Theological Quotes Against Free Will

[tyndale1946]

Augustine: "I once laboured hard for the free will of man, until the grace of God at length overcame me."

Waldensians: "Whosoever upholds free-will absolutely denies predestination and the grace of God."

Luther: "I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want ‘free-will’ to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enable me to endeavour after salvation; not merely because in face of so many dangers, and adversities and assaults of devils, I could not stand my ground …; but because even were there no dangers … I should still be forced to labour with no guarantee of success … But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of His, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running, but according to His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him or pluck me from Him.

Furthermore, I have the comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His merciful favour promised to me; so that, if I work too little, or badly, He does not impute it to me, but with fatherly compassion pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying of all the saints in their God" (The Bondage of the Will).

Calvin: "No free will of man can resist Him that willeth to save."

William Tyndale: "they go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers and say that a man’s free will is the cause why God chooseth and not another, contrary to all scriptures."

John Owen: "the whole Pelagian poison of free-will … a clear exaltation of the old idol free-will into the throne of God … That the decaying estate of Christianity have invented."

John Trapp: "The friends of free will are the enemies of free grace."

Thomas Watson: "This crown of free will is fallen from our head" and "If it be God’s purpose that saves then it is not free will."

Charles Spurgeon: "I will go as far as Martin Luther, where he says, ‘If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly.’"

Arthur W. Pink: "if the will is their servant then it is not sovereign, and if the will is not sovereign, we certainly cannot predicate ‘freedom’ of it."

W. E. Best: "God’s character is maligned by every person who believes in free will."

Gordon H. Clark: "The Bible consistently denies free will."

R. C. Sproul: "The neutral view of free will is impossible. It involves choice without desire."

Steven Houck: "This free-willism is a serious error which is contrary to the Holy Scriptures."

Brother Glen

 

[Silverhair]

Augustine: "I once laboured hard for the free will of man, until the grace of God at length overcame me."

Waldensians: "Whosoever upholds free-will absolutely denies predestination and the grace of God."

Luther: "I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want ‘free-will’ to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enable me to endeavour after salvation; not merely because in face of so many dangers, and adversities and assaults of devils, I could not stand my ground …; but because even were there no dangers … I should still be forced to labour with no guarantee of success … But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of His, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running, but according to His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him or pluck me from Him.

Furthermore, I have the comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His merciful favour promised to me; so that, if I work too little, or badly, He does not impute it to me, but with fatherly compassion pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying of all the saints in their God" (The Bondage of the Will).

Calvin: "No free will of man can resist Him that willeth to save."

William Tyndale: "they go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers and say that a man’s free will is the cause why God chooseth and not another, contrary to all scriptures."

John Owen: "the whole Pelagian poison of free-will … a clear exaltation of the old idol free-will into the throne of God … That the decaying estate of Christianity have invented."

John Trapp: "The friends of free will are the enemies of free grace."

Thomas Watson: "This crown of free will is fallen from our head" and "If it be God’s purpose that saves then it is not free will."

Charles Spurgeon: "I will go as far as Martin Luther, where he says, ‘If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly.’"

Arthur W. Pink: "if the will is their servant then it is not sovereign, and if the will is not sovereign, we certainly cannot predicate ‘freedom’ of it."

W. E. Best: "God’s character is maligned by every person who believes in free will."

Gordon H. Clark: "The Bible consistently denies free will."

R. C. Sproul: "The neutral view of free will is impossible. It involves choice without desire."

Steven Houck: "This free-willism is a serious error which is contrary to the Holy Scriptures."

Brother Glen

So all these men believe men over scripture.

 

[DaveXR650]

So all these men believe men over scripture.

Yeah. Especially William Tyndale, who made the first accurate English translation and whose very words comprise about 80% of the King James Version of the Bible. Oh yeah, and he was martyred for doing so.

 

[tyndale1946]

So all these men believe men over scripture.

You were saying?... Brother Glen

Psalm 33:10: "He maketh the devices of the people of none effect."

Psalm 81:12: "So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels."

Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool."

Ecclesiastes 7:20: "For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

Jeremiah 4:22: "For my people is foolish, they have not known me … they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

John 1:13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 3:27: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."

John 6:44: "No man can come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:65: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."

Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is no that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Romans 5:6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 7:18-19: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Romans 9:16: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

Romans 10:20: "I was found of them that sought me not."

Ephesians 2:1: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved.)"

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Colossians 2:13: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

Titus 3:3-5: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

 

[Silverhair]

Yeah. Especially William Tyndale, who made the first accurate English translation and whose very words comprise about 80% of the King James Version of the Bible. Oh yeah, and he was martyred for doing so.

And your point is? What I have found on most sites is that you have 0-5+ point calvinists that do not actually trust scripture but the words of those that tell them about the bible.

You were saying?... Brother Glen

Psalm 33:10: "He maketh the devices of the people of none effect."

Psalm 81:12: "So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels."

Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool."

Ecclesiastes 7:20: "For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

Jeremiah 4:22: "For my people is foolish, they have not known me … they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

John 1:13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 3:27: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."

John 6:44: "No man can come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:65: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."

Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is no that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Romans 5:6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 7:18-19: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Romans 9:16: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

Romans 10:20: "I was found of them that sought me not."

Ephesians 2:1: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved.)"

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Colossians 2:13: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

Titus 3:3-5: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

So you quote scripture as if I have never read it before. So what point were you attempting to prove?

 

[DaveXR650]

And your point is? What I have found on most sites is that you have 0-5+ point calvinists that do not actually trust scripture but the words of those that tell them about the bible.

The point is you blew off a whole list of people who have a view of free will that differs from yours in a flippant manner without engaging any of their ideas but instead falsely acting like they don't put a lot of importance on scripture. I don't know all of the men on that list, and I don't agree with everything some of them I do know say on free will. But I do know that in the case of all the men on that list that I am familiar with it would be foolish to make the claim you made. That's my point.

 

[Silverhair]

The point is you blew off a whole list of people who have a view of free will that differs from yours in a flippant manner without engaging any of their ideas but instead falsely acting like they don't put a lot of importance on scripture. I don't know all of the men on that list, and I don't agree with everything some of them I do know say on free will. But I do know that in the case of all the men on that list that I am familiar with it would be foolish to make the claim you made. That's my point.

Whether their view differs from mine is not the question. It is whether it differs from scripture. A mans free will is a God given ability to make real choices not the determined choices of calvinism. Free will is either free to evaluate the information presented and choose to accept or reject it. You will say the Holy Spirit influences a persons choices through the conviction of their sin. But the person still has to choose to accept the correction or to reject it. God does not force anyone to believe in Him although that seems to be the position of calvinism when you look at their TULIP/DoG.

Here is a quote that we all need to take to heart:
“You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true.” R. C. Sproul

They may feel that they are preaching the truth of scripture and in some even many points they may have but while you feel that calvinism is a true reflection of scripture I do not. The standard that I try to adhere to is scripture. The bible is not a book you need a decoder ring to understand but that is how some people treat it.

 

[tyndale1946]

Whether their view differs from mine is not the question. It is whether it differs from scripture. A mans free will is a God given ability to make real choices not the determined choices of calvinism. Free will is either free to evaluate the information presented and choose to accept or reject it. You will say the Holy Spirit influences a persons choices through the conviction of their sin. But the person still has to choose to accept the correction or to reject it. God does not force anyone to believe in Him although that seems to be the position of calvinism when you look at their TULIP/DoG.

Here is a quote that we all need to take to heart:
“You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true.” R. C. Sproul

They may feel that they are preaching the truth of scripture and in some even many points they may have but while you feel that calvinism is a true reflection of scripture I do not. The standard that I try to adhere to is scripture. The bible is not a book you need a decoder ring to understand but that is how some people treat it.

That is true what R. C. Sproul said and I'm sure he would agree with the Apostle Paul, who also said:

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Eternal Salvation is the offering Jesus Christ gave to his Father NOT an offer he gave to the sinner... Brother Glen

 

[Silverhair]

That is true what R. C. Sproul said and I'm sure he would agree with the Apostle Paul, who also said:

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Eternal Salvation is the offering Jesus Christ gave to his Father NOT an offer he gave to the sinner... Brother Glen

I am sure you would agree that the gift of God is salvation through faith in Him.

Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

Rom 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Christ did not offer God the Father, an eternal being, eternal salvation but He did offer eternal salvation to sinners that would trust in Him.

So you are trying to tell me that the offer of salvation was not made to sinners? What bible are you reading because if you do not see salvation as an offered gift in the one you are reading then you need a different bible.