Why do you people talk about FREE WILL? There are only two WILLS on earth, and according to God you CAN ONLY obey one of the TWO!
Sort of yet there's a little more to it, lemme see if I can help explain it.
6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must master it.”
Notice God said
YOU (meaning the individual) not anybody else, and not God doing it for us. And he didnt say resisting satan,
again I'll reiterate....God said
YOU must master and overcome.
Even though the phrase God helps those that help themselves isnt found in the bible, this would be a good example of this phrase in proper application.
This points to the fact that God doesnt step in to do everything for us
We have to do our part too.
God gave us a brain. He wants us to use it, to have discernment.
We have that ability to choose between our own sinful nature which satan can entice, or Gods holy nature.
In the Garden satan didnt will adam and eve to make a choice away from God
He enticed the will of their own desire to make their own decision.
Its called deception. If there were only satans will and Gods will satan would be able to read our thoughts as God does.
Since satan cannot read our thoughts but can only gauge our reaction by his influence, this means we also have the liberty of our own thoughts thirdly aside from satans and Gods. There is often more than one choice in any given decision.
But only one true and correct choice of Gods will.
Notice...from the beginning in the instance regarding Cain.
God himself stated, and I quote "
YOU must master it".
---God didnt even say call upon me and I will help you
---He also didnt say ask me and I will do it for you.
From the beginning God was saying, we on our own accord being given of sound body and mind of our own will.........
----Must master the choice in constantly deciding between sin and righteousness.
God isnt gonna do it for us.
If we look at it from the direction of suggesting that there is only satans will and Gods will, this would elude to the suggestion that even when satan was in heaven there was only Gods will and satans.
There was more than just them two up there.
If satan was an angel in heaven being given his own free will then so would every other angel also have their own free will.
Not just a follower of satan or God
What you are trying to say could be better worded as
-----that there are only two "Outer Influences" to the desires of the flesh which we are inherently born into as a resulting factor of the fall of man.
The way the bible words it is if any is not for Christ then they are against Him. Even if they arent following satan they are still in the same category as an anti-Christ. It doesnt have to be satan himself its just any person choosing anything other than Gods will which can include their own will is still an anti-Christ.
Our own natural will is to choose selfishly,
to look out for number one,
to take care of ourselves first.
This stems from basic survival starting with crying for food as a baby when we're hungry. Wanting it when we want it and will do anything to get it.
Thats following our instinct as opposed to following God
When we start relying upon God is when we begin to see with open eyes that God provides and we dont have to choose selfishly any longer.
It is then when a person will start to step away from their own will and heed to Gods will.
We have been given a higher brain intellect over all the animals to be able to use reasoning over our own will and over our instinct.
This is what God was saying we must be able to master.
An easy for instance would be noticing now as an adult when you are hungry and telling yourself you will wait an hour, until after finishing CC forum logging or something of this nature.
Your body tells you your hungry and you with a higher brain intellect reason above the instincts of the desire of the flesh and master it telling it to wait.
And it obeys.....fasting for instance
We Master Reasoning with the desires of the flesh by reasoning with what God would want compared to what we ourselves want.
Animals cant do that ....we can.
James 1:13 also points out that it is our own evil desires which are already present. Satan can provoke them, entice them, and instigate what is already present within us, but he cannot will one to do anything unless he has possessed them.
13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
14but each one is tempted when, by
his own evil desire , he is dragged away and enticed.
15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death
This doesnt give credit to satan but instead states and makes clear again as with Cain that it is our own desire that is present which we must stop passing the blame of everything to satan and own up to the fact that we are born of sin with our own present sinful nature to master and that it is often our own desires we are succumbing to.
Let me also point this out with James 4:1
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle
within you?"
Just like with quarrels and fights, this doesnt say it is always satans doing.
but from the battle WITHIN OURSELVES. That struggle of denying ourself, dying to the flesh to be born to the holy spirit.
Another way of understanding it is to think of it in reverse of obtaining the knowledge of Good and Evil.
When Adam and Eve already knew good, satan gave the knowledge of evil.
This started the battle within. The knowledge that there was choices outside Gods direction and that even they themselves could choose away from God.
Thats the death part. Sin seperates us from God and our spirit is dead to him.
We gain life in Christ by knowing him and regaining that knowledge again of Good and righteousness, because were not saved until we accept Christ and his ways, correct.
When we are born into sin, we already inherently have the knowledge of evil and in reverse fashion when God starts working on someone satan tries to impede them from having the knowledge of GOOD.
On the other hand if someone is already choosing evil for not knowing any better
IE: not knowing what sin is yet until theyre told,
the devil can sit back without having to do anything when one is simply exercising their own will.
It can be understood that when we are already not choosing Gods will of our own accord, satan doesnt have to do a darn thing.
Thats why most so called "good people" that don't yet know Christ often arent plagued by demons, because they are already fulfilling the will of their own desires of the flesh over Gods will without satans help.
It is more often the ones God is working on that satan then starts to focus on to pull them back.