Free will

ChickenSoup

ChickenSoup

Banned
This topic has come up again every once in a while at CCGR... so here it is. If God created us, and He created us knowing what we would do, do we have free will?

I'm not sure as of now, but I'd like to hear your guys' opinion.
 
ChickenSoup said:
This topic has come up again every once in a while at CCGR... so here it is. If God created us, and He created us knowing what we would do, do we have free will?

I'm not sure as of now, but I'd like to hear your guys' opinion.
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Yes, we have free will. Just because he is all knowing doesn't mean he interferes, and he gives us the chance reguardless. On a smaller level, this is the case with all realationships of power. My parents knew I was going to do something several times and waited patiently for me to actually do it before doing anything, so that I would have the experience to learn from.

I think our heavenly Father is much the same. Part of his joy comes from our choosing him when we are capable of rejecting him.
 
he already knows that it's going to happen but it's not his will that we do it, it's our own. so yes, it is free will, but it has been figured out by him that it will happen
 
God sees both the beginning and the end. Just because He knows how it is going to end does not remove our free will. God exists outside of time, therefore He can see both the beginning and the end.
 
The fact that you wonder is sort of a testament to there being free will. If we didn't have a free will, then why would we sin? God would be running our lives and we wouldn't be able to. I believe He nudges us in the right direction, but He doesn't make us into mindless robots that he controls.
 
i just realized how you proved that like as soon as i clicked that... i expected research and proof and then i thought wait a minute it isn't God's fault i wanted to click that
OO that brings something else to mind,
if we didn't have free will then how would we do evil things, seeing as God would NEVER make anyone do anything evil?!
so if we want to do something evil then it's our fault and therefore our will, free will, to do so.
 
i just realized how you proved that like as soon as i clicked that... i expected research and proof and then i thought wait a minute it isn't God's fault i wanted to click that
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The link indeed provides years of research :D

Gen
 
bleh, cheater. are you a phsychologist? even my dad wouldn't think of that and he's studied psychology for years (i think he's absolutely insane and that i know more analytical psychology than he, though he knows more book-proven things than i... i think mine is more psychology related though, since it's the STUDY of the mind, not the study of the studies of the mind -.o)
 
Interesting topic that has been brought up over and over again. When it comes to freewill, we have but one choice: To do it Gods way or our way.

It doesn't matter how big or insignificant the decision appears to be. Whether you are deciding what to do with surplus cash of a multi-billion dollar international company or what you are going to have for dinner tonight. God has a plan for everything and you can choose to do it your way or Gods way.

The reality is, God knows and so do we all, that we end up doing everything our way. Even if our intentions are to do it Gods way, our imperfect, sinful nature does not allow us to do it Gods way perfectly. Thus on some level we do it our way.

God knows this, I know this, you know this, yet we are still able to make our freewill decisions. The good news is that God has already accounted for this. In Gods foreknowledge of our inability to do it Gods way, God has made plans to make our decisons work to the good of his will.

Whether you decide to use surplus cash to fund a new charity to feed the starving in Ethiopia or to embazel the cash for personal gain, God will use that decision to the good of his will. No decision you make will change that.
 
God gave us free will to choose.. Jesus..

Jesus exerted His free while He lived on earth in bodily form, Choosing the will of the Father over His own, He submitted to God's will, He exorcised the Fathers will in everything! :D

Jesus is fully man (and God, but that is off topic-heh), so He knows what it's like when our enemy [flesh, world & devil] temps us! And is able to keep us from falling! He is the word of Life, and can exhort us to fully comprehend His Abiding Love!

When we try to live this life, God puts obsticles in our way to break us down.. To reveal the Son, who He set apart to be our Life!

The gift of choice [freewill] incudes choosing who to be.. Are we not now Son of God! How great is the Love the Father has lavashed on us, that we should be called Sons of God! And if a Son then an heir according to the promise! The promise being that He shall be our God, and we shall be His people!

God has given us the Life of Jesus on wooden cross.. And, once we discover our futility in this life, 'tis just a matter of reckoning His Life as our own! 'Tis a FREE gift from God!

God will give His Glory to no other..:p
 
I'm a Calvanist so what I believe is radically differnet from what you guys have written here.

We have free will... to sin. We can do nothing but sin as that is our nature.
Regardless of how 'good' the action may seem to us, to God it is a sin as it is performed by an unregenerate person. In our natural state we are at emnity with God and want nothing to do with Him. We are incapable of 'choosing' to follow Jesus. We are spiritually dead.
God, in His wisdom, has chosen some people for eternal life. These are called the elect. God made the choice, not man.
God then changes the nature of these elect so they are then capable of:
1. Understanding their condition before God.
2. Desiring to follow God.
3. Of doing good in God's eyes.
 
then you could go do anything and not get worse punishment
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that reminds me that sinning is our own free will... because if we could do anything we want then we would be making that choice ourselves.

also, if you knew that your friend was going to punch someone, and he did it, then would it be your will or his?
 
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We have free will... to sin. We can do nothing but sin as that is our nature.
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This may well be the utmost truth, but through Paul we learn that we can shed our slavery to sin and choose to be slaves to righteousness.

As a Calvanist, what do think of the idea that while it is God who chooses his elect, on the cross, he choose everybody? Meaning all men are saved, all people are part of the elect, regardless of if they have heard the gospel, follow Christ in life and their heart, or if they are satanists.
 
All men are forgiven after all..

John 1:9
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Mark 16:15
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
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Wat say you...?
 
All Men are forgiven IF They Accept Christ. Not all men are forgiven Arbitrarily. There has to be repentence.

God takes us at our worst and gives us HIS glory.

We have free will. We have a choice on whether or not we are going to choose Christ or choose self. THis makes a huge differance.

However, here is an interesting question.

How is our free will affected if we have a near death experiance and if unsaved, see hell? Say after you are recucitated you recant and accept Christ? Was that really your choice or was it a choice thrust upon you by the Near Death Experiance?
 
Sin of the WORLD Eskimo! LOL!

Under the old covenant God counted mens sins against them;
Isaiah 13:11
I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
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Under Grace:
2 Corinthians 5:19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
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Grace, dear friend, is NOT forgiveness..

One is a five letter word and the other is eleven :lol

Grace=Jesus
Forgiveness=Jesus

haha..

Now just you TRY and wrap your mind around DAT one!-lol
 
Ah, but we are forgiven under grace. (Zeena, Thread is starting to go off topic... Need to get back on.)

On topic.
What are things that can posssibly affect free will?
 
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