stop doing evil by accepting truth while having the Holy Spirit in us to transform our minds.

We need to learn the difference between what is sin, and what is evil.

grace and peace ...........

if you don't know it's wrong your not accountable according to Jeremiah they did know it was wrong as the lord said they have done it since youth whilst I have nurtured them.

Do stop deflecting where talking about practicing sin being evil

Is practicing sin evil to the lord
And besides I don't think you can know it nots wrong, as everyone gets a prick to there conscience.

Yep your answer will be practicing evil is sin.

Because you would rather say sin is not evil, because you still sin and your not evil.

Well it may be you not permanently evil, but when you do a wicked sin it's evil