It seemed self-evident, but OK:
"Choice" is too weak a term to describe Divine Empowerment:
Ezekiel 11:19-20 [ESV]
And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
EXPOSITION: GOD GAVE the people "one heart" and a "new spirit". That goes beyond a simple neutral "take it or leave it" offer from God for the people to choose to embrace or reject. GOD (not the people) "removed the heart of stone" from the people. This does not describe people making a choice, but God performing an action. God "gave them a heart of flesh", which is once again not a "choice" of people but is described as an action of God. Ezekiel 11 supports my claim that "choice" is too weak a term when scripture illustrates "divine empowerment" to obedience.
Ezekiel 36:22-32 [ESV]
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
EXPOSITION: This is not a description of what people choose to do. This is an emphatic decree of what God chooses to do TO the people. First it reiterates the replacement of a heart of stone (bad) with a heart of flesh (good) as something God does TO PEOPLE rather than something that people choose. Then these verses make it 100% clear that God is doing this TO the people for GOD and not for THEM. "I am about to act" indicates that this is a unilateral action by God whose purpose is to "vindicate the holiness of my great name". This BY GOD and FOR GOD. Look at all the things that God claims God will do: "I will" take, gather, sprinkle, give, remove, put, cause, deliver, summon, and make. At the end God reiterates "it is not for your sake that I will act". This does not illustrate people making a CHOICE. This illustrates GOD choosing to enact Divine Empowerment upon an undeserving people for reasons having nothing to do with them.
Matthew 16:17 [ESV]
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
EXPOSITION: God the Father revealed TRUTH to Peter. Knowledge of Jesus as "the Christ, Son of the Living God" was not a human choice for the Apostle, but a Divine Empowerment. What makes us think we are so much better that the Apostle needed Divine Empowerment but we are self-empowered to just choose without TRUTH being revealed by God?
Acts 16:14 [ESV]
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
EXPOSITION: Apparently, like Peter, God felt the need to also "prime Lydia's pump" by "[opening] her heart]" rather than just trusting her to freely choose. This again is less "choose" and more "divine empower".
Romans 8:29-30 [ESV]
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
EXPOSITION: Note carefully how many times the word "he" appears. He is "God". God foreknew and God predestined and God called and God justified and God glorified. This is a symphony of DIVINE EMPOWERMENT rather than a string of Human Choice.
Ephesians 2:1-10 [ESV]
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
EXPOSITION: "even when we were dead", God "made us alive". Setting aside foolish arguments about literal, spiritual or some sort of symbolic/metaphorical "dead" (I don't care), the point I want to make is that this is describing GOD as the active force and people as the passive recipient of whatever God is doing. That is DIVINE EMPOWERMENT rather than Human Choice. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, it makes very clear that it cannot be our choice when "this is not of your own doing" and makes it equally clear that this is DIVINE EMPOWERMENT when it says "it is the gift of God". In case there was any doubt, it echoes back to "this is all about GOD" of Ezekiel 36 with the reminder that "we are his workmanship".
Everything affirms "Divine Empowerment" over any simple "human choice".
God did it, not us.
