Do human beings truly have a free will?

[Ron Gurley]

Scripture says nothing about "free will". .
False. Spiritual choices of mankind being allowed to operate with the Sovreign will of God is evident thoughout the Bible.

FREE WILL

The true doctrine of "FREE WILL"??: Biblical examples??

Gods Grace vs Free Will

https://www.christianforums.com/thr...the-all-everything-attributes-of-god.8011130/

"Sin Nature" DEFINED:
the natural-born innate capacity and inclination to do / not do those things that can in no way
commend Man and his "works" to God....Present in angels and in A&E in Eden, the negative part of "free will".
The tendancy to turn away from God and toward self, world, evil spirit beings.
This natural tendency is SPIRITUALLY changed by the SALVATION / REDEMPTION EVENT, BUT it still rears its ugly head in the BODY / SOUL combo ("flesh") during the SANCTIFICATION PROCESS.

See: Jesus on the "heart of man" ...Matthew 15:15-10

JESUS, the New Adam, DUAL NATURE: True Man...True God...is the only Man in history born free of the "sin nature",
born of the miraculous and unique "seed of woman". Genesis 3

 

[RDKirk]

Scripture says nothing about "free will". .
False. Spiritual choices of mankind being allowed to operate with the Sovreign will of God is evident thoughout the Bible.

FREE WILL

The true doctrine of "FREE WILL"??: Biblical examples??

Gods Grace vs Free Will

https://www.christianforums.com/thr...the-all-everything-attributes-of-god.8011130/

"Sin Nature" DEFINED:
the natural-born innate capacity and inclination to do / not do those things that can in no way
commend Man and his "works" to God....Present in angels and in A&E in Eden, the negative part of "free will".
The tendancy to turn away from God and toward self, world, evil spirit beings.
This natural tendency is SPIRITUALLY changed by the SALVATION / REDEMPTION EVENT, BUT it still rears its ugly head in the BODY / SOUL combo ("flesh") during the SANCTIFICATION PROCESS.

See: Jesus on the "heart of man" ...Matthew 15:15-10

JESUS, the New Adam, DUAL NATURE: True Man...True God...is the only Man in history born free of the "sin nature",
born of the miraculous and unique "seed of woman". Genesis 3

Sorry, no. Your interpretation of other subjects does not equate to a biblical declaration of free will, at least no farther than Augustine's definition of "choice between two masters."

If a person has made that single choice, then the will of God dictates his further actions...or he lets his evil nature dictate his actions. But it's always a matter of serving one master or another...which is not free will.

 

[Ron Gurley]

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

 

[JerseyChristianSuperstar]

We do not truly have free will.

Isaiah 46:9-11 - Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 **Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’**
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
**Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.**

Job 42:2 - "I know that You can do everything,
And that **no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You**."

Ephesians 1:11 - "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him **who works all things according to the counsel of His will**"

Proverbs 16:9 - "A man’s heart plans his way, **but the Lord directs his steps.**" [In other words, even random things happen for God's mysterious purposes ]

Proverbs 16:33 - "The lot is cast into the lap, **but its every decision is from the Lord.**

I believe He has meticulously constructed every life, death, event, creation, destruction, action, and reaction from the beginning of Creation until the end of everything known, unknown, imagined, or forgotten. He has mechanistically determined everything on a supreme level. There is absolutely nothing that has happened or will happen that has not been planned by God. In other words, God does not surmise, predict, or “foreknow” every event instinctively by "looking down the corridors of time", but He knows them because He is the one that has exhaustively determined them. The all-knowing God does not need to foresee; He already knows from all eternity, and that is so because He has ordained everything that comes to pass.

Libertarian free will says man are autonomous creatures. In any given situation, let’s call it X, we can freely choose to do action A. Furthermore, if situation X presents itself again, we can freely choose not to do A (~A). This is flawed and wrong.

Let me give you a syllogism. Let's assume this is before Creation.

1. God, being all-powerful, knows He can create the universe in any way He pleases.
2. God knows if He creates the universe and the human race in Way X, that John F. Kennedy will eventually be shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.
3. God knows that if He creates the universe and humans in Way Y, that Lee Harvey Oswald will be killed in a drunk driving accident in 1958, five years before JFK is ever elected, that JFK will be elected to two terms, leave office and live happy ever after with his wife Jackie and their kids.
4. God creates in Way X.
5. Oswald does not have the libertarian free will to refuse to refuse to assassinate JFK, because God has created the universe in such a way as to determine that he will inevitably kill JFK. It has been predetermined and planned by God, if the situation presented itself, Oswald could not refrain, because God's knowledge would be wrong (which is an impossibility). In universe X, Oswald will always do X, he can never not do it.

6.if God creates in Way Y, Oswald is always destined to die driving drunk in a car crash, because God has predestined it from all eternity past. The event is locked, fixed, and has been predetermined by God. God, being an omniscient Creator, is ultimately responsible for it as part of His sovereign plan, as he intentionally created the circumstances leading to Oswald's death.

Acts 17:24-26 - "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. **And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings**"

So, ultimately, even our places of birth have been predetermined by God, by the all-wise, all-knowing secret counsel of His will, in order to fulfill his plan.

 

[Ron Gurley]

Calvinistic "Pre-Destination" doctrines are FALSE.

The true doctrine of "FREE WILL"??: Biblical examples??

We might say that there are two main views concerning "predestination".
TRUE:
One is the view that God has foreknowledge; that is, he knew who would choose Him, and those are the ones He predestined to salvation.
FALSE:
The other idea is held by Calvinists who believe God sovereignly, of His own free will, predestined certain people to be saved, and His choice is not based upon looking into the future to see who would pick Him.

REF: Is predestination a biblical teaching? | CARM.org

What Does The Bible Say About Predestination and Election?

 

[Jonathan Leo]

If “free will” means that God gives humans the opportunity to make choices that genuinely affect their destiny, then yes, human beings do have a free will. The world’s current sinful state is directly linked to choices made by Adam and Eve. God created mankind in His own image, and that included the ability to choose.

However, free will does not mean that mankind can do anything he pleases. Our choices are limited to what is in keeping with our nature. For example, a man may choose to walk across a bridge or not to walk across it; what he maynot choose is to fly over the bridge—his nature prevents him from flying. In a similar way, a man cannot choose to make himself righteous—his (sin) nature prevents him from canceling his guilt (Romans 3:23). So, free will is limited by nature.

This limitation does not mitigate our accountability. The Bible is clear that we not only have the ability to choose, we also have the responsibility to choose wisely. In the Old Testament, God chose a nation (Israel), but individuals within that nation still bore an obligation to choose obedience to God. And individuals outside of Israel were able to choose to believe and follow God as well (e.g., Ruth and Rahab).

In the New Testament, sinners are commanded over and over to “repent” and “believe” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Acts 3:19; 1 John 3:23). Every call to repent is a call to choose. The command to believe assumes that the hearer can choose to obey the command.

Jesus identified the problem of some unbelievers when He told them, “You refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:40). Clearly, they could have come if they wanted to; their problem was they chose not to. “A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7), and those who are outside of salvation are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20-21).

But how can man, limited by a sin nature, ever choose what is good? It is only through the grace and power of God that free will truly becomes “free” in the sense of being able to choose salvation (John 15:16). It is the Holy Spirit who works in and through a person’s will to regenerate that person (John 1:12-13) and give him/her a new nature “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Salvation is God’s work. At the same time, our motives, desires, and actions are voluntary, and we are rightly held responsible for them.

Recommended Resources: Chosen But Free, revised edition: A Balanced View of God's Sovereignty and Free Will by Norm Geisler and The Potter's Freedom by James White and Logos Bible Software.

Source: www.gotquestions.org


Quasar92

I believe we have free will but when we come to Jesus, we are bought with a price. We become slaves to righteousness. I believe we don’t have full free when we are Gods child,
No 1. We need to honour God in His ways
No 2. God chastises those He loves. Now who likes being chastised.?? Nobody and anybody who is being chastised with free will would chose not to have chastising. If this makes sense

 

[Geralt]

to be concise, we are only free within the confines of our nature.

 

[RDKirk]

to be concise, we are only free within the confines of our nature.

So if one is a slave to his sin nature, he's only free to sin.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

So if one is a slave to his sin nature, he's only free to sin.

And it isn't forced. Every inclination of unregenerate mankind is geared toward sin.

 

[bling]

I believe we have free will but when we come to Jesus, we are bought with a price. We become slaves to righteousness. I believe we don’t have full free when we are Gods child,
No 1. We need to honour God in His ways
No 2. God chastises those He loves. Now who likes being chastised.?? Nobody and anybody who is being chastised with free will would chose not to have chastising. If this makes sense

can a Christian quench the indwelling Holy Spirit and go about on his own?

 

[bling]

What?

This was addressed to you: "There are "free will" offerings in scripture which people understand as being their choice on how much they give."
That post your asking about was addressed to someone who is of like mind.

 

[He Calls Me Friend]

We repent.

Even repentance is a gift from God ... not something we can take credit for or boast about. “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4).

 

[He Calls Me Friend]

God gave Mankind 2 spiritual gifts from the beginning:
1. "free will" to SPIRITUALLY choose to accept or reject His calling/drawing.
2. "sin nature" - the innate NATURAL tendancy to turn from God and toward self.

Man SPIRITUALLY CHOOSES whether he want to be a "child of God" (saved believer)...or...NOT.

God spiritually calls/draws/knocks to ALL.
EACH Man's spirit must accept or reject the gifts.

Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

1 Chronicles 28:9...KING David to wise son Solomon
“As for you, my son Solomon,
know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind;
for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.
If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; BUT
if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

John 3:36...John the Baptizer on Jesus: CHOOSE
1. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; (BELIEVER)
but
2.he who does not obey (TO BELIEVE IN!) the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him.” (UN-BELIEVER)

John 1
11 He came to that which was His own, but His own did NOT receive Him.
12 Yet to all who DID receive him,
to those who BELIEVED in his name, he gave the right to become "children of God"
— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but "born of God"

Revelation 3:20...CHOOSE!
Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

can a Christian quench the indwelling Holy Spirit and go about on his own?

Christians,or "Christians" do it all the time. It is called kicking against the prick.

 

[Guide To The Bible]

No, yes, no, urm yes! No... Yes. Not sure. May be? Urr...

 

[Guide To The Bible]

Ahrr! It's a paradox! Of course.

 

[Der Alte]

Does God predestine some part of humanity to salvation and another part to damnation and there is nothing either group can do about it? Many arguments have been presented in support of this.
.....But, note this passage from Jeremiah. God said “I have caused to cleave” That word is הדבקתי/ha’dabaq’thi. It is in the perfect or completed sense. God’s will, expressly stated, for the whole house of Israel and Judah, not just an elect, predestined, chosen, few, was for all of Israel and all of Judah to cling to God as a belt clings to a man’s waist. It was done, finished, completed, in God’s sight, and, according to some arguments presented, nothing man can do will cause God’s will to not be done. But they, Israel and Judah, would not hear and obey, their will, vs. God’s will, So God destroyed them, vs. 14.
.....This passage very much speaks to the issue of God’s sovereign will, and man’s free will and agency. God stated very clearly what His will was, in terms that cannot be misunderstood. But, because the Israelites would not hear, and obey, God destroyed them, instead of them being unto God, “for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, vs. 10.”

Jer 13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave [הדבקתי/ha’dabaq’thi] unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
· · ·
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.​

Note, verse 14, God said He will NOT have pity, will NOT spare, and will NOT have mercy but destroy them.

 

[Jonathan Leo]

can a Christian quench the indwelling Holy Spirit and go about on his own?

He can quench the spirit yes but as I stated, God will chastise those He loves. He loves those who are His. Chastising us with circumstances shows we do not have free will when we are Gods children.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

In other words, God does not surmise, predict, or “foreknow” every event instinctively by "looking down the corridors of time",

I agree. For God to be looking down the corridor of time would necessitate God being contained by time. If the universe is defined by its time and its space, then God must not be wholly contained either within its time or its space, because he existed outside of the universe in order to create it in the first place. Therefore, being not contained by time, he does not "look down through the corridors of time," because one must be wholly contained within the corridor to necessitate looking down it. From the outside, the entire thing is visible at a glance.

Libertarian free will says man are autonomous creatures. In any given situation, let’s call it X, we can freely choose to do action A. Furthermore, if situation X presents itself again, we can freely choose not to do A (~A). This is flawed and wrong.

I suspect that people confuse chaos with randomness. In a chaotic situation, it's hard to predict that situation X will lead to outcome Y, because the factors are numerous and subtle, and the requirements cut a fine line. A needle balanced on its tip could fall in several different directions as far as we're concerned, but the range of possible outcomes is a product of our own ignorance, and not of the reality of the situation. To claim that the outcome is random is to presume that we are not ignorant (in this case practically omniscient), but that the universe itself is ignorant of what the outcome should be. Because we can't predict the outcome, we conclude that the outcome is unpredictable (a point of much hubris), even to the point that an omniscient God couldn't figure it out.

If God knows all (is omniscient) and if God is all-powerful (is omnipotent), then only one thing can be concluded.

 

[Jonathan Leo]

So if one is a slave to his sin nature, he's only free to sin.

The sinful nature is what we do naturally.
We are selfish, only caring about ourselves and what we can get out of live. We love pleasure and we break moral laws because of the sinful state we are in.
When Jesus said who I set free is free indeed, it means we now know the truth and have a choice to stop sinning and living righteously. No body forces us to sin, when we do we are led away by our own selfish desires James 1:13-15
Setting us free means we are fully aware of righteousness and evilness. We are free to carry out what ever we want but it will have consequences. For 1, God chastises us when we step too far out of line