Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

[brightfame52]

Christ's death on the cross successfully purchases and secures faith for the elect.

Christ's death successfully purchased and secures faith for His elect.

Peter says:

2 Peter 1:1

“...to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Notice that their faith is something they have obtained, and it is obtained through the righteousness of God and their Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ is not merely the one who makes faith possible; He is identified as their Saviour, and their faith is obtained through His righteousness.

The same Saviour is explicitly said to give repentance:

Acts 5:31

“Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

So look at what Scripture attributes to Christ as Saviour: He gives repentance and forgiveness, and His people obtain faith through His righteousness.

The word translated “righteousness” (dikaiosynē) can also carry the sense of justice or that which renders what is due. This fits perfectly with the biblical truth that Christ's righteous work satisfied divine justice on behalf of those He redeemed.

Therefore, faith and repentance are not contributions that complete Christ's redemption or make His blood effective. They are saving benefits secured by Christ for His redeemed people.

Christ died for His people; Christ satisfied divine justice for His people; Christ gives repentance to His people; and His people obtain faith through His righteousness.

The cross did not merely purchase the possibility of faith. It secured the salvation of those for whom Christ died, including the faith and repentance by which they are brought experimentally into the enjoyment of that salvation.

 

[Genez]

...




.....


Brightfame.... You entered you response within what you quoted.
This is now much we get to respond with when you do it that way.

 

[Journey_man]

AI reads the text (Galatians 4:9) differently to you.

Galatians 4:9 states: "But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to
those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?" (NIV). Written by the Apostle Paul,
this verse warns believers against returning to legalism and worldly religious rituals after experiencing spiritual freedom
through Christ. [1, 2, 3]

Key Themes

• • Known by God: Paul corrects human effort by noting that God knowing us is far more vital than our own attempt to reach Him.
  • Spiritual Bondage: Reverting to strict religious rules or trying to earn divine favor is described as returning to slavery.
  • Weak Forces: The text refers to human rituals and basic worldly principles as powerless to save

In Galatians 4:9 Paul warns the Galatians against turning back to the "weak and miserable principles" or religious legalism of trying to earn righteousness through the Mosaic law.

The Bible teaches that God preserves everyone He truly calls and saves. Warnings like Paul's are addressed to visible church members and act as pastoral tools that the Holy Spirit uses to awaken and preserve the elect, rather than proof that genuine salvation can be lost.

Turning back to legalism means acting like a slave rather than a free son. Someone who departs into a false system of self-salvation demonstrates that they may have only made a profession of faith rather than possessing genuine, regenerating grace—or they are stumbling in severe sin from which God will ultimately discipline and restore them.

Paul emphasizes that the Galatians "are known by God", highlighting that salvation rests on God’s sovereign choice and initiative, which cannot be undone by human failure.

 

[Journey_man]

"I've never heard of Mike winger, so I'm not prepared to spend an hour listening to a strangers private opinions."

Seriously think you need to develop more respect for the opinions of others, civilised discussion is a far better tool for mutual enlightenment than bludgeoning others with your opinions. For that's what they are, truth to you, fine, no worries but i don't agree.

One of the things which helped me realise Calvinism isn't right, is it's proponents are often unreasonable when their personal beliefs are challenged. Also, are you suggesting one must be either Calvinist or Arminian? Why? I'm Christian and need no other label, scripture guides my understanding and i'm more than happy to make my mind over; if my current understanding develops further or changes.

Sad to say the rest of your comment looks like preaching to the choir stuff, to me. It bears little relation to what i've said and even less to what i believe, it is inaccurate and i think superfluous as well.

I have no respect for those who preach unbiblical doctrines, which are based on their own private, unbiblical opinions. I'm only interested in the truth, and the Lord Jesus is the truth.

Gods Word reveals that people like Mike Winger are cursed, because he preaches another gospel.

Galatians 1 8-9 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Paul makes sure you get this important message by repeating the waring twice. This is why it's not wise to submit yourself to every false teacher.

Ephesians 4:14 "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting...".

There is only one truth and it's Gods Word, it's not negotiable and not subject to any private opinions of fallen men. You deny being an Arminian but your theology reveals that you most definitely are.

"Mutual enlightenment" can only be achieved if the true gospel message is proclaimed, otherwise we can't have any fellowship.
2 Corinthians 6:14 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"

 

[Journey_man]

Both are wrong.

Both are like the blind men grabbing onto different parts of an elephant. Each being dogmatically sure that the other must be wrong because of what it is that they are touching. Knowing that the other cannot be right.

It's a neat trick.

So, the truth is you don't know anything about either of them and your afraid of the unknown. When ignorant people are confronted with the truth, they always attack. They see it as the only way to defend their fortress of ignorance.

 

[Journey_man]

How much free will did you exercise in writing that post?

As much as the Lord gave me.

Would you be so kind as to reveal which system of theology you believe is Biblically correct. Or just say "I don't know what theology means".

 

[Genez]

So, the truth is you don't know anything about either of them and your afraid of the unknown. When ignorant people are confronted with the truth, they always attack. They see it as the only way to defend their fortress of ignorance.

Do you take arrogance lessons?
Or, does it just come naturally to you?

.......

 

[Journey_man]

All of those verse confirm that the Lord is the Author and Finisher of our salvation. He initiates it by regeneration, then He keeps us from falling away throughout this life and finally presents us as faultless before the Father in the life to come.

The only thing we contribute to our salvation is our corpse.

 

[Genez]

All of those verse confirm that the Lord is the Author and Finisher of our salvation. He initiates it by regeneration, then He keeps us from falling away throughout this life and finally presents us as faultless before the Father in the life to come.

The only thing we contribute to our salvation is our corpse.

We give contribute by giving God the joy of saving us.

 

[Journey_man]

We give contribute by giving God the joy of saving us.

Saved people only contribute our corpse which was dead in sin. We didn't give God any joy, all we gave Him was the punishment and excruciating torture that our sin deserved.

God had to torture and kill His only begotten Son, so that His people could be saved. There was no joy in the work salvation for God, He paid the ultimate price. That's why we praise and worship Him.

 

[Genez]

Saved people only contribute our corpse which was dead in sin. We didn't give God any joy, all we gave Him was the punishment and excruciating torture that our sin deserved.

God had to torture and kill His only begotten Son, so that His people could be saved. There was no joy in the work salvation for God, He paid the ultimate price. That's why we praise and worship Him.

Calvinism is easy to believe for some.
Just give a few verses out of context?
Tell the hearers what they should believe it means.

And?

If they are the type that have a deep natural need to be right?
And love to argue from a position of looking down on those who will not agree?
Calvinism is the perfect recipe for such a type of person.

 

[Genez]

Saved people only contribute our corpse which was dead in sin. We didn't give God any joy, all we gave Him was the punishment and excruciating torture that our sin deserved.

God had to torture and kill His only begotten Son, so that His people could be saved. There was no joy in the work salvation for God, He paid the ultimate price. That's why we praise and worship Him.

God does not save the corpse.
He saves our soul.
And even after we are saved, the body is counted as dead.

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. ​

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith ​

in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20​

.......

 

[TheLordIsMyRedeemer]

I do believe I have free will. I chose to repent of sin and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. I've chosen to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with different people over the years.

(KJV Revelation 22:14) "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

 

[Inquisitor]

The Bible teaches that God preserves everyone He truly calls and saves. Warnings like Paul's are addressed to visible church members and act as pastoral tools that the Holy Spirit uses to awaken and preserve the elect, rather than proof that genuine salvation can be lost.

Well that's church theology at it's finest.

Reformed, Calvinist theology.

Read the following paragraph.

Galatians 5:2-4
Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every
man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who
are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

Are you telling me a believer can become circumcised and then pursue the righteousness in the law. After having been
saved by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. If they have a genuine faith there's no problem with legalism?

Here is what Paul told the Galatians.

You have been severed from Christ

you have fallen from grace

These kind of statements are very serious warnings and certainly not a gentle encouragement to avoid legalism.

You cannot push the sovereignty of God to such an extreme level because the Christian life should also be at the maximum.

It would be impossible for the elect Galatian church to fall from grace or to get tangled in the legal web.

This is where the problem is in Calvinism, eternally elect, but Paul's letters say otherwise.

 

[Journey_man]

Calvinism is easy to believe for some.
Just give a few verses out of context?
Tell the hearers what they should believe it means.

And?

If they are the type that have a deep natural need to be right?
And love to argue from a position of looking down on those who will not agree?
Calvinism is the perfect recipe for such a type of person.

That's quite ironic, coming from a person who by their own admission know nothing about Calvinism or Arminianism.

You haven't identified any faults with either of these systematic theologies, so all you can do is resort to telling lies and slander.

 

[Journey_man]

God does not save the corpse.
He saves our soul.
And even after we are saved, the body is counted as dead.

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. ​

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith ​

in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20​

.......

The above verses don't say that the body is not saved. Salvation includes both body and soul, that's what the resurrection represents.

Your right in the sense that our bodies are not immediately glorified at our regeneration, that takes place on judgement day when Christ resurrects everyone who ever lived.

On that day everyone will be reunited with their body, some are resurrected to eternal paradise while other are cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternal torment.

 

[Inquisitor]

That's quite ironic, coming from a person who by their own admission know nothing about Calvinism or Arminianism.

You haven't identified any faults with either of these systematic theologies, so all you can do is resort to telling lies and slander.

What I do know for a fact is that a Calvinist cannot know if they are truly one of the elect.

Unfortunately, there is no security in the theology of Calvinism because not even Calvin knew whether he was saved.

Theology cannot save anyone.

Church organizations have no power to save anyone.

There is only one true and genuine way to be saved.

 

[DavidLamb]

What I do know for a fact is that a Calvinist cannot know if they are truly one of the elect.

If anybody, Calvinist or not, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they are saved, they are among the elect.

Unfortunately, there is no security in the theology of Calvinism because not even Calvin knew whether he was saved.

Really? What did he write or say that gives you that idea?

Theology cannot save anyone.

Agreed. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that.

Church organizations have no power to save anyone.

There is only one true and genuine way to be saved.

Agreed. Jesus Christ said:

NKJV Jhn 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 

[Genez]

Read the following paragraph.

Galatians 5:2-4
Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every
man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who
are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

Are you telling me a believer can become circumcised and then pursue the righteousness in the law. After having been
saved by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. If they have a genuine faith there's no problem with legalism?

Some background for what Paul was dealing with.
The Gentile believers needed some background concerning the Jewish people.

Up until then, the Jews were seen by the Gentile world as a special people of God.
Jews, unlike the gentiles, were seen as advanced and seen as being a moral and upright-living people.

In contrast to the Jews? Gentiles at that time were in various ways seen as a gross, ghetto-type thinking people.
We can witness to it to some extent it today in our present society.
Just spend some time over at Twitter/X, and you will see a similar contrast in cultures.

The Judaisers who were hounding Paul's ministry were telling the Gentile believers that it was the Law that made the Jews into what they were. And were trying to get those Gentiles to walk legalistically (unspiritually) under the Law.

As far as Paul?

He was teaching the Gentiles that real righteousness comes from walking in the power of God's grace while always growing in learning and knowing more and more truth that was to be found in the Scriptures. Telling them to stop trying to walk in the legalism of the law to try to please God.

Hope that helps to gain some understanding of what was taking place when Romans was written to Gentiles.

Grace and peace .....

 

[Inquisitor]

If anybody, Calvinist or not, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they are saved, they are among the elect.

Really? What did he write or say that gives you that idea?

Agreed. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that.

Agreed. Jesus Christ said:

NKJV Jhn 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I assume that you would agree that Christians should have the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, during their
Christian life. Treating others with agape love as Christ demonstrated with His love of the apostles, and His self
sacrifice for us all. Jesus even told us to love our enemies. Overflowing kindness and gentleness at a minimum towards
even those who oppose us.

John Calvin used Leviticus 24:16 to argue that civil governments have a duty to execute blasphemers and heretics.
He believed that the Old Testament judicial laws regarding false worship and blasphemy applied to Christian societies,
viewing attacks on God's truth as a capital crime against both church and state.

Calvin argued that moral and judicial laws in the Old Testament protecting God's honor remain active for Christian rulers!

Calvin promoted grace but also the law at the same time.

Calvin is known for encouraging the brutal treatment of heretics and blasphemers in society.

loving your enemies was not in Calvin's vocabulary.

Calvin would have made an excellent Inquisitor.