Let us consider passages that Deny or Limit the Alleged Free Will of Man.
We might consider whether the question is yes vs no -- could it be that man has some menu of choices (say scale of 0-10? 0= complete robot; 10 = able to fly, live forever do whatever the heck man wants to do; undo the past or whatever).
The purpose of the thread is to examine such verses as (seem to or do) limit or deny the alleged free will of man.
BTW, I am unaware of any word in the Bible that means "will" in the sense of a faculty, as when we say "the will of man." There is thelema = a thing willed (a purpose).
Let's start out with
1) There is none that doeth good, no not one. (Rom 3) Doesn't that indicate that unsaved man cannot will to do good? (Man cannot will to do good, because it is not in his nature?)
2) Deut 2: "0 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day."
3) 2 sam 15:6: And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
4) 2 SAM 19:14 14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants.
5) Ezra 7:27 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem;
6) Prov 21 "The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will."
7) 9 Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
8) Jer 31: "18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth."
9) Gen 6 " And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. "
Gen 8 " the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth"
Do these imply that man is incapable of willing to do good?
10) "O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee; 19 and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart," 1 Chron 29.
11) Ex 7: "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,"
12 Num 32: ", they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them."
13) Deut 1: "our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we"
14) Deut 28: "but Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;"
15) Deut 29: "but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. "
16) 1 Sam 10: "God gave him another heart:"
17) 1 Kings 8: "that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers."
18) 1 Kings 18 "Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."
19) Ezra 6: "for Jehovah had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."
20) Neh 7: "And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy."
21) Job 23: "For God hath made my heart faint,
And the Almighty hath terrified me;"
22) Ps 10: "Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek:
Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;"
23) Ps 33: "He that fashioneth the hearts of them all,
That considereth all their works. "
24) Ps 51: "Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me."
25) Ps 86: "Unite my heart to fear thy name."
26) Ps 105: "He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtly with his servants. "
27) PS 119; " I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart. "
28) PS 119: "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness. "
29) Ps 141: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing,"
30) Isa 63: " O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear?"
31) Jer 24: "And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart."
32) Jer 32: "and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me."
33) Lam 3 "Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, thy curse unto them."
34) Ezek 11 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;"
35) Ezek 36: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. "
36) Mal 4: "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
37) Mat 13: "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart."
38) Luke 8: "And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved."
39) John 12 : "He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart;
Lest they should see with their eyes,
and perceive with their heart,
And should turn,
And I should heal them."
40) John 13: "And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, "
41) Rom 9: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? "
We might consider whether the question is yes vs no -- could it be that man has some menu of choices (say scale of 0-10? 0= complete robot; 10 = able to fly, live forever do whatever the heck man wants to do; undo the past or whatever).
The purpose of the thread is to examine such verses as (seem to or do) limit or deny the alleged free will of man.
BTW, I am unaware of any word in the Bible that means "will" in the sense of a faculty, as when we say "the will of man." There is thelema = a thing willed (a purpose).
Let's start out with
1) There is none that doeth good, no not one. (Rom 3) Doesn't that indicate that unsaved man cannot will to do good? (Man cannot will to do good, because it is not in his nature?)
2) Deut 2: "0 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day."
3) 2 sam 15:6: And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
4) 2 SAM 19:14 14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants.
5) Ezra 7:27 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem;
6) Prov 21 "The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will."
7) 9 Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
8) Jer 31: "18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth."
9) Gen 6 " And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. "
Gen 8 " the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth"
Do these imply that man is incapable of willing to do good?
10) "O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee; 19 and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart," 1 Chron 29.
11) Ex 7: "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,"
12 Num 32: ", they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them."
13) Deut 1: "our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we"
14) Deut 28: "but Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;"
15) Deut 29: "but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. "
16) 1 Sam 10: "God gave him another heart:"
17) 1 Kings 8: "that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers."
18) 1 Kings 18 "Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."
19) Ezra 6: "for Jehovah had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."
20) Neh 7: "And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy."
21) Job 23: "For God hath made my heart faint,
And the Almighty hath terrified me;"
22) Ps 10: "Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek:
Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;"
23) Ps 33: "He that fashioneth the hearts of them all,
That considereth all their works. "
24) Ps 51: "Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me."
25) Ps 86: "Unite my heart to fear thy name."
26) Ps 105: "He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtly with his servants. "
27) PS 119; " I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart. "
28) PS 119: "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness. "
29) Ps 141: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing,"
30) Isa 63: " O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear?"
31) Jer 24: "And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart."
32) Jer 32: "and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me."
33) Lam 3 "Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, thy curse unto them."
34) Ezek 11 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;"
35) Ezek 36: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. "
36) Mal 4: "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
37) Mat 13: "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart."
38) Luke 8: "And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved."
39) John 12 : "He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart;
Lest they should see with their eyes,
and perceive with their heart,
And should turn,
And I should heal them."
40) John 13: "And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, "
41) Rom 9: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? "
