Yes they do. Most Calvinists affirm free will and believe its compatible with determinism.
Your kind of free will? DEFINE free will.
Children are innocent, not guilty of any sin
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Your kind of free will? DEFINE free will.
FreeInChrist
Active Member
Free will is the God-given ability for a person to genuinely choose to respond, accept, reject, obey, or resist. It is not independence from God, but the capacity to respond to Him in a meaningful way. If our choices are not real, then love, obedience, repentance, and faith are not real either and they are just programmed responses.
God created humans in His image with the ability to choose, and throughout Scripture He continually calls people to decide: “choose this day,” “repent,” “believe,” “turn.” These commands only make sense if we actually have the ability to respond. A command without the ability to respond would not be just,it would be meaningless.
Free will does not mean we earn salvation or override God’s sovereignty. It means God, in His sovereignty, chose to allow real human response. Grace is still the source of salvation~ but grace can be resisted or received. Love that cannot be rejected is not love at all.
Predestination, as often taught, removes responsibility and turns relationship into automation. If every choice is predetermined, then sin is unavoidable, repentance is irrelevant, and judgment becomes unjust because people would be condemned for what they were created unable to avoid.
I reject that view because it contradicts both the character of God and the plain reading of Scripture. God does not command the impossible, nor does He hold people accountable for choices they were never able to make. Instead, He genuinely offers salvation to all and calls each person to respond.
Free will is what makes faith real, love real, and accountability real and without it, the entire relationship between God and humanity collapses into something mechanical rather than personal.
Free will is defined as the ability to make choices free from coercion or force. Determinism uses neither. God determines, we freely choose. Acts 4:27,28 is the best scriptural example in my opinion. Compatibilism is the Biblical witness.
Diserner
Active Member
This is false. Anything not under the actual control of the agent is definitionally a force.
Not being granted self-determination is directly forcing the incapability of any alternative choice, aka, not free.
You are in control. You choose. I would also add you do not control the circumstances you find yourself in. God is sovereign over any and all circumstances.
brightfame52
Active Member
So if its Gods will to save you, but its the persons will not to be saved, didnt the persons will override Gods will ? Is it God relinquished His Sovereign will to the will of man His creature ?
FreeInChrist
Active Member
“Saying ‘God determines and we freely choose’ is just redefining free will it doesn’t actually preserve it.”
If God determines the outcome of a choice in advance, then the choice cannot be genuinely open. Calling it “free” because it feels voluntary doesn’t change the fact that it was fixed beforehand. That’s not freedom,that’s inevitability.
Free will is not just “choosing without external force” it’s the real ability to choose otherwise. If no other outcome is actually possible, then the choice is only an experience, not a true decision.
In Acts 4:27–28, yes, God foreknew and incorporated the crucifixion into His plan—but the people involved (Herod, Pilate, others) acted מתוך their own will and are still held morally responsible. That passage shows God can work through human choices, not that He causally determines every choice.
If every action were predetermined, then responsibility becomes meaningless. Yet Scripture constantly holds people accountable:
Deuteronomy 30:19 ... “I have set before you life and death… choose life.”
Joshua 24:15 ... “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Luke 13:34 ... “How often I wanted… and you were not willing.”
Those are not descriptions of predetermined outcomes they are genuine invitations and refusals.
“Certainly, we don’t control our circumstances—but that’s not the same as saying our choices within those circumstances are predetermined.”
God being sovereign over circumstances does not mean He is the cause of every decision made within them. Otherwise, sin itself would ultimately trace back to God’s determination which Scripture clearly rejects.
Compatibilism doesn’t solve the problem it just renames it. If God determines what I will choose, then I cannot choose otherwise, and that is not real freedom. Scripture consistently presents choices as genuine, not inevitable. God may govern circumstances, but He does not eliminate human responsibility by determining every decision within them.
If I cannot choose otherwise, then I am not truly choosing, I am just carrying out what was already decided.
Acts 4 shows God’s sovereignty over outcomes, not His micromanagement of every human decision.
God can bring about His purposes through free human actions without being the one who determines those actions. That is not determinism that is sovereignty.
Acts 4:27–28 doesn’t teach that God determines every choice, it shows that God can accomplish His purposes through human choices. The crucifixion was predestined as an event, but the people involved acted willingly and are held responsible. That’s sovereignty, not determinism.
Always remember,
“God predestined the cross.......not the sin that put Christ on it.”
I did not redefine free will. My definition is the standard definition.
Genuinely open? Whatever tgat means. It is genuinely free however. It is neither forced nor coerced hence it is free.
Nobody said anything about forced reread my definition again
Acts 4:27,28 says nothing about incorporating anything. It does say, however, He planned, determined and brought it about by His hand.
They did act willingly. They willingly choose what God had determined they choose. They did so freely without force or coercion.
FreeInChrist
Active Member
Then that is not predestination my friend.... And Calvin was wrong again
FreeInChrist
Active Member
Who is Flowers???????????????????????????????????????
You said They did act willingly. They willingly choose what God had determined they choose. They did so freely without force or coercion.
And how many of them REJECTED WHAT GOD DETERMINED THAT THEY CHOOSE.
YOUR predestination is such that God does determine what you will do. You believe you have freewill but you do not because if God has determined it.....IT WILL HAPPEN.
Theological determinism
Theological determinism is a form of predeterminism which states that all events that happen are pre-ordained, and/or predestined to happen, by one or more divine beings, or that they are destined to occur given the divine beings' omniscience. Theological determinism exists in a number of religions, including Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Theological determinism is the view that God determines every event that occurs in the history of the world. While there is much debate about which prominent historical figures were theological determinists, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and Gottfried Leibniz all seemed to espouse the view at least at certain points in their illustrious careers.
TOO MANY OPINIONS HERE TO POST ALL....
Divine Determination
God's determination is a central theme in the Bible, emphasizing His sovereignty and ultimate authority over creation. In Isaiah 46:10, God declares, "I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’" This verse highlights God's ability to determine the course of history according to His divine will.
The book of Proverbs frequently underscores the contrast between human plans and divine determination. Proverbs 16:9 states, "A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." This suggests that while humans may make plans, it is ultimately God who directs their paths.
What is predestination? Is predestination biblical? | GotQuestions.org
What is predestination / predetermination? Is predestination biblical? What does predestined mean? Does God predestine who will be saved?
www.gotquestions.org
What is predestination? Got ?
Romans 8:29-30 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5 and 11 declare, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”The above is only a part of the article, but surely you can see that
For those God foreknew he also predestined
And those he predestined,
He predestined us
having been predestined according to the plan of him
in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
NONE of this follows in any way free will.
You cannot have free will if you are chosen for the purpose of His will.
Certain people in history have been chosen and sent by God for HIS NEEDS AND PURPOSES>
NOT EVERYONE HAS.
But it is guaranteed that predestined and free will are opposites.
I suggest you try a study on foreknowledge because it is very compatible with free will.
I will say it again, they did act willingly. They not forced or coerced.Who is Flowers???????????????????????????????????????
You said They did act willingly. They willingly choose what God had determined they choose. They did so freely without force or coercion.
And how many of them REJECTED WHAT GOD DETERMINED THAT THEY CHOOSE.
YOUR predestination is such that God does determine what you will do. You believe you have freewill but you do not because if God has determined it.....IT WILL HAPPEN.
Theological determinism
Theological determinism is a form of predeterminism which states that all events that happen are pre-ordained, and/or predestined to happen, by one or more divine beings, or that they are destined to occur given the divine beings' omniscience. Theological determinism exists in a number of religions, including Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Theological determinism is the view that God determines every event that occurs in the history of the world. While there is much debate about which prominent historical figures were theological determinists, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and Gottfried Leibniz all seemed to espouse the view at least at certain points in their illustrious careers.
TOO MANY OPINIONS HERE TO POST ALL....
Divine Determination
God's determination is a central theme in the Bible, emphasizing His sovereignty and ultimate authority over creation. In Isaiah 46:10, God declares, "I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’" This verse highlights God's ability to determine the course of history according to His divine will.
The book of Proverbs frequently underscores the contrast between human plans and divine determination. Proverbs 16:9 states, "A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." This suggests that while humans may make plans, it is ultimately God who directs their paths.
What is predestination? Is predestination biblical? | GotQuestions.org
What is predestination / predetermination? Is predestination biblical? What does predestined mean? Does God predestine who will be saved?www.gotquestions.org
What is predestination? Got ?
Romans 8:29-30 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5 and 11 declare, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
The above is only a part of the article, but surely you can see that
For those God foreknew he also predestined
And those he predestined,
He predestined us
having been predestined according to the plan of him
in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
NONE of this follows in any way free will.
You cannot have free will if you are chosen for the purpose of His will.
Certain people in history have been chosen and sent by God for HIS NEEDS AND PURPOSES>
NOT EVERYONE HAS.
But it is guaranteed that predestined and free will are opposites.
I suggest you try a study on foreknowledge because it is very compatible with free will.
You do not tell me what I believe. Your will is free yet your choices are determined.
You explain foreknowledge for me
The abridged version.
I will not address anything you cut and paste. I am talking to you not some unknown website.
