Is there such a thing as 'free will' or is it just a choice between Good and evil?

King james...
wait..if you are king...what does that make me? humm

ok...anyway. good point to consider KJ.
i'll give my thoughts...and this is without study...so i may be way off.

Man may not know God...and when i say God i mean..the true God. but man has a need to worship. just as man has a need for love. This is in no way speaking of "self love". Self will let you down as will other loves other then Gods love.

This longing can be seen in my favorite book in the Bible ecclesiastes. When you have time read my book on ecclesiastes called...the reality of life.

If I could have one blessing from me to the world...it would be to place a copy of not my book...but the book of ecclesiastes in everyone's hand...and for them to fully understand it's meaning. This book is often over looked and used in the wrong way. however...this book is what the world needs. this is not to place ecclesiastes over any other book of the Bible. it is just that i wish all men could be blessed as God blessed me in reading ecclesiastes.

I had read it a few times before and had very little thought of it. But one day as i reread it..the light opened up...and blessings came that i will never forget.

ecclesiastes crushes every dream you ever have. It takes life and shows how it is...without god...under the sun. many good men have wrongly tried to tie spiritual truths to passages in the book that are not there. I think this underminds the propose of ecclesiastes. There is very little said about God in ecclesiastes. There is no plan of salvation....it only points to where you can find the answers. ecclesiastes will depress you. It will pull you down and make you fill worthless....it will make you think as its writer...”what is the use in living...it would be better if i was dead. This comes from solomon who God calls the wiseth man to ever live. Not till the end of the book do we see real hope. But though out this great book we will see the state of man....helpless...yet trying....trying this...trying that....nothing helps fill that longing.

ok i’ll stop..i’m way off the path.

anyway..i think it’s Mans need to worship is what you see...not a need for God.

but i could be wrong ....i’ll study on this...

good point KJ


BTY..i said when you have time read my book...you better have a lot of time. I’m still writing it.

In Christ...james ...but not king james..just james

 

i happen to agree with you tex on this. I said i was not a calvinist...and you will see why later when i post on the elect of god. The OP was about the will of man. This I know..and i have shown mans will is DEAD to God. There is no other way to look at it....or you must over look all verses that deal with this very thing. I back not away from anything i say. It holds its only with the bible. I do part from calvin in somethings...but he was right on the money teaching mans will.

This may seem to be a change but i feel i can show how this all works together.

The Bible gives us theology which is more human than Calvinism, and more divine than Arminianism....and more Christian then either of them.

However both men covered theological studys in such get depth that each one of us will find ourself leaning one way or the other. where as you do have a good understanding of God and his calling....you fell to see the verses that show of OP...mans will. with each post on mans sin nature you post Gods love.

Yes God wants all to be saved. Yes man does have a will. Lets paint mans will as the Bible paints it. I agreed with JD about your reading of our post for you pass over most points and return to God wants to save all of us. What about the points we made? You paint me and others as robots...for you think to believe bondage of the will..means we have no choice. This is not the case.

You said you read the post..ok i'm sorry. you do read them. do you agree that man is DEAD in his sins? that is all i want to know. Please do not jump to...God wants all to be saved again. Yes..i agree with God want all to be saved.

God said mans will would die....the bible shows mans will dieing...mans will is dead. do you not agree? this is not saying you agree with the elect. do you agree with the verses posted?

 

each time i have said the wrong thing about you... i have always come back and said i was sorry. If you think there are other areas i need to ask forgiveness..please froward to me.. and i will.

i asked you to do the same over you blaming me of God making sin.

this was as close as you came in your post
..sorry but...if you say man has no freewill...than you must believe this.

I clearly showed you how wrong it is to think this way....the logic for it to even work is not there....and beyond that..i have said i do not believe that. do you believe me?

still no post from you

again i ask you....where did this come from? did you make it up?

now i did say this..
you seem not to read them.

why? you over look what they say. every answer you give...not every one..most all of them are over Gods love. how many times do i have to say..God is a God of love. God does want all mankind to be saved. see..i said it again.

you say nothing that has to deal with mans will. on your own claim to freedom of the will.....you post Gods calling. This is Gods will tex. God does call. God does want all to be saved..but what about mans sin nature...what about mans will...what about the bible calling man dead to the things of God?

when you start to answer ...then i know you did read the post. but when you jump back to gods will....and say nothing of mans will....i have no idea if you do.

is that fair?

again..sorry for saying you did not read them.

 

Thanks diane for sharing a verse of Gods great love.

 

And the very next verse says, "who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

That means those whom believe on His name are born because of God's will. Not man's will! It is right there. Not by the will of the flesh! You can't work your way into heaven. Not born by blood(s), meaning blood sacrifices and/or blood relations (decendant of Abraham). Not by the will of man. The language is plain. Not by the will of man.

 

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

 

who do you feel this is talking about diane? The unsaved or those that have been freed from sin?

 

overcame him by the blood of the lamb.... is speaking of those who have accepted the gift of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross.

 

Diane,

I do not mean to overlook you in my post. Most have been toward texas. However i would like to hear from you if you will share.

Do you believe that the verses posted paint man as dead to the things of God? This is in no way saying you believe that the Bible teaches God picks some to go to hell...and picks others to go to heaven. I would just like your input if you care to give it.

Is man dead in his sins?

Thanks for your input

 

overcame him by the blood of the lamb.... is speaking of those who have accepted the gift of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross. </font>[/QUOTE]I agree with you diane.

 

JArthur,

If that is not what you believe, I apologize, but I disagree that you have clearly showed you do not.

You just cannot remove freewill from man and NOT, in the long run, be accusing God.

 

The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev. 22:17-19

 

that is fair. maybe i will tonight on my "pull it all together post. then again...maybe not.

thanks..james

 

</font>[/QUOTE]I have read this work before. Before i reply, are you saying you agree with this last statement?
"it was the pagan world, not the Christians, who believed in predestination. "

 

Since I cannot ask them myself, I have only to go on their writings but, yes, I believe Early Christians believed in FREE WILL, as do I.

Diane

 

This is another good verse on Gods Great Love. God wants all to come to Him.

I would like to point a few things that is sometimes over looked.

Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’

the bride is the church...i'm sure we all agree. The church is calling just as Spirit is calling. This places responsibility on us. We too should call the world to Him. We too should reach out as God has.

This stamps out beliefs that we should do nothing.

notice also...whosoever will..let him come. I have already posted on this...but it bears repeating.

God wants all to be saved. God says...whoever WILL may come. If they come will they be saved? yes. who will come before God reaches out to them?

NNE. they do not care for God. They do not know Him. they are DEAD

again i ask you...you believe in the Bible....you saw the verses of God saying man is dead in his sins. Do you believe man is dead in his sins? is this something i made up?...or is it in the bible?

 

i felt sure you did believe in freewell.

what i asked was do you believe that last line. let me repost.

I have read this work before. Before i reply, are you saying you agree with this last statement?
"it was the pagan world, not the Christians, who believed in predestination. "

thanks

 

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.


NOTICE THE CORRECTION TO YOUR WORDING! YOU KEEP SAYING: you saw the verses of God saying man is dead in his sins. Do you believe man is dead in his sins? is this something i made up?...or is it in the bible?

READ THE VERSES AGAIN AND NOTE THE BOLDED AREAS.

 

JArthur,

You keep saying, "No one comes unless called," (which is fine), but you keep ignoring the fact that God says He sends the message to all.