Free Will: Yes or No?

[Pentecostal]

Do all people a have a free will? I voted yes because it unquestionable that we must have our own free will.

In my own honest opinion it would be absolutely ludicrous to believe anything else

 

[Maureen]

God gave us free will, to choose or not to choose Salvation.
He will not force us.

 

[Richie]

Do all people a have a free will? I voted yes because it unquestionable that we must have our own free will.

In my own honest opinion it would be absolutely ludicrous to believe anything else

Absolutely yes! God has given us freedom to choose and live accordingly (either blessings or curses). Based on what we choose; on the final day, there will be either reward or punishment for us.

God bless you.

 

[paganmystic]

so far I am the only one that voted "no"
I hope this doesn't surprise people. Free Will yes by God through Jesus we have it; the free countries of the world, ie. Canada, United States, England, etc by law we are gaurenteed free will but in truth we are being repressed by the same people we expect to make that gaurentee. We can only exercise our free will in accordance with the way they want us to think, that is how they continue to assert their authority, we see it everyday but pay no notice of it. When I was younger I was accused of being a dangerous person. Not because I am a criminally minded person or that I am a crazed psychopath(although some people would likely believe otherwise~lol), but because I know through Jesus, that our free will is a certainty and in the end we will be judged by how we used it. On this reply I was not going to quote the Gospel, but... Matthew 16:1>4. For us we see the world around us; what it looks like but our lives don't reflect that, WE MUST CHANGE, but won't.Mark 13:9 & 13. To excercise or free will. To be Christ-like we all must realize, the world can not remain as is.
So even though our free will is gaurenteed it has also been sircumvented by the same forces.

May the Will of our Lord be with all of you; God bless

 

[Singlemom]

Pagan, my dear loving brother in Christ.....how I miss our pure brotherly/sisterly chats!

I see your view point. Interesting I say....I love to hear the viewpoints of others. I will select this to my favorites and will come back if I should have something to add.

I am assuming that you mean that we have limited will in the world......but think differently about the "free will" God the father has created us with, given us the ability to choose?

Does God not give us a free wil? He let's us decide to accept Him or not, No?
I would love to have you address that point.

But what do you think about Pharaoh, He had free choice, did he not?
Thanks for entretaining my babbling...........

Love in Christ, because of Him, and through Him,
Singlemom

Hope all is well in Canada..........

A side note----if we don't have free will, then how do you feel about accountability? smile.

 

[HeLovesYou]

But what do you think about Pharaoh, He had free choice, did he not?

I believe Pharoah did not have free will/choice at least regarding the Exodus. The Bible says that God hardened Pharoah's heart several times. It doesn't say that Pharoah hardened his own heart. In this regard, I feel sorry for Pharoah because if he had his own choice in the matter he would have let them go WAY before ALL of those catastrophes had occured. IMO

edit: Pharoah did harden his own heart through the seventh plague and then God took over on the hardening in Exodus 10 and 11!

 

[paganmystic]

so far I am the only one that voted "no"
I hope this doesn't surprise people. Free Will yes by God through Jesus we have it; the free countries of the world, ie. Canada, United States, England, etc by law we are gaurenteed free will but in truth we are being repressed by the same people we expect to make that gaurentee. We can only exercise our free will in accordance with the way they want us to think, that is how they continue to assert their authority, we see it everyday but pay no notice of it.

Thank you my sister (lol) I was worried for some reason we were being kept apart because you still own me the conversation in open chat on accountability. All I did here was up the level of the conversation (lol) as you can see in the quote Yes we are given free will by God also in the quote (check with the post), we as individuals chose to limit our free will by choice. This last statement does not apply to me, as a result, by many I am classified as a dangerous person. My posts here are only a start but my intent is to get more people to reassert their free will making their faith like mine, absolute. If this is picked up as a challenge, by those who read it, good my job here is working. The last 2 verses of Matthew are without a doubt the single most critic words to all Christians "The Great Commission". If we are not willing to carry the Word of God to "all" parts of the world no one will.

I really do miss you in the chat room with God willing see you soon>>> agape

 

[Singlemom]

Are you a rebel????

Thank you my sister (lol) I was worried for some reason we were being kept apart because you still own me the conversation in open chat on accountability. All I did here was up the level of the conversation (lol) as you can see in the quote Yes we are given free will by God also in the quote (check with the post), we as individuals chose to limit our free will by choice. This last statement does not apply to me, as a result, by many I am classified as a dangerous person. My posts here are only a start but my intent is to get more people to reassert their free will making their faith like mine, absolute. If this is picked up as a challenge, by those who read it, good my job here is working. The last 2 verses of Matthew are without a doubt the single most critical words to all Christians "The Great Commission". If we are not willing to carry the Word of God to "all" parts of the world no one will.

I really do miss you in the chat room with God willing see you soon>>> agape

Pagan, I know you will get a smile when you see the title I have given this reply!!!

Ha, Ha, Ha, My friend......in the world's eyes, we are all rebels. They do not understand why we would devote ourselves to the propagating of the gospel.......they sometimes call it a crutch, most of the time, we are ridiculed.

So you are the odd man out because your faith is absolute, huh? Welcome to the club, you happen to be in the right place.
I, by the very virtue of having been saved in a very conservative Baptist (not southern) church, am quite dogmatic in many aspects. I treasure theology, doctrine, and truth. I am not always the popular one I can assure you.

But I think this post would not be proper without you explaining what "Absolute" means to you. Absolute faith......hmmmmmm, sounds like a devoted faith, non-compromising, perhaps?

You have to stand firm in what you believe, otherwise, you will fall for anything, is what the Bible says, no? That is what is so awesome about our Lord, He allows us to believe in the first place, gives us the faith to keep believing, and then sends His Spirit to guide us! That is a wonder beyond wonders! To know that our faith is our own....we can believe God's truths, let the Holy Spirit customize/tailor it to our specific lives/experiences, and then to allow us to serve Him having placed our faith in God's truths, and then to give us the grace and wisdom to apply what we believe!
Phew! that was a long line!!!!!!! a mouthful, no?


But as always, I agree with you. The great commission of the Lord, carries great responsibility......now is not the time to weaken, "strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come." Isaiah 35:3-4

In addition to all of this, there is a Bible verse that says that anything not done in faith is sin, no?
You answer to your Master and I to mine, we have the privilege of being accountable to the Master in specific areas. Like the early church, with the issue of eating meat........besides....not allowing our choice to make a brother fall, we are able to decide whether it is right for us, if God is pleased with our personal decision.

Let's say the issue of tongues......I do not believe they are for today.
Some here will tell you that they are, they are accountable only to God, not me. If they believe they can talk in tongues and their faith is in God, then they are doing it in faith........

Eating in Chinese restaurants with the giant buddha, I think their food is sacrificed to idols.........man oh' man do I love egg rolls! But if my weaker brother thinks it is wrong......I will wait to do it when I know they are not weakened by my act.

Long Story short, right on Pagan :girl_hug:, God will bless your faith in being a rebel for Him.

Ha, ha, haaaaaaa

BUT HERE IS ONE MORE IMPORTANT POINT, I THINK!
There are important truths in the Bible that cannot be altered, lest we be judged for changing it's contents.........

So we have free choice........to follow God, or not to follow Him, to Obey Him freely or not?

These are parameters, the free choice question is will you accept the Christ, or not, huh?

Blessings be yours in abundance!
Amen!
Singlemom

 

[Maureen]

being a rebel for Him.


So we have free choice........to follow God, or not to follow Him, to Obey Him freely or not?

These are parameters, the free choice question is will you accept the Christ, or not, huh?
Blessings be yours in abundance!
Amen!
Singlemom

Amen

I have a song by Pebo Norman called 'Jesus the Rebel'
strange you should word it so.

 

[Singlemom]

Yep...a rebel am I no more.........

Amen

I have a song by Pebo Norman called 'Jesus the Rebel'
strange you should word it so.

Hey Maureen,

I tried finding this song on you tube.com and found something by the chieftains and Jackson Brown, is that the one???

I could not find Peabo Norman on you tube.

I was a wretched rebel........had my back turned away from my Savior.

I continued to sin.....knowing not, nor caring My Lord was crucified.........Amazing Love, It reached even me!!!!


He sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God!

Now I am a rebel no more........though I am a stupid sheep, sometimes I lose my way and the Good Shepherd is still there.........seeking me...........

How good He is..............He alone is worthy of honor, praise, and exaltation.


God be magnified in your life and in those who call on His name today.......

Amen,

 

[Maureen]

No Singlemom
tisn't that one, BEBO, its spelt that way, perhaps that's whats wrong, I spelt it wrongly sorry, I'm giong now to have a look myself, it's a strange sort of song.

My husband, who's not saved, said it was a terrible title to give Jesus, but it's not meant in that context, he doesn't listen to the wording in songs.

hope you can find, I'll be back, I'll see if I can.
off you go.....

 

[Maureen]

Lots of songs by him, but that particular one, I can't find.

Must look for the album in the car and play it again, and send some of the words, it's from a Christmas Cd, now that's there and some songs from it are there but that one isn't.

I will try to get some of the words to you.

liked this one, 'My eyes have seen Holy' YouTube - Bebo Norman - My Eyes Have Seen Holy

 

[pixie]

Free Will

As Jesus takes my sins from me, as I depend on Him and the LORD for my salvation, I am regaining free will. I do choose salvation through Christ and that is my free will and the will that sets me free.

Jesus had free will to do the LORD'S will and He chose the LORD Almighty.


# Matthew 26:39
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Amenixie

 

[Maureen]

yes true,

Psalm 25 v 12
What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

This verse in this Psalm says 'he shall choose'
so it makes sense that we have freedom to choose, otherwise we'd all be saved and walking with Jesus, if we didn't have to choose, it would be automatic.

The Rebel Jesus. (song)
is referring to the people calling him just that, and assuming it, because He didn't please the Scribes and Pharisees, their Holy council, they were agitated by Him, so they looked upon him as a rebel.

some of the words say that if we complain about there being poor people today that we to will be branded as the rebel Jesus was.
In other words just keep quiet and let the government do as they want.

I'll choose Jesus everytime, look were He's brought us from and to. Amen

 

[squidget]

hi im new so please excuse my accent lol

i voted yes to the poll but i have been fascinated with the original reply of paganmystic .i seem to agree with what he says yet i chose yes because we do have free will and PRAISE GOD for this ,
yet i think a question should be how often do we use this free will that our Father has given us .
like how many times has someone had you do something and you were in the impression is was of your own will only to find that you had been manupulated?
its hard for me to explain this and the above statement sounds weak but at an intence level there are manipulative forces that do this .
PRAISE GOD again we kan have peace in our decisions when we pray and includee him in oue everyday life walk .

honestly i believe the will can only take us so far then we need the guidance of JESUS . our free will is trainable and personally mine needs more training to run to JESUS whenever im in doubt .

blessings squidge:

 

[paganmystic]

g'day mate. thank you
I use my free will in my life, here in Canada, people either really love me or dispise me. There is no middle ground. That bothers me but only sometimes. You my freind have me a bit shoched for only one reason. You read the post with an open mind, most people see only what they want, well more like what they need. Our free will has become a bargining chip in life. I have never beleived in that, for those lives I have touched for a moment they see their lives with that unbridles free will, how they use it is up to them. Much the same is Christianity it is a lifestyle baced on that free will. In my faith there is no compromise. If you accept me ... you willl accept my Lord and Saviour. That is why most people chose to hate me. They would much sooner compromise their principle then their live. I try to believe as Jesus did, His principles were His life.>>> God bless you and may you be well in His Will.

 

[Maureen]

in the end we will be judged by how we used it. To be Christ-like we all must realize, the world can not remain as is.
So even though our free will is gaurenteed it has also been sircumvented by the same forces.

May the Will of our Lord be with all of you; God bless

Just reading back over your post as reading squidget post gave me thought.


'The will of our Lord' that's it, it must be His will, and not ours, looking at it from that perspective, we don't really have a 'free will' as such, but we become succumbed to His will wilingly.

But we can choose the good part or the evil part, so therefore we do still get to choose,

and like you say above, 'in the end we will be judged by how we used it' but it can then be a free will, we suffer the outcome, and rightly so, if we don't choose the good part, namely the Lord Jesus.

 

[squidget]

the most wonderfull thing i see about the question of free will is that we are wonderfully made in the image of GOD .
and he has given us all the owners operating manual ( his word ) so we can learn to operate ourselves his way .

so using this analogy there must be somewhere we all can find in the manual of life the key that unlocks the secret of free will and has it simplified for us to understand .

perhaps this could be found in deuteronomy 30 verces 15 to 19 ?

or possibly Luke 16 , 13 .

after all boiled down the answer of life is either GODS way which is good righteous and holy .

or satans way which is evil , selfserving and leads to destruction .

and amen to you pagan if people like me then they must also like my LORD JESUS as i donot exist without him

 

[Singlemom]

sidetracked?

This is an amazing thing!

I know that I have been guilty of taking the grace of our Lord in vain sometimes. This free will that He offers if perfect and simple.

We understand what He tells us by His good grace. He gives us the grace to understand the choices, and then steps back and allows us to decide.

When I say in vain, how many times have I 'chosen' to read or watch a movie that woudl turn my thoughts into sublime worldly thinking?

How many times did I pick up my Bible faithfully, and did not ignore it, to my own demise?

The choice He gives us now, is what Pagan is saying, that we are either Christ's the whole way or we are sold out to this world.

We cannot have one foot in heaven and the other hell.
that is impossible, we are children of God, we can make a difference in this world for eternity, hhhhhmmmmmm, this is free will. We are not robots, but his love relationship with the God of this universe is amazingly blessed beyond belief!

Amen!

BTW, Pagan, been looking for you in chat. We miss you.

 

[jennie549]

we have free will. we choose to sin, we choose to follow and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.