We do not have a free will

TedT

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God created man with a free will and allows man to use that gift.
If we believe that Jesus was telling us a truth about the enslaving power of sin and evil and not just babbling, then to believe our conception as sinners must mean no human has a free will.

Death is the wages of sin, not the natural consequence of life. Death comes to the embryo, the foetus and the infant proving all are sinful from conception. And the enslavement of sin does not mean we cannot choose but only means we can only choose from our evil desires that make up our sinful natures.

Yes our free will is an absolute necessity to HIS purpose but it is not found in sinners...
 
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TedT

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Original sin is proven wrong with (Ezekiel 18:20).

Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

YES!!! Inherited sin contradicts scripture and the loving righteous and just nature of GOD.
 
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Nova2216

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Being enslaved to sin means that all our choices are imbued with sinfulness, ie, we are not free to choose to be righteous. Yes, we choose but our choices are constrained by evil, not free: Romans 7:19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.

The ability to choose in NOT proof we have a free will.

Why did Paul make bad choices?

In (Rom. 7) Paul is speaking about the war in his spirit whether to do good or evil. It goes on within all of us today. But that does not mean we cannot choose to do good. (2Tim.4:8)

***
Can man endure temptation?


Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Why would a man be "tried" (or tested) if he had no free will?


13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
 
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Butterball1

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If we believe that Jesus was telling us a truth about the enslaving power of sin and evil and not just babbling, then to believe our conception as sinners must mean no human has a free will.

Death is the wages of sin, not the natural consequence of life. Death comes to the embryo, the foetus and the infant proving all are sinful from conception. And the enslavement of sin does not mean we cannot choose but only means we can only choose from our evil desires that make up our sinful natures.

Yes our free will is an absolute necessity to HIS purpose but it is not found in sinners...


The death of Romans 6:23 refers to spiritual death as contrasted to eternal life. This spiritual death only comes to those who have chosen to transgress God's law and sin, 1 John 3:4 while salvation comes to those who obey the will of God. So free will plays a role in condemnation and salvation. Those to whom Peter preached to in Acts 2 were lost, spiritually dead sinners. Peter preached the gospel to them commanding them to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Those that chose to gladly receive his words were baptized and saved, Acts of the Apostles 2:40. Those that chose to reject his gospel message rejected being baptized and remained lost.

God's role in man's salvation was to provide a pathway to salvation thru Christ. Man's role is to choose to take that pathway by obedience or choose to reject it by disobeying. Man has both choices available to him, i.e., free will and not forced, corerced to one choice. If man were born with original sin/sin nature/total depravity then he would not be a free moral agent having any choiceS but forced to one option by a nature he was born with. God does not unjustly judge men due to inabilities men are born with justly judges men for the free moral choices men make. So man is not born with a sin nature leaving him a slave to sin therefore no free will to choose.
 
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tdidymas

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Free will has no limitations and does not depend on anything.

Only God has a free will. Only God has no limits and is absolutely not influenced by anything.

If you are a Christian, if was the will of God that saved you and not your own.

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus is the only one with the authority to save, and Father is the only one that can bring you to Jesus. It is not by your will that you are saved but by God's free will. You do absolutely nothing for it, neither do you deserve it.

Even before the fall, man had no free will, only a limited one, for God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of good and evil. Adam could have chosen not to eat from it, but once he did, he had absolutely not say about the consequences. He could not have stayed in the garden of Eden, he could not have lived forever because God cursed him etc. And the devil influenced Adam's decision, so we see that only God has a true free will.

Our free will is limited. If you are in sin, your will is limited by sin, and if you are saved, then you serve Jesus and do His free will. Because doing your own will and not God's will is idolatry. 1 Sam 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”
I get what you mean, although I'd like to point out that you appear to contradict yourself. In the title you say "we do not have free will," and then in your final paragraph you say "our free will is limited," which is an acknowledgement that we have free will. Do you see the contradiction? Perhaps your title is polemic by nature in order to attract debate?

Ok, the problem with the term "free will" as opposed to simply "will" is that it is much misunderstood. People see themselves making choices, and then assume their will is free in every regard. I agree with you that our natural human will is limited, and not unlimited. The problem with using a term that no one clearly defines causes controversy.

The Bible uses the term free will (or freewill) in regard to law or coercion. Nowhere does the Bible indicate or imply that man's will is free and unlimited in regard to their relationship with God. The very usage of the term "free will" in regard to establishing personal eternal destiny implies that man's will being separated from God ("free" from God) is good enough to make such a choice. This is a denial of the doctrine of Total Depravity, which is a cardinal doctrine of Christianity, as taught by Augustine, Wycliff, Hus, Luther and the reformers, among many others. People don't understand the distinction between the natural and the spiritual as Paul does in 2 Cor. 2.

Many in the churches today use the term "free will" without knowing what they are talking about. The term has become faddish, because today's culture has been largely influenced by the Existential philosophy, which is self-centered by nature. "Freedom of choice" is now convoluted with "receiving Christ." Until the leadership of churches get these terms straight and Biblical, it will always be a controversial subject.
 
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