You contradict yourself. It is impossible to "choose" without option.
agreed. and there was an option the Son exercised, but not in time. when the eternal God (the Father, Son, Spirit) covenanted with Himself to save a people unto Himself, the Son had an option to say no to the Father. But He, the Son, entered into that covenant with the Father, with whom He is One both in Spirit, essence, and will, and therefore, His choice was fixed at that point in eternity past.
When He said "yes" to being the Savior of God's people, He put His entire faith in His Father, that He will not leave His body in corruption, and the Father put His entire faith in the Son, that His Son will not waver.
Because for the Son to waver and the Father not know it destroys the WHOLE ATTRIBUTE OF GOD'S OMNISCIENCE.
That is why modern translations have it wrong when they changed the words of Galatians 2:20,f which read "I live by the faith OF the Son of God" to "faith IN the Son of God", in keeping with their soteriology that it is THEIR faith in the Son of God that made their redemption.
The Word of the Lord is FIXED, both in heaven and in earth. There is NOT THE LEAST IOTA of an option to waver, as you would like to put in the Creator's mouth when you cite Matthew 26:53.
If Jesus could not lie, then he was not obedient, he did not "choose" to obey. Matthew 26:53 proves Jesus did have option, he himself said he could pray to his Father, and his Father would send more than twelve legions of angels to rescue him.
Jesus could not, can not, and will not lie.
I lay your arguments at the feet of God's Omniscience.
If there was a possibility that He would lie, His Father would know.
If there was the slightest iota of possibility that Jesus would waver in His mission, the Father would know.
And if the Father would know, why would He send His Son to a cruel death on the cross for worms ?
And why would God take Enoch home to Him, if there was the iota of an iota of an iota that He would still have to kick Enoch out of heaven, after all, because His Son would falter and turn back ?
But the redemption of His people is a DONE DEAL, ALL OF THEM, not one are lost, because the Son, in eternity past, set His face to go to the cross, not out of love for worms like you and I, but out of His love and devotion to the father, and grace and mercy for us.
He didn't have to allow those soldiers to take him, he said so himself.
True, He didn't
HAVE TO, but they must, because His role as Savior is
FOREORDAINED, and agreed to by the Great One-in-Three, and there is no turning back, for the same reasons I stated above.
That is what Christ wanted to drill into the thick, rabble-rousing head of Peter, and to all thick-headed worms down in time who will view Him as someone who would tuck his tail at the last moment and call out to His Father to forget this whole thing, and just let everybody rot in hell.
His Father did not have to watch from Heaven while His Son in that body suffered cruelly for dirty, rotten sinners, but He TRUSTED HIS SON'S WORD given to Him during their covenant that He will not falter.
And if it was impossible for him to pray to his Father for rescue, then he lied when he implied he could have. Your view is absolutely refuted.
No, your view is absolutely refuted and proven by everything that is written in Scripture about the character and attributes of God to be totally unscriptural and humanist.
Your attempt to portray the Creator and Savior as having the ability to sin but would not is totally refuted by the fact that the Savior Himself explained that adultery is not just the act but the thought, the slightest interest in another man's wife, or another woman's husband, and that EVERY THOUGHT AND INTENT OF A MAN'S HEART is open to God, INCLUDING HIS (JESUS').
This verse does not prove your view at all. Jesus "chose" to do his Father's will.
and what I see is your inability to grasp what I am saying. Yes, Jesus CHOSE to do His Father's will. But the choice what not made here in time. It was mad in eternity past. I dare say that based on that covenant, and the Great One-in-Three's agreement, the Father wrote the names of His people in His mind (the Book of Life).
This verse argues against your view, if you "yield" to God, then you could have chosen not to yield, just as you could refuse to yield when you enter a highway in your car and force someone off the road. Happens all the time.
and your view of how Matthew 26:53 is to be interpreted shows how low of an opinion you have of the Eternal Son of God by comparing His highway decisions to man's highway decisions, His temper to man's temper.
When Christ entered the human freeway to His cross, He had one goal in mind: JERUSALEM. And guess what ? It wasn't because of you, or I, primarily, it was because He is here to do what the first Adam could not do, absolute, total obedience to the Father, of whose essence He is. (Hebrews 1).
And by the way, the words "whether" and "or of" show man has option, he is not forced or compelled to either serve sin or righteousness, he can choose whom he obeys.
And if man had only obeyed in the garden, from the get-go, there would have been no need for Christ.
Oh, I get it, you Calvinists believe Jesus could not have sinned because of his nature. You believe man MUST sin because of his nature, but Jesus Christ himself refutes this view.
Mat 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
and WHO, pray tell, is the tree ? you are completely out of context.
and where did I say that man MUST sin because of his nature ?
Man sins because
thatis who he is: a sinner, unholy.
Jesus Christ CANNOT sin because He is OF GOD, and FROM GOD, and while He does have a human body, His nature is holy and sinless, and if sinless, then He CANNOT sin.
Calvinists love to quote the scripture that says a corrupt tree cannot give good fruit, but they conveniently ignore Matthew 12:33 where Jesus shows a man can determine whether he is a good tree that bears good fruit, or a corrupt tree that bears corrupt fruit.
and humanists like to quote the above to show that they have the intrinsic ability to obey God and to choose God.
The words "either make" and "or else make" show that man has both option and ability to determine which kind of tree he is, and what kind of fruit he bears.
Even if I agree with you on this, I will still have to say that
only the regenerate is given that ability.
This verse absolutely refutes your false doctrine.
none of it did. The verses you cited only served to highlight your humanism
There is also much other scripture that refutes your superstitious view. Satan was not created with a sin nature, scripture says he was created "perfect", yet he was able to sin.
whoever said Satan was created with a sin nature.
I didn't, so don't revert to your silly tactics of putting words into the other person's mouth.
I said,
in essence, CREATED BEINGS HAVE THE
PROPENSITY TO SIN.
And God is SELF-EXISTING, UNCREATED.
And Jesus Christ is FROM GOD, and HIMSELF GOD, therefore, He does not have the SIN NATURE WE INHERITED FROM ADAM.
And if He does not have that sin nature, therefore, it is not just simply that He would not sin, as your favorite Calvinist says, notwithstanding his caveat about "would not", Jesus Christ WILL NOT and CANNOT SIN.
The fallen angels were "very good", yet they were able to sin.
which only highlights what I am saying, created beings have the propensity and the ability to sin. which is why even among angels, God exercised His Sovereign right to elect those who are His.
Adam and Eve were created "very good" and yet they were able to sin.
Adam and Eve were only part of the entire creation which God said was very good. Read Genesis 1:26-31.
So, this belief of yours that a person with a "perfect" nature cannot sin is easily refuted by MUCH scripture.
This belief of mine is backed up by much Scripture, particularly those that pertain to God's attributes and character.
I am sorry to learn, after all this time, that your view of Jesus, God and Man, is so low as to actually believe He is capable of sinning and violating the will of His Father if He chooses to.
If they believe as you do, they would be wrong just as you are.
I just contradicted the view of at least one Calvinist you agreed with, so apparently, our beliefs do not agree.
And with all due respects to Calvinists here, I do not believe every elect child of God will hear the gospel, and obey it, in order to be saved, eternally, as they do, or at least I understand they do.
So, there.
Your view is easily refuted by the word of God.
my views are grounded on the impeccability of Christ, and everything it means, yours are not, so your views are not only unscriptural, they are totally anti-Christ.