It is the ultimate offering you can lay on the alter as the final proof of love for Him.What is free will? Is it just illusion?
I think free will is the ability make choices according to our strongest inclination or desire at any given moment in time. Whenever we are able to do so (choose what we want the most in the moment) we are making a "free will" choice.What is free will? Is it just illusion?
No, I mean laws like: "What a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," " When ye ask, believe......and ye shall receive it" " let the weak say I am strong" "Do unto others as you would have done unto you" "Love your neighbor as yourself" etc.......What are the laws of God? Do you mean accepting his son Jesus Christ?
I believe that the end it set.....but we can choose our path to that end and how soon we get there. E.g. Jesus said the kingdom of God is at hand and some will not die before seeing it.......Yet most CHOOSE to wait and see what happens after death......and it is there choice to do so.........and there is nothing wrong with it.I ask this because there are people who say no one choices to be saved. But wouldn't that reject John 3:16? That anyone who believe in Christ will be saved. God isn't the author of confusing only one of these things can be truth.
Hi Saya, I believe what people are actually saying is that no one can or will choose to come to saving faith in Christ on their own/apart from God, because God needs to change us first/change (quicken) our hearts for us to be able to do so.I ask this because there are people who say no one choices to be saved. But wouldn't that reject John 3:16? That anyone who believe in Christ will be saved. God isn't the author of confusing only one of these things can be truth.
What is free will? Is it just illusion?
They tell me that free will is somewhat of illusion because God knows all. That he know us before we were born. That he picks who will be saved or no saved already and that's that. I always thought that once you become a believe you are than picked to be savedHi Saya, I believe what people are actually saying is that no one can or will choose to come to saving faith in Christ on their own/apart from God, because God needs to change us first/change (quicken) our hearts for us to be able to do so.
Here are some various Scriptures for you to consider in regard to this.
Psalms 51
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ezekiel 36
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
John 3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 6
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Romans 3
9 ...both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10 as it is written,
THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
Ephesians 2
1 You were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
Here to is St. Paul's description of a non-Christian, a "natural" man/woman:
1 Corinthians 2
14 A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Why would such a person come to saving faith in Christ If they did, would they not be acting against their own "free will" in choosing what they don't want (that which they can neither understand or accept), because the things of God, to a "natural" man/women, seem like nothing but foolishness to them.
Sure, there will always be people who want the "benefits" that God offers (especially a get out of Hell for free pass), the problem is, they don't want Him.
Yours and His,
David
1 Corinthians 1.
18 The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
They tell me that free will is somewhat of illusion because God knows all. That he know us before we were born. That he picks who will be saved or no saved already and that's that. I always thought that once you become a believe you are than picked to be saved
Are we robot's?What is free will? Is it just illusion?
I ask since most people have stated god has all of our lives planned out. So is it how get to there that makes free will?Are we robot's?
No we are not, we are more than the sum of our parts.
God may throw a spanner in the works of mankind now and then, but he doesn't plan out the desires of our hearts.I ask since most people have stated god has all of our lives planned out. So is it how get to there that makes free will?
If this is what you've been told, then I think I would ask them in reply, how do you get from God "knowing" what will happen in the future to Him "controlling" what will happen in the future (as those are two VERY different things)? He, for instance, knows exactly what our sins will be before we've committed them. Does the fact that He knows we will sin mean that He is also forcing us to sin??They tell me that free will is somewhat of illusion because God knows all.
That is true Biblically .. cf Psalm 139:16. We are also told that those of us who are His have always been loved by Him, that He never chose to love us because He has 'always' loved us, from everlasting, that is .. Jeremiah 31:3. That's a mind-blowing thought, yes, a wonderful, wondrous mind-blowing thoughtThat he know us before we were born.
So, God loves us because we first loved Him, and He chooses us on the basis of our choice of Him? Hmm, that's what I used to believe too, I guess.That he picks who will be saved or not saved already and that's that. I always thought that once you become a believe you are than picked to be saved
I wouldn't pick door number 3If this is what you've been told, then I think I would ask them in reply, how do you get from God "knowing" what will happen in the future to Him "controlling" what will happen in the future (as those are two VERY different things)? He, for instance, knows exactly what our sins will be before we've committed them. Does the fact that He knows we will sin mean that He is also forcing us to sin??
I don't think so We choose to do that freely
That is true Biblically .. cf Psalm 139:16. We are also told that those of us who are His have ~always~ been loved by Him, that He never chose to love us because He has always loved us, from everlasting, that is .. Jeremiah 31:3. That is a mind-blowing thought is it not, a wonderful, wondrous mind-blowing thought
This is why theologian/pastor Charles H. Spurgeon once said, "everlasting love shall be the pillow for my head this night." ~Morning and Evening, Feb 27th, Evening
So, God loves us because we first loved Him, and He chooses on the basis of our choice of Him? Hmm, that's what I used to believe too, I guess.
The Bible tells us that NONE of us can/will choose Him unless He makes it possible for us to do so (as the Scriptures show above). But if ALL are chosen/enabled/"drawn" by the Father and given to His Son, then why do so few choose to come to Him in faith then?
Considering the two choices, 1. eternal bliss with God -vs- 2. everlasting torment and contempt in the Lake of Fire, what fully-informed, rational person chooses door #2 (and yet, again, most apparently do chose door #2, according to the Bible)
--David
John 6:37-40 (excerpt).
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me and .. of all that He has given Me, I LOSE NOTHING, but raise it up on the last day.