Free Will compatible with Sovereignty
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“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” Acts 17:30 (KJV 1900)
It does not imply all can repent. But only that all are sinful.
“correcting opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth” 2 Timothy 2:25 (NET)
It does not imply all can repent. But only that all are sinful.
“correcting opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth” 2 Timothy 2:25 (NET)
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that is hardly choice
look at your words...God controls
sounds like you are trying to create an amalgam of Calvinism vs free will
actually, this might be how you view it, but God is not that confusing nor convoluted in His manner of operating
He does consistently say 'choose' at Mt Sinai and we see happens when the Israelites choose their own way
in your economy, seems He would have spared them all that idol worship and destruction
Free will of mankind exists because God lets mankind have the choice of how he wants to live his/her life while they solourn here in this world, which is evidenced in the many times that he asks them to make choices. But God is sovereign in choosing mankind's eternal salvation. Romans 11:6, And if by grace, then it is no more of works: Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
By God's foreknowledge, he saw that no one would seek him, no, not one, Psalms 53:2-3. Because no one, by the free choice that God gave him, would choose to seek him, God choose to elect a portion of those that would not seek him, to adopt as his children, and sent his Son to die for their sins, as payment for the adoption price.
Sometime in the life time of those he elected, he regenerates them, by his sovereign grace, from their depraved nature, to a spiritual being, by putting the Holy Spirit within them. Eph 2:5, (by grace are ye saved). Not by their faith, but by the faithfulness of Jesus going to the cross.
By God's foreknowledge, he saw that no one would seek him, no, not one, Psalms 53:2-3. Because no one, by the free choice that God gave him, would choose to seek him, God choose to elect a portion of those that would not seek him, to adopt as his children, and sent his Son to die for their sins, as payment for the adoption price.
Sometime in the life time of those he elected, he regenerates them, by his sovereign grace, from their depraved nature, to a spiritual being, by putting the Holy Spirit within them. Eph 2:5, (by grace are ye saved). Not by their faith, but by the faithfulness of Jesus going to the cross.
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Milk and honey shall he eat......that he may KNOW TO CHOOSE THE GOOD OVER THE EVIL.....
From beginning to the very end the bible drips with choice.....from Adam and Eve to Joshua, Jesus and those that take the mark.....choice is at the root of every decision we make in some form or fashion.......Can these choices be influenced.....absolutely.....yet in the end either by direct consequence, default or force of will WE CHOOSE!
From beginning to the very end the bible drips with choice.....from Adam and Eve to Joshua, Jesus and those that take the mark.....choice is at the root of every decision we make in some form or fashion.......Can these choices be influenced.....absolutely.....yet in the end either by direct consequence, default or force of will WE CHOOSE!
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26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. - Acts 17:26-27
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@7seasrekeyed
If you're interested in discussing it, I actually prefer to use the analogy of the husbandman, but it takes a little more explanation, while the analogy of the rat in a carefully controlled maze does not. But both illustrate the truth well.
The task of the husbandman is to create all the right circumstances and provide all the right things for the soil to realize the potential that piece of ground contains. The ground can't realize it's own potential. It can't seed itself. It can't water itself. It has to be subjected to various outside influences by a husbandman in order for the ground to do what it is capable of doing, if it's capable of doing anything.
If I understand Calvinism, it teaches that God purposely creates some soil with no potential to sustain growth, and other soil with the potential to sustain growth, entirely at his own discretion, with zero consideration of what the soil itself wants. You probably know the soil I'm referring to is the soil of human hearts.
I think the more accurate understanding is each human soul that God has created has in itself it's own inherent potential to produce and sustain useful growth, or not produce and sustain useful growth. I believe that inherent potential belongs to the soil itself and is not assigned to the soil by God.
The job of the husbandman is to subject the soil to whatever it needs to be subjected to in order to realize it's inherent potential, or reveal it's lack of potential. And he does that according to his foreknowledge. For example, he's not going to plant lots of seed in a plot of soil (remember, we're talking about human hearts here) that he knows ahead of time has no potential in and of itself to bring that seed to fruition. Meanwhile, he may abundantly seed and water a plot of soil that he knows has lots of potential to bring what's planted in it to fruition.
If you're interested in discussing it, I actually prefer to use the analogy of the husbandman, but it takes a little more explanation, while the analogy of the rat in a carefully controlled maze does not. But both illustrate the truth well.
The task of the husbandman is to create all the right circumstances and provide all the right things for the soil to realize the potential that piece of ground contains. The ground can't realize it's own potential. It can't seed itself. It can't water itself. It has to be subjected to various outside influences by a husbandman in order for the ground to do what it is capable of doing, if it's capable of doing anything.
If I understand Calvinism, it teaches that God purposely creates some soil with no potential to sustain growth, and other soil with the potential to sustain growth, entirely at his own discretion, with zero consideration of what the soil itself wants. You probably know the soil I'm referring to is the soil of human hearts.
I think the more accurate understanding is each human soul that God has created has in itself it's own inherent potential to produce and sustain useful growth, or not produce and sustain useful growth. I believe that inherent potential belongs to the soil itself and is not assigned to the soil by God.
The job of the husbandman is to subject the soil to whatever it needs to be subjected to in order to realize it's inherent potential, or reveal it's lack of potential. And he does that according to his foreknowledge. For example, he's not going to plant lots of seed in a plot of soil (remember, we're talking about human hearts here) that he knows ahead of time has no potential in and of itself to bring that seed to fruition. Meanwhile, he may abundantly seed and water a plot of soil that he knows has lots of potential to bring what's planted in it to fruition.
It's not really a matter of whether or not people have free will. It's a matter of whether or not what you will to do when subjected to various circumstances is determined ahead of time by God for you, or if what you will to do originates from an inherent quality, or potential within the person himself.
God's sovereignty in salvation is not in him determining who will be created with the potential to respond to the gospel and who will not. That quality lies within the person themselves. God's sovereignty in salvation lies in how, when, and where, and if salvation is offered to mankind. Man can't save himself, but can only be saved if God makes salvation available to a person, and if the person even has the potential in and of themselves to receive salvation.