Do we have free will? This is a difficult question to phrase:
- Are we free to do as we please? It certainly seems so.
- Does God hold us responsible for our actions? Definitely (Ezekiel 18:4, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die").
- Does God make us do evil? No (1 John 1:5 "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all").
- Does God choose those who are saved, and those who are not saved (without regard to their character)? Yes. Salvation (even the faith required for salvation) is a gift from God, apart from what we do -- our works (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- Further, does God harden some people to prevent them from believing in God? (Exodus 4:21, 9:34, etc. Deuteronomy 2:30, Romans 9:18. Also the explanation for why Jesus spoke in parables, Matthew 13:10-15: "lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted")
- Can we lose our salvation? No. John 10:29 "My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand."
- We are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel message (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38).
- We are commanded to keep ourselves in the faith, to not fall away (Hebrews 3:12-13).
- We are commanded to pray to God, so that He will do what He has already decided to do.
1 comment:
"We are commanded to pray to God, so that He will do what He has already decided to do."
Exactly, no free will.
"So, perhaps, we do not have free will (certainly not the ability to act outside of God's plan). But we certainly seem to have free will. And our conscience acts as if we had free will. When we turn from our sins, and trust in God; it seems like our idea."
We don't have free will if god is omni-max. It is logically impossible. So, the question here is this: if it only seems like our idea to turn away from sin and trust in god (since we have no free will) did we ever really decide not to trust in god? That's the whole point. We don't sin because we choose to, but because god has ordained it. Then, he turns some hearts and saves some, then condemns and damns the others. But, the ones being damned never had the free will to choose to follow god, so they were condemned from the beginning of time. So, why would an all-loving god decide to make a universe where so many people would endure eternal torture with no decision in the matter? Then, he lies to us and tells us that it is up to us to follow him? You are describing not a god of love, but a sadistic, cruel god.
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