An Article on free will

I'm only answering this post since he posted to your question already #6,366.

Jim, Adam sinned using his free will. Sin is as the word of God said~a transgression against the law of God.

1st John 3:4​

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

God’s inspired definition of sin – the violation of God’s moral code for human conduct. The only true difference in the two clauses here is the use of also in the first. See above. Nearly a restatement of the first clause, John by the Spirit wrote to paint sin accurately. Any laws other than God’s might be questioned in nature or degree, but not God’s.

We sin, because of having inherit from Adam our sinful nature. We are born in captivity to sin, and the devil himself.
The transgression of the law is a choice. It is something that one does. If there is no free will, then there is no choice to either obey or disobey. That is simply the definition.
 
yet this "god of love" predestines most of his creation to hell without ever giving them any way to escape their fatal end. Your fatalism is unloving just like the god you follow who has no love for most of mankind he created.

your view of john 3:16 is as follows:

for the god of fatalism so loved the whole world that he only will save those he predestined whom he gave his son to die for and those he died for caused them to believe and the other caused them not to believe in the son and never receive eternal life like the others.

hope this helps !!!

As a blessed Christian, I believe in and follow Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Truth (John 14:6), so you calling me a follower of "fatalism" means that you are calling my Leader Jesus your wicked "fatal", a.k.a. "death", and no Christian applies death to Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ is Life!

The Word of God is absolute Truth (John 14:6)! I believe in Lord Jesus Christ!

My brother Paul wrote "it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (Romans 9:16).

The Apostle Paul is very clear about who causes what in Romans 9:18-23 and for what purpose - see the crucial concepts of "prepared" and "beforehand".

Your statements, civic, parallels the mocker's "Why did you make me like this" (Romans 9:20) where the Apostle Paul wrote:

18 He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the Potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory
(Romans 9:18-23)
So, faithful, glorious, and graceful Lord and God Jesus Christ fills us vessel of mercy with God's works of mercy which God prepared beforehand for glory!

IN TRUTH, PAUL CONVEYS THAT MAN CANNOT RESIST GOD'S WILL (ROMANS 9:19-20)!

You believe you buy your way into heaven with your fleshly free-will faith payment in your "apart from Christ, I chose to believe Christ so Christ must profit me with salvation", yet the Christ of us Christians declares "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) and "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) and “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16) and “I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation) and “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29) and “It is the Spirit who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life” (John 6:63), so you believe falsehood (2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:9-10).

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE KING JESUS CHRIST OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!!
 
IN TRUTH, PAUL CONVEYS THAT MAN CANNOT RESIST GOD'S WILL (ROMANS 9:19-20)!
That is certainly a true statement. What, specifically, in the lives of each individual can be assigned to or constrained by God's will is an open question. It certainly is not absolutely everything as you seem to imply. For most it may actually be absolutely nothing.
You believe you buy your way into heaven with your fleshly free-will faith payment in your "apart from Christ, I chose to believe Christ so Christ must profit me with salvation", yet the Christ of us Christians declares "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) and "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) and “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16) and “I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation) and “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29) and “It is the Spirit who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life” (John 6:63), so you believe falsehood (2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:9-10).
Believing that one can buy his way into heaven with his fleshly free-will faith payment is a really nasty red herring. The only ones who would even think that way are those who reject God's will, ability and action of creating mankind with free-will to choose to obey or disobey. The very idea that God would establish the Law and then not give the vast majority the ability to obey that Law and then condemn them for disobeying the Law is not only ludicrous, it is an affront to God.

You err in assigning John 15:16,19 to anyone other than the twelve to whom and about whom Jesus was speaking. The entire discourse of John 13-17 was at the last supper with the twelve. It is important to differentiate between Jesus' teaching concerning the twelve and His teaching concerning followers of Christ, generally. The subject of choosing in John 15:16,19 is clearly spoken to the twelve specifically with no indication there that it was spoken of the rest of us.
Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).
Free-will is a critical defining trait of mankind versus animals in general. Animals have only instinctive behavior as their guiding principles. Man, on the other hand, have limited instinctive behavior and are blessed with free-will to control behavior. It is the reactions of man based upon that free-will which separates those whom God chooses to elect and those He chooses not to elect. That I believe is the very reason that God has created this physical universe and mankind. That is the message of the written one-line response to Cain by God concerning Cain's anger at God's lack of regard for Cain's offering. And that is the message of all of humanity throughout the ages from the very beginning.

Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

That statemen by God to Cain is unintelligible in the absence of free-will. It absolutely emphasizes personal responsibility in choosing righteousness over sin. It describes the power of choice in our spiritual lives to obey God.
 
However, in the meantime, Your thinking that the references in John 15 are for you is rather humorous. Those were spoken to and about the twelve. You ain't one of them.

Let us behold the audience of Lord Jesus Christ saying "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19, includes salvation).

By the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Judas Iscariot departed, so that leaves 11, not your "Those were spoken to and about the twelve", but truly the eleven,, so you are in confusion. Lord Jesus' word of see (righteously perceive) resounds true "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) about you, Jim, but more about John 3:3 in post 2 of this series.

At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias (Acts 1:21-23) were also present, not your "the twelve apostles", but truly a minimum of 13 persons is contextually established,, so you are in confusion.

At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time (see John 15:16-19), the Lord explained "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20) JUST ONE VERSE AFTER JOHN 15:19, so this word of Christ's is in context with the manner the world persecutes Christians as Christ's words recorded in Mark 13:1-37 including "What I say to you I say to all" (Mark 13:37) THUS CONTEXT EXISTS BETWEEN JOHN 15:16, JOHN 15:19, JOHN 15:20, AND MARK 13:37, so you are in confusion.

You do not keep Lord Jesus Christ!s words recorded in John 15:16-19 because you think that this Word of God is inapplicable to Christians today! Lord Jesus has something to say about people who do not keep Lord Jesus Christ's words "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words" (John 14:23-24).

Friend Of Jesus (John 15:15) Relation To Exclusive Choice By Jesus (John 15:16)​


Lord Jesus immediately adjacently joins persons chosen by Jesus with selfsame persons being friends of Friend Jesus (John 15:15-16).

""I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you" (John 15:15-16) says Lord Jesus.
A friend of Jesus does not choose Jesus, but Jesus does choose the friend of Jesus (John 15:15-16), and a friend of Jesus does what Jesus commands (John 15:14) by the appointment of Jesus (John 15:16) thus being a friend of Jesus by the Christ's choosing (John 15:14-16).
FREE-WILLIANS DISAVOW CHRIST'S WORDS OF "YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME" (JOHN 15:16) FOR THEMSELVES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DECLARING THE WORDS AS EXCLUSIVELY APPLICABLE TO THE APOSTLES; THEREFORE, FREE-WILLIANS DENY BEING A FRIEND OF JESUS WHICH JESUS COVERS IN THE SAME SAYINGS OF JESUS.

A friend of Jesus marvels at the glorious exclusive work of God's salvation of man; on the other hand, an enemy of Jesus steals the exclusive glory of man's salvation from God by saying things like "I chose Jesus" or "I accepted Jesus" resulting in the following implications to free-willian philosophy:

  • the enemy of Jesus rejects Jesus * Who says Who He is, and Jesus declares Himself Sovereign, the exclusive Controller, in man's salvation.
  • the enemy of Jesus does not receive the sayings of Jesus * for the enemy disavows Jesus' sayings about God's exclusive choosing of man (John 15:16, John 15:19 includes salvation).
  • the enemy of Jesus thinks the enemy compels God to provide salvation; in other words, the enemy of Jesus thinks that God must obey man's command for salvation to enter the heart of man, also without a man's affirming decision (choosing of Jesus) there is no salvation for the man.
  • the enemy of Jesus gets the glory, yet God does not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8).

* "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day" (John 12:48).
In their hearts self-willed persons (2 Peter 2:9-10) in effect remove themselves from being friends of Jesus.

By the Power of God, for God's glory (Isaiah 42:8), the friend of Jesus bears good fruit/works because apart from Jesus a person can do nothing (John 15:5).

By the Power of God, by God's grace, for God's glory (Isaiah 42:8), the friend of Jesus is saved from the wrath of God because Jesus, Lord and God (John 20:28), says "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19).

We Christians believe the Christ exclusively chooses persons unto salvation:
  • "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:16), so God chooses people to be friends (John 15:15, the prior verse) and to believe (John 6:29) and to be born again (John 3:3-8) and for righteous works (John 3:21, John 15:5) and to repent (Matthew 11:25) and to love (John 13:34) and unto salvation (John 15:19 the same passage).
  • "I chose you out of the world" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:19, includes salvation), so God exclusively chooses people unto salvation.
  • "What I say to you I say to all" (Lord Jesus Christ, Mark 13:37 - Jesus had taken the Apostles Peter, Andrew, James, and John aside in private and said this), so all the blessings of God mentioned above are to all believers in all time.
The only way for free-willian philosophers to acheive free-will is for free-willians to add to the Word of God, and it is written "do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar" (Proverbs 30:6).

We Christians are blessed of God to be chosen by Lord Jesus without exception because the Word of God says "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:19, includes salvation)!

This first post in series is the introduction to a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE ESTABLISHER OF GODLY FRIENDSHIP!!!
 
And your interpretation of the word "see" in John 3:3 is a bit off. The kingdom of heaven is not something to be visually observed. It is to be experienced. The "see" in verse 3 and the enter in verse 5 both speak of the same thing.

You call Lord Jesus your liar with your words there, Jim, because the results of your expressed thoughts are expressed as the traditions of men on the left side below while the righteous side expresses divine right:
The traditions of men The Holy Word of God
Truly, truly, I say to you, before one is born again he can see the Kingdom of God[
(Jim 3:3)
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3)

The true Lord Jesus declares that a person cannot righteously perceive King Jesus of the Kingdom of God without God birthing the person anew in the exchange:
Lord Jesus: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
Nicodemus: "How can someone be born when they are old?" "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!" (John 3:4)
Lord Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8)

This second post in series is the continuation of a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE FATHER OF US CHILDREN OF GOD AND CREATOR OF ALL CREATION!!!
 
With respect to John 6:29, that is Jesus' answer to those in the crowd asking, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" He didn't try to deceive them. He answered them truthfully and told them what they must do. He told them "you must believe in God". Believing is work. It is not a work of law but is certainly was stated as something that they must do.

But your confusion as to the meaning of so much is obvious.

Again, your words portray Lord Jesus Christ as a liar because your heart's treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) is on the wrong side, the left side, while the righteous Word of God is on the right side:
Jim's heart treasure The Lovely Word of God
This is not the work of God but this is the work of man, that you believe in Him whom He has sent
(Jim 6:29)
This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 6:29)

Lord Jesus Christ means exactly what he said when he said that that you believe in Him whom He has sent is the work of God!

This third post in series is the continuation of a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men leading to worship in vain (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF THE FAITH!!!
 
I am waiting for you to define sin without free will.

So, back to my question; if there is no free will what is sin?

This fourth post in series concludes a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

God caused me to address your statement in the post to which you responded, but the Word of God applies to you "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3), yet the response to your inquiry follows.

As to your heart's treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) that sin requires the existence of free-will, no Word of God states man was imparted a free-will, so free-will is unbiblical.

Next as to your heart's treasure, "the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual" (1 Corinthians 15:46); therefore, man initially has a self-will for it is written "daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties" (2 Peter 2:9-10), so self-will is Biblical.

Finally, as to your heart's treasure, the definition of sin is as follows.

Sin: not a part, missing the mark.

hamartía (a feminine noun derived from 1 /A "not" and 3313 /méros, "a part, share of") – properly, no-share ("no part of"); loss (forfeiture) because not hitting the target; sin (missing the mark) (definition from ἁμαρτία - Strong's 266 - hamartia HELPS Word-studies section on BibleHub.com).
Sin is "not a part" of God, or said another way, sin is man "missing the mark" established by God, like missing the bull's eye of a target, sin is when a self-willed person does not do as God commands whether ignorantly or not.

Jim, you believe you buy your way into heaven with your fleshly free-will faith payment in your "apart from Christ, I chose to believe Christ so Christ must profit me with salvation", yet the Christ of us Christians declares "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) and "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) and “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16) and “I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation) and “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29) and “It is the Spirit who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life” (John 6:63), so you believe falsehood (2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:9-10).
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Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men leading to worship in vain (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE LORD, MY SALVATION!!!
 
Let us behold the audience of Lord Jesus Christ saying "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19, includes salvation).
Actually, there is nothing that says anything about being chosen for salvation. They were chosen for the specific reason of being His apostles. That they became believers either before or after being chosen seems all rather obvious, but nothing is ever said about them being elect for salvation.
By the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Judas Iscariot departed, so that leaves 11, not your "Those were spoken to and about the twelve", but truly the eleven,, so you are in confusion.
You are correct, I stand corrected, but whether 12 or 11 you still are not one of them.
Lord Jesus' word of see (righteously perceive) resounds true "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) about you, Jim, but more about John 3:3 in post 2 of this series.
Righteously perceive?? Seriously? Making up even more unbiblical definition of words to force fit your theology?
At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias (Acts 1:21-23) were also present, not your "the twelve apostles", but truly a minimum of 13 persons is contextually established,, so you are in confusion.
The real confusion is in the bad theology that you are trying to promote.
At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time (see John 15:16-19), the Lord explained "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20) JUST ONE VERSE AFTER JOHN 15:19, so this word of Christ's is in context with the manner the world persecutes Christians as Christ's words recorded in Mark 13:1-37 including "What I say to you I say to all" (Mark 13:37) THUS CONTEXT EXISTS BETWEEN JOHN 15:16, JOHN 15:19, JOHN 15:20, AND MARK 13:37, so you are in confusion.
The obvious meaning there is contained in the warning to "stay awake". Jesus also said, in Mark 14:27, "You will all fall away",... Are you going to assume that one is for you as well?
You do not keep Lord Jesus Christ!s words recorded in John 15:16-19 because you think that this Word of God is inapplicable to Christians today! Lord Jesus has something to say about people who do not keep Lord Jesus Christ's words "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words" (John 14:23-24).
One of the fallacies of bible interpretation is the failure to identify the who is speaking, to whom it is speaking, and about whom or what it is being spoken. You are clearly in that category here as you clearly have shown in the following.

Friend Of Jesus (John 15:15) Relation To Exclusive Choice By Jesus (John 15:16)​


Lord Jesus immediately adjacently joins persons chosen by Jesus with selfsame persons being friends of Friend Jesus (John 15:15-16).
""I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you" (John 15:15-16) says Lord Jesus.​
A friend of Jesus does not choose Jesus, but Jesus does choose the friend of Jesus (John 15:15-16), and a friend of Jesus does what Jesus commands (John 15:14) by the appointment of Jesus (John 15:16) thus being a friend of Jesus by the Christ's choosing (John 15:14-16).
FREE-WILLIANS DISAVOW CHRIST'S WORDS OF "YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME" (JOHN 15:16) FOR THEMSELVES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DECLARING THE WORDS AS EXCLUSIVELY APPLICABLE TO THE APOSTLES; THEREFORE, FREE-WILLIANS DENY BEING A FRIEND OF JESUS WHICH JESUS COVERS IN THE SAME SAYINGS OF JESUS.
That you would claim these words of Jesus were meant for you, tells us all we need to know about you. John 15:15-16 is a personal message to those who had been with him for nearly three years. Again, you are not one of them.
 
You call Lord Jesus your liar with your words there, Jim, because the results of your expressed thoughts are expressed as the traditions of men on the left side below while the righteous side expresses divine right:
The traditions of menThe Holy Word of God
Truly, truly, I say to you, before one is born again he can see the Kingdom of God[
(Jim 3:3)
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3)
Do not do that. I have never made that statement. Do not print a lie and then blame it on me. That is really despicable. I would hope that is not who you really are.
Lord Jesus:"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
Nicodemus:"How can someone be born when they are old?" "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!" (John 3:4)
Lord Jesus:Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8)
I haven;t denied any of that. I have denied your seriously wrong interpretation of some of it.
Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).
If Matthew 15:9 has anything to say to us, it is that the soteriology of Calvinist/Reformed Theology is the conjured concept of the traditions of men
In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE FATHER OF US CHILDREN OF GOD AND CREATOR OF ALL CREATION!!!
And once again you assign careless and defective definitions to words in your conjured concept of the gospel. Yes, God is Sovereign. But it is Calvinism that denies God. His sovereignty. Calvinism refuses to allow God to enable mankind the ability to choose to obey the laws He has given. How corrupt is it to profess that God issued over 600 commands to a people and then prohibit them from choosing to obey them? That is the height of theological corruption.
 
Again, your words portray Lord Jesus Christ as a liar because your heart's treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) is on the wrong side, the left side, while the righteous Word of God is on the right side:
Jim's heart treasureThe Lovely Word of God
This is not the work of God but this is the work of man, that you believe in Him whom He has sent
(Jim 6:29)
This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 6:29)

Lord Jesus Christ means exactly what he said when he said that that you believe in Him whom He has sent is the work of God!
Again you assign a quote to me that you made up. DO NOT DO THAT. IT IS WRONG,
This third post in series is the continuation of a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men leading to worship in vain (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF THE FAITH!!!
Same faulty nonsense as before.
 
This fourth post in series concludes a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.
This fourth post in the series concludes with a complete nonsensical bit of babble derived largely from the complete nonsensical babbling of Calvinism.
God caused me to address your statement in the post to which you responded, but the Word of God applies to you "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3), yet the response to your inquiry follows.
I will give you my response to anyone who comes to me with a "God told me...." or "God said to me..." or in your case that "God caused me....". And with that I say to you that God told me to disregard any and all of that as complete and total nonsense. And so I will! For indeed, your attempt to define sin in the absence of free will is complete and total nonsense. Obedience is a choice -- PERIOD.
 
Let us behold the audience of Lord Jesus Christ saying "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19, includes salvation).

By the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Judas Iscariot departed, so that leaves 11, not your "Those were spoken to and about the twelve", but truly the eleven,, so you are in confusion. Lord Jesus' word of see (righteously perceive) resounds true "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3) about you, Jim, but more about John 3:3 in post 2 of this series.

At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias (Acts 1:21-23) were also present, not your "the twelve apostles", but truly a minimum of 13 persons is contextually established,, so you are in confusion.

At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time (see John 15:16-19), the Lord explained "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20) JUST ONE VERSE AFTER JOHN 15:19, so this word of Christ's is in context with the manner the world persecutes Christians as Christ's words recorded in Mark 13:1-37 including "What I say to you I say to all" (Mark 13:37) THUS CONTEXT EXISTS BETWEEN JOHN 15:16, JOHN 15:19, JOHN 15:20, AND MARK 13:37, so you are in confusion.

You do not keep Lord Jesus Christ!s words recorded in John 15:16-19 because you think that this Word of God is inapplicable to Christians today! Lord Jesus has something to say about people who do not keep Lord Jesus Christ's words "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words" (John 14:23-24).

Friend Of Jesus (John 15:15) Relation To Exclusive Choice By Jesus (John 15:16)​


Lord Jesus immediately adjacently joins persons chosen by Jesus with selfsame persons being friends of Friend Jesus (John 15:15-16).
""I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you" (John 15:15-16) says Lord Jesus.​
A friend of Jesus does not choose Jesus, but Jesus does choose the friend of Jesus (John 15:15-16), and a friend of Jesus does what Jesus commands (John 15:14) by the appointment of Jesus (John 15:16) thus being a friend of Jesus by the Christ's choosing (John 15:14-16).
FREE-WILLIANS DISAVOW CHRIST'S WORDS OF "YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME" (JOHN 15:16) FOR THEMSELVES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DECLARING THE WORDS AS EXCLUSIVELY APPLICABLE TO THE APOSTLES; THEREFORE, FREE-WILLIANS DENY BEING A FRIEND OF JESUS WHICH JESUS COVERS IN THE SAME SAYINGS OF JESUS.

A friend of Jesus marvels at the glorious exclusive work of God's salvation of man; on the other hand, an enemy of Jesus steals the exclusive glory of man's salvation from God by saying things like "I chose Jesus" or "I accepted Jesus" resulting in the following implications to free-willian philosophy:

  • the enemy of Jesus rejects Jesus * Who says Who He is, and Jesus declares Himself Sovereign, the exclusive Controller, in man's salvation.
  • the enemy of Jesus does not receive the sayings of Jesus * for the enemy disavows Jesus' sayings about God's exclusive choosing of man (John 15:16, John 15:19 includes salvation).
  • the enemy of Jesus thinks the enemy compels God to provide salvation; in other words, the enemy of Jesus thinks that God must obey man's command for salvation to enter the heart of man, also without a man's affirming decision (choosing of Jesus) there is no salvation for the man.
  • the enemy of Jesus gets the glory, yet God does not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8).
* "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day" (John 12:48).​
In their hearts self-willed persons (2 Peter 2:9-10) in effect remove themselves from being friends of Jesus.

By the Power of God, for God's glory (Isaiah 42:8), the friend of Jesus bears good fruit/works because apart from Jesus a person can do nothing (John 15:5).

By the Power of God, by God's grace, for God's glory (Isaiah 42:8), the friend of Jesus is saved from the wrath of God because Jesus, Lord and God (John 20:28), says "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19).

We Christians believe the Christ exclusively chooses persons unto salvation:
  • "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:16), so God chooses people to be friends (John 15:15, the prior verse) and to believe (John 6:29) and to be born again (John 3:3-8) and for righteous works (John 3:21, John 15:5) and to repent (Matthew 11:25) and to love (John 13:34) and unto salvation (John 15:19 the same passage).
  • "I chose you out of the world" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:19, includes salvation), so God exclusively chooses people unto salvation.
  • "What I say to you I say to all" (Lord Jesus Christ, Mark 13:37 - Jesus had taken the Apostles Peter, Andrew, James, and John aside in private and said this), so all the blessings of God mentioned above are to all believers in all time.
The only way for free-willian philosophers to acheive free-will is for free-willians to add to the Word of God, and it is written "do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar" (Proverbs 30:6).

We Christians are blessed of God to be chosen by Lord Jesus without exception because the Word of God says "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:19, includes salvation)!

This first post in series is the introduction to a complete examination of all that you composed in your post.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE ESTABLISHER OF GODLY FRIENDSHIP!!!
Context - Jesus chose the 12 .

Next fallacy
 
That is certainly a true statement. What, specifically, in the lives of each individual can be assigned to or constrained by God's will is an open question. It certainly is not absolutely everything as you seem to imply. For most it may actually be absolutely nothing.

Believing that one can buy his way into heaven with his fleshly free-will faith payment is a really nasty red herring. The only ones who would even think that way are those who reject God's will, ability and action of creating mankind with free-will to choose to obey or disobey. The very idea that God would establish the Law and then not give the vast majority the ability to obey that Law and then condemn them for disobeying the Law is not only ludicrous, it is an affront to God.

Your "What, specifically, in the lives of each individual can be assigned to or constrained by God's will is an open question" is anti-truth because the One who is Truth (John 14:6) declares Life (John 14:6) as per the following quotations in red script.

you did not choose Me, but I chose you
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:16)

I chose you out of the world
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 15:19).

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 6:29).

the one practicing the Truth comes to the Light, so that his works may be manifested as having been wrought in God
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:21).

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3).

I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babes
(Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 11:25).

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 13:34).

Self-willed people (2 Peter 2:9-10) are accountable to God for their crimes against God leading to everlasting punishment for the self-willed people who die in their self-will.

Self-willed you (2 Peter 2:9-10) demotes the Word of God, in red script above, into the "red herring" of your heart (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21).

You err in assigning John 15:16,19 to anyone other than the twelve to whom and about whom Jesus was speaking. The entire discourse of John 13-17 was at the last supper with the twelve. It is important to differentiate between Jesus' teaching concerning the twelve and His teaching concerning followers of Christ, generally. The subject of choosing in John 15:16,19 is clearly spoken to the twelve specifically with no indication there that it was spoken of the rest of us.

Your thoughts are out of accord with Lord Jesus Christ as demonstrated in post #6,344 which clearly shows that the friend of Jesus (John 15:15) is the person chosen by Jesus unto all Godly goodness (John 15:16) which is the person chosen by Jesus unto being saved from the wrath of God (John 15:19) without the person ever choosing Jesus (John 15:16).

Self-willed you (2 Peter 2:9-10) excludes yourself from being the friend of Jesus according to your heart's treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) that Jesus speaks only to the Apostles as recorded in John 15.

Free-will is a critical defining trait of mankind versus animals in general. Animals have only instinctive behavior as their guiding principles. Man, on the other hand, have limited instinctive behavior and are blessed with free-will to control behavior. It is the reactions of man based upon that free-will which separates those whom God chooses to elect and those He chooses not to elect. That I believe is the very reason that God has created this physical universe and mankind. That is the message of the written one-line response to Cain by God concerning Cain's anger at God's lack of regard for Cain's offering. And that is the message of all of humanity throughout the ages from the very beginning.

Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

That statemen by God to Cain is unintelligible in the absence of free-will. It absolutely emphasizes personal responsibility in choosing righteousness over sin. It describes the power of choice in our spiritual lives to obey God.

Self-willed Cain (2 Peter 2:9-10) did not do well because Cain's heart treasure (Matthew 15:16-19, Matthew 6:21) is recorded in the very next verse after your quoted verse, "it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him" (Genesis 4:8).

Cain is not an example of free-will choosing God.

The warning that God issued to Cain does not indicate that Cain was created with the free-will ability to choose God.

Scripture contains many conditional logic statements. A conditional logic statement is normally an IF/THEN construct.

In linguistics, logic, semantics, and reality the established fact is that an IF/THEN construct follows this pattern:

IF condition THEN predicate

The condition results in a true state or false state. If, and only if, the condition results in a true state does the predicate get executed.

An IF-THEN construct merely exposes whether a condition is true or false; consequently, an if/then statement does not inherently convey ability to produce a true state for the condition.

An IF/THEN construct exposes a potential, current, or previously taken PATH along with the PATH's resultant IMPACT.

So, an IF-THEN construct imposes a conditionl expression and a predicate, for example,

IF ACTION THEN RESULT

Moreover, no conveyance of ability exists intrinsically within the if-then construct unless explicitly stated.

The conditional statements God issued to Cain:

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.
(Genesis 4:7).
serve to illumine Cain's fruit with absolutely no conveyance of ability to free-will choose, but Cain's self-willed (2 Peter 2:9-10) desires are abundantly clear in Cain's works (Genesis 4:8) as recorded in the very next verse.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE YHWH GOD!!!
 
Actually, there is nothing that says anything about being chosen for salvation. They were chosen for the specific reason of being His apostles. That they became believers either before or after being chosen seems all rather obvious, but nothing is ever said about them being elect for salvation.

The Word of God declares “I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation). The world is careening into destruction, so all of us chosen out of the world are delivered by God from the wrath of God into our Lord's glorious salvation! Praise be to God!

You are correct, I stand corrected, but whether 12 or 11 you still are not one of them.

I rejoice in the Lord that you see that it is 11, not 12, at the point of John 15:15-20, and may Lord Jesus open your eyes regarding the Word of God recorded in John 15:15-20!

Righteously perceive?? Seriously? Making up even more unbiblical definition of words to force fit your theology?

The real confusion is in the bad theology that you are trying to promote.

The wonderful exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus with context follows. The true Lord Jesus declares that a person cannot righteously perceive King Jesus of the Kingdom of God without God birthing the person anew in the exchange:
SpeakerHoly ScriptureSummary
Nicodemus:"Rabbi, we see that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)I perceive that God sent you, Teacher, for the signs you do are because God is with you!
Lord Jesus:"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3)One perceives Me because of the exclusive work of God inside of such a one
Nicodemus:"How can someone be born when they are old?" "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!" (John 3:4)How can I enter into this communion with God without me working in some way? Please help me understand.
Lord Jesus:Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8)One enters into communion with God because of the Holy Spirit. One knows not when nor how nor why the Holy Spirit works in this person here or that person there.

As the Holy Spirit makes abundantly clear, the context of John 3:2-3 is "see" as in "perceive", and the context of John 3:4-8 is "enter" as in "ingress".

Lord Jesus used the word "see", which means "perceive", as recorded in (John 3:3, so you adulterate the Holy Word of God to conform to your Free-willian Philosophy by changing the meaning of "cannot see" to your "can see":
The traditions of menThe Holy Word of God
Truly, truly, I say to you, before one is born again he can see the Kingdom of God[
(Jim 3:3)
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God
(Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3)

The obvious meaning there is contained in the warning to "stay awake". Jesus also said, in Mark 14:27, "You will all fall away",... Are you going to assume that one is for you as well?

One of the fallacies of bible interpretation is the failure to identify the who is speaking, to whom it is speaking, and about whom or what it is being spoken. You are clearly in that category here as you clearly have shown in the following.

Lord Jesus issues two statements in "What I say to you I say to all! You be on the watch!" as recorded in the verse Mark 13:37, so your self-willed (2 Peter 2:9-10) thoughts that 'The obvious meaning there is contained in the warning to "stay awake"' applies to the first statement of "What I say to you I say to all" instead of the second statement of "You be on the watch" is One of the fallacies of bible interpretation in Free-willian Philosophy.

You are under the delusion that Jesus conveys "What I say to you I say to all! You be on the watch!" (Mark 13:37) exclusively to the Apostle Peter, Apostle John, Apostle James, and Apostle Andrew (Mark 13:3), but not the Apostle Matthew, not Mark, not Apostle Thomas, not Luke, not Apostle Paul, not Timothy, etc, yet, in Truth (John 14:6), Lord Jesus conveys these statements to all Christ's own sheep in all time.

Jesus Christ's "you" includes all Christians in all time inside of “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16) and
I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19, includes salvation) because Lord Jesus Christ includes all of us Christians with "What I say to you I say to all" (Mark 13:37):
At the time Jesus bestows these blessings to all believers in all time (see John 15:16-19), the Lord explained "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20) JUST ONE VERSE AFTER JOHN 15:19, so this word of Christ's is in context with the manner the world persecutes Christians as Christ's words recorded in Mark 13:1-37 including "What I say to you I say to all" (Mark 13:37) THUS CONTEXT EXISTS BETWEEN JOHN 15:16, JOHN 15:19, JOHN 15:20, AND MARK 13:37, so you are in confusion.​

Lord Jesus Christ is forever gracious and merciful to exclusively choose us Christians! Praise You, Jesus! Thank You, Jesus!

That you would claim these words of Jesus were meant for you, tells us all we need to know about you. John 15:15-16 is a personal message to those who had been with him for nearly three years. Again, you are not one of them.

My Lord Jesus calls me friend (John 15:15-16)! Thank You, Jesus!

You excluded yourself from the friendship of Christ as evidenced in your writings.

Jim, you believe that you do choose Jesus but Jesus does not choose you, so you deny Lord and God Jesus who says “you did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE GOD OF MERCY AND GRACE!!!
 
And you are just plain nuts.

You put me in company of my Brother Paul. I don't know whether you are aware that Festus leveled a similarly inaccurate aspersion against the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:24). In Truth (John 14:6), self-willed Festus could not see the Kingdom of God.

To the world, we Christians appear as "nuts" because "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3).

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE SOVEREIGN FATHER!!!
 
You put me in company of my Brother Paul. I don't know whether you are aware that Festus leveled a similarly inaccurate aspersion against the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:24). In Truth (John 14:6), self-willed Festus could not see the Kingdom of God.

To the world, we Christians appear as "nuts" because "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:3).

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE SOVEREIGN FATHER!!!
John 14-15 is the disciples , not you.

Next fallacy
 
John 14-15 is the disciples , not you.

Next fallacy

So says the preacher of your CHRIST'S FAILURE ATONEMENT as recorded in post #3,926 of this thread. According to your Free-willian Philosophy Christ's atonement applies to all people everywhere in all time, and the following represents fleshly people, dead in sin, ungodly multitude, unbelievers:
  • if Tom of the world chooses to believe in Christ before he dies, then God must profit Tom with eternal life being saved from the wrath of God.
  • if Nancy of the world chooses to believe not in Christ right until her dying thoughts, then God must punish Nancy with eternal damnation being under the wrath of God.
  • The conclusion: Christ's atonement succeeded in saving Tom of the world, and Christ's atonement failed in saving Nancy of the world.
So, you free-willians believe in failure atonement. Lord Jesus Christ's atonement always succeeds!

The Grace of God always succeeds! But, you demand your EARNABLY RESISTIBLE GRACE OF GOD deception as recorded in post #5,496 of this thread.

King Jesus of the Kingdom of God exclusively controls admission into the Kingdom of God for the Glory of God! But you demand your free-willian UnBiblical Order of Salvation as recorded in post #2,495 of this thread. The loving Christ of us Christians opens our ears to hear the Word of God in Truth (John 14:6):

And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.
(Mark 7:34-35)
But you do not believe Christ does the wonders that He does, instead, you believe you open your own self-willed ears (2 Peter 2:9-10).

Lord Jesus Christ commands us Christians to love one another with "as you might desire that men should do to you, so also you do to them, for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12), but you issue your free-willian ANTICHRIST SELFISH COMMAND TO NOT LOVE NOR SERVE OTHERS as recorded in post #6,298.

The blessed filling of the Holy Spirit occurs before Pentecost with "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41), yet your anti-truth ABSENCE OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT BEFORE PENTECOST is your ungodly preaching as recorded in
post #5,718.

Your heart makes false statements about God and man. Free-will is a conjured concept of the traditions of men leading to worship in vain (Matthew 15:9).

In Truth (John 14:6), the Almighty God is Sovereign (Genesis 1:1) in man's salvation and affairs of man (Daniel 4:34-35)! PRAISE THE LIVING GOD, JESUS CHRIST!!!
 
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