I don't see this as thwarting God's will. What was God's will? It seems to me his will was for them to freely choose and he was ready for either choice.
Hey thanks for continuing to discuss this with me. God's will was stated in Genesis 1:26
"And God said, Let us
make (accomplish)
man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Genesis 1:26
Then, when we skip to chapter two, we see:
"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become
as one of us,
to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" Genesis 3:22
You see? His original purpose played out exactly as He wanted it to.
It sounds like you view the term "free will" in the same way as my Calvinist friend who said there is no free will, only will. How are you defining "free will"? As I said earlier, I don't see a difference in meaning. But, as I also said earlier, I do not pretend to know the answer, I am only speculating with the rest of the forum, therefore I will not argue the point. I can not defend that which I do not understand myself, even though I believe it to be true. Our conscious understanding is not the only understanding the exists. We also understand in the heart. If my heart says it true and my conscious mind can not understand why, that does not mean my heart is wrong. Secular humanism has influenced believers as much as the pagan world. Not everything needs to be proven by rational thought.
Yes, I do believe that we have a "will", but I do not believe it is free. If I "will" to have chocolate, it means that at the time, I want some chocolate. However, I do not desire chocolate just out of the depths of my will. I desire chocolate be
cause I know it tastes good. I know it tastes good be
cause my parents gave it to me as a child. The biological functioning of my body first
made (against my will) me hungry, which
caused me to desire food to begin with. Then, my remembrance of chocolate from past events
caused me to desire it. Everything has a cause, and that which causes you to do something is a direct influence on your will. If something influences your will, then your will is not free from this influence. Yeshua tells us:
"...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever:
but the Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:34
Yeshua is not saying that you once had a will that was unfree, and now He has set your will free. He says that we were slaves to sin (against our will), but that He has freed us from this enslavement. We are now servants of God (and more than that, He calls us sons!)
"So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our
duty to do." Luke 17:10
In "heaven", where everything is supposed to be perfect and time does not end, will you have the "freewill" to sin and destroy everything? If you won't have freewill for "eternity", then of what use is it now?
Thank you my friend and God bless.