Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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How we are created?

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

👆 this dust is the reverse of death, being make into living organisms, cells, tissues, organs, etc.

God breathed into Adam nostrils the breath of life which is the spirit (Ruach in hebrew, it describes as wind, breath and spirit)

Breath of life is the result of a living soul.

An unborn baby 👶 who die will have a living soul

2 Samuel 12:23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

👆 David adultery with Bathseba's child, also king Solomon older brother was taken by God for David's sin against God.

David knows he will meet his son in heaven one day

Regardless of that child's belief to be, God will not not suffer the child for his/her innocent

Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

👆 yes, a child had no knowledge of good and evil, they shall be with God.
In Genesis 2:7 the Hebrew word for breathed is naphach which means to puff, blow, or breath.
 
The image of man was corrupted because of Adam's sin, but Adam doesn't have anything to do with the creation of children.

And you accuse others of gobbledegook?

Is the soul created perfect, without blemish or not Cameron? A simple yes or no will suffice.

Adam is not personally involved with every child born but it is from his flesh down through the generations we get children.

Genesis 5:3
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.

John 3:6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Where is the sin nature? Where do choices come from? You said so earlier.

The antagonistic behaviour toward God is in the flesh, not the soul. When God's grace subdues the flesh the soul can be what God created it to be. But here's a newsflash. Nor every soul who is born into this fallen world with a fallen nature actually likes what God created. They have come to learn to actually prefer the fallen nature hence, when God frees their soul they reject Him.

It is important for everyone to put on a level playing field so that when God is rejected it is clearly seen as not something God has failed to do or has done more for one than the other but is done on the basis of who that person is and what they decide.
 
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So very flawed by assuming regeneration isn’t eternal (which it is)

and another flawed assumption is that.....

the biblical authors had two separate ways to describe the "new life" which is given to His people

one which causes faith and the other which is a result of faith—something the Bible NEVER explicitly or even implicitly teaches.

You guys go on and on about free will and a very poorly understood view of God's sovereignty, as a side show, when you have so many real exegetical errors which are never addressed.

It appears that your average Calvinist sees the order like this:
Regeneration (Beginning of Salvation) ----- > Faith in the Gospel Message ----- > Salvation (Full or Complete Salvation).​
Hyper Calvinists see the order like this:​
Regeneration (Full Salvation) ----- > Faith in the Gospel Message (Fruit of Salvation)​
Some believers here in this thread who prefer not to call themselves Calvinists (even though many other Calvinists have no problem in doing so) and yet they say they agree with Calvins teachings, have basically stated the order like this:​
Regeneration (Life, but Not Salvation) ----- > Faith ----- > Salvation (Salvation).​

Surely, all of these different aspects of Calvinism is simply a hornet's nest of confusion that is easily solved or refuted if they just simply read and believe the Bible plainly like a child.




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Surely, all of these different aspects of Calvinism is simply a hornet's nest of confusion
Because free willers are unified in what they put forth? LOL

plank.png
 
Nope again. I believe life begins at conception. Adam wasn't conceived. That's why he need air breathed into him. He wasn't already alive. A child emerging from the womb is already alive.

He was conceived in Gen1:26 along with all of us.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

A child has biological life in the womb just as the body God formed for Adam in Gen.2:7 had biological life, unless you think God formed a corpse for Adam. :unsure:

Adam was very much alive in Gen1:27 (so was Eve) he just wasn't alive and breathing in the world. God didn't breathe air into him, He breathed life, the life of soul and spirit. Only after did he stand as a living soul, alive and breathing in this world, exactly as a baby comes from the womb when God gives it life. If God did not give us life, no-one would have been born alive.

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Not all children emerge from the womb alive.

You are welcome to believe as you wish, I prefer to wrestle with what the scripture says. :)
 
But as Magenta said earlier re Mat 7:23, Jesus wasn't saying that on judgment day he wasn't omniscient and didn't know anything about the people whom He is about to judge. When Jesus said, "Depart from me, you evildoers, for I never knew you", He was saying he never had a personal, intimate, familial relationship with those people. Biblical Christianity, first and foremost, is all about RELATIONSHIPS!
figurative speech for What Jesus was explaining Jesus even confesses he spoke in figoritive speech.

Hes staying he never knew them because the father never handed them over to them and because they wouldn't accept his ways.

It's like me saying I know you but I don't know what your capable or until Gids give you many tasks to do with the right will also enabling grace and knowledge to do it, but you don't do it,

Never realised I was replying magenta, did i ?
 
Not all babies begin breathing on their own. Many need a slap on the rear!

That is because there is a corruption in the flesh that leads to death. The "slap" is to get the body working, it has no bearing on whether God imputes human life to that child. You could "spank" that kid till your blue in the face, if God says no to life, it will not live.

ps. I am not recommending spanking of any kind ... just so we are all perfectly clear.

pps. And you lot reckon we have no understanding of God's sovereignty .... pft!
 
The breath of life comes from God.

The breath of life is our spirit and the result is our soul.

Actually it says breath of lives, plural. God breathed into Adam both soul and spirit. Our soul is who we are, our spirit is how we connect to God.

If we were spirits (in essence) then the scripture ought to tell us to worship God with all our spirit, it doesn't, it says to worship with all our soul.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Our heart is the place we hold what we value, our soul is the essence of who we are as a person and our mind is how we think. We would say today "with your whole being".
 
Regeneration (Life, but Not Salvation) ----- > Faith ----- > Salvation (Salvation).

I think there might be at least one here who would see it this way:

Regeneration (Life, but Not Salvation) ----- > Belief ----- > Salvation (Salvation) ----- > Faith.

But I'm not 100% sure as they tend to be somewhat vague when saying what they believe and do not always clearly define their use of terminology.
 
if you see that the image God created you in was a seed to begin you'll be a good programme

Because God seeds of every kind all have his blue prints 🤩.

Then until his will in all of his seeds produce life by his will, will they only then become a good puppet,,

The seed is the communicated Word of God, which today is Holy Scripture or the Bible.

Luke 8:11 (KJV)

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV)

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV):

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God:

Romans 10:17 (KJV):

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Yet, a person will be judged because they reject Jesus and His words and not because God did not elect them to salvation.

John 12:48 (KJV)

“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
There are those who perish who refuse the love of the truth that they MIGHT be saved::

2 Thessalonians 2:10 (KJV)

“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”​
What truth is 2 Thessalonians 2:10 talking about?

John 17:17 (KJV):

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
It is also Jesus:

John 14:6 (KJV)

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”​
We must receive both and we will be held accountable at a Judgment for not doing so. Otherwise, John 12:48 and many other verses in Scripture would not make any sense. Not sure how you can read and believe the Bible plainly with your current mindset. It just doesn't make any sense. You have to reject whole swathes of Scripture to make Calvinism work. Calvinism is simply foreign to Scripture as a whole. Please stop and actually read the Bible objectively for a change. Don't let your preference for Calvinism blind you to what God's Word actually says. I say this because I know for a fact that you will not properly deal with all of these verses I have put forth to you here. That should be a red flag even to you.




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And you accuse others of gobbledegook?

Is the soul created perfect, without blemish or not Cameron? A simple yes or no will suffice.

Adam is not personally involved with every child born but it is from his flesh down through the generations we get children.

Genesis 5:3
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.

John 3:6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Where is the sin nature? Where do choices come from? You said so earlier.

The antagonistic behaviour toward God is in the flesh, not the soul. When God's grace subdues the flesh the soul can be what God created it to be. But here's a newsflash. Nor every soul who is born into this fallen world with a fallen nature actually likes what God created. They have come to learn to actually prefer the fallen nature hence, when God frees their soul they reject Him.

It is important for everyone to put on a level playing field so that when God is rejected it is clearly seen as not something God has failed to do or has done more for one than the other but is done on the basis of who that person is and what they decide.
No, the soul isn't created perfect. Every aspect of man was corrupted in the fall.

Where in scripture do you find the level playing field doctrine? Where do you find it in history?
 
He was conceived in Gen1:26 along with all of us.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

A child has biological life in the womb just as the body God formed for Adam in Gen.2:7 had biological life, unless you think God formed a corpse for Adam. :unsure:

Adam was very much alive in Gen1:27 (so was Eve) he just wasn't alive and breathing in the world. God didn't breathe air into him, He breathed life, the life of soul and spirit. Only after did he stand as a living soul, alive and breathing in this world, exactly as a baby comes from the womb when God gives it life. If God did not give us life, no-one would have been born alive.

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Not all children emerge from the womb alive.

You are welcome to believe as you wish, I prefer to wrestle with what the scripture says. :)
Adam was created; not conceived.
 
Romans 10:17 (KJV):

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”Yet, a person will be judged
because they reject Jesus and His words and not because God did not elect them to salvation
John8-43and47-Acts13-48-Romans8-8.png

John 8 verses 43, 47, Acts 13 verse 48, Romans 8 verse 8, John 8 verse 43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.” “Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.
 
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The seed is the communicated Word of God, which today is Holy Scripture or the Bible.

Luke 8:11 (KJV)

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV)

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV):

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God:

Romans 10:17 (KJV):

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Yet, a person will be judged because they reject Jesus and His words and not because God did not elect them to salvation.

John 12:48 (KJV)

“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
There are those who perish who refuse the love of the truth that they MIGHT be saved::

2 Thessalonians 2:10 (KJV)

“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”​
What truth is 2 Thessalonians 2:10 talking about?

John 17:17 (KJV):

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
It is also Jesus:

John 14:6 (KJV)

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”​
We must receive both and we will be held accountable at a Judgment for not doing so. Otherwise, John 12:48 and many other verses in Scripture would not make any sense. Not sure how you can read and believe the Bible plainly with your current mindset. It just doesn't make any sense. You have to reject whole swathes of Scripture to make Calvinism work. Calvinism is simply foreign to Scripture as a whole. Please stop and actually read the Bible objectively for a change. Don't let your preference for Calvinism blind you to what God's Word actually says. I say this because I know for a fact that you will not properly deal with all of these verses I have put forth to you here. That should be a red flag even to you.




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ooh lovely more of your daily trash, honestly your so far gone in your dogma that you just don't realise what your saying.

The seed of man is sown in dishonor as cited in scripture, which means even tho his enabling grace was sufficient when one is born again and a seed accepts ie mans seed, it was still sown in dishonor, which means it was his honour, that was accepted, not your honor and the only reason it did was because his enabling grace was sufficient for whom it was accepted by.

I take it you can understand that much. ?

The seed was the word because the word was made flesh, the seed where talking about here is his seed.
 
No, the soul isn't created perfect. Every aspect of man was corrupted in the fall.

Where in scripture do you find the level playing field doctrine? Where do you find it in history?

So God creates imperfect souls, I see.

All through the scriptures if you look. People are being judged for what they do, not what God fails to do.

If salvation has no call upon our lives whatsoever and is purely God's choice who to save? Then what sort of God won't even fulfill His own desires yet expects us to believe Him when He says He will give to us all our desires if we delight in Him? :confused:

That is one very confused god. :cry:
 
@Bible_Highlighter, I know you’re not a Calvinist, so what’s your understanding of John 6:37, as well as the passages they use in John 17, such as verse 12, concerning Judas, and Phil. 1:29?
 
Adam was created; not conceived.

Context Cameron. We were all created, our bodies were conceived. You said yourself it is God who creates the soul and we are souls.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
 
Context Cameron. We were all created, our bodies were conceived. You said yourself it is God who creates the soul and we are souls.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Ps. 100:3