So, what I see is denial after denial, but never anything from the Scriptures that shows that the interpretation I am putting forward is wrong.
Does man have free will? Of course. Are the words "free will" in the Bible? No. Does God ultimately have the power to override man's free will when He so chooses? Yes, and the Bible has specific instances of this. If you do not understand this, you have an incomplete picture of the Christian religion.
Please forgive me, Abaccab3, for sharing my honest evaluation, as follows:
What I see in you is a highly intelligent person who is operating from a much narrower frame of reference than that which you are capable, by failing to transcend the influence of your particular culture and particular childhood experience upon your understanding. This, unfortunately, is rather common amongst us and is the reason why we've been squabbling with each other. We have a situation here in which people have vastly different views as to the nature of reality, yet each one believed his or her own view to be the correct one since it is based on the microcosm of personal experience. And to make matters worse, most of us are not even fully aware of our own word views, much less the uniqueness of the experience from which they are derived. Each of us has basic assumptions dictating the way that we think about things. We're not usually aware of our own assumptions nor the fact that the people we're trying to communicate with are operating from a different set of assumptions.
So, we are indeed like the three proverbial blind men, each in touch with only his particular piece of the elephant yet each claiming to know the nature of the whole beast. Se we argue over our different microcosmic world views, and all wars are holy wars, because our world views are our religions. But, a world-view, or religion, will not save any one of us. It is abundantly evident that belief in God is often destructively dogmatic in this way. Many have been turned off to belief in God for this very reason. But is it belief in God that is a fault for such behaviors, or is it dogmatism?
You seem to be claiming that you are a person who is saved by the grace of God. Terrific! I sincerely hope your claim is right. But I prefer not to limit a religious discussion to only what is explicitly stated in Scripture, because such an approach leaves out the greater part of humanly known reality, resulting in the very limited picture of Christianity that you seem to think we all have. You're so attached to your own highly dogmatic soteriological belief, citing Scripture to prove your case, desiring so strongly to be convinced in your heart that you are saved because you are right, whereas those who disagree with you are not because they are wrong. So salvation is now reverted back to a product of
works: only ones who believe correctly about things are saved, or only those who belong to the right religion or practice the right practices are saved. No, salvation has nothing to do with one's being the owner of the above mentioned things. It is found only when realizes they utterly shipwrecked, lost, and in need of Divine guidance.
"Jesus said unto them, 'If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.'" (John 9:41)
I am blind and greatly in need of learning, so I turn to repentance, prayer, fasting, the meditation upon Scripture, my everyday experience, pondering upon humanity, history, and the discoveries of the various branches of science. I don't know if you're saved or not. God knows. I only know that it's better for me to be a doer of God's law than a judge of it. Better for all of us, actually, because it would save us from repeating our past atrocities against one another, committed in the name of dogma.
I think I'm done now. I have to attend to my studies as I'm way behind. God be with you, Abacabb3.