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[Alta]

Here are a few scriptures to consider regarding free will

“He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” — Ephesians 1:4-5

“God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.” — 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Or is it because we practice our free will and make good choices??

Romans 9:11-22

11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”[a] 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”[c] 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”[d] 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction

I sure appreciate hearing your thoughts and comments and I am so grateful for the patients of God.
May God bless you

[Alta]

The reason I made this post was to try to show that there is a difference between simply making a choice and exercising free will.
Remember will defined is self determination. Yes we can choose to follow God or reject Him, but that's it. Choosing God will have you doing Gods will, rejecting God will have you doing the devils will. The idea of your own will is not biblical it is an illusion not created by God. Next time I will post the scriptures. Thank you so much for your replies May God grant you peace.

[Alta]

So here in is my dilemma. Is free will the ability to make a choice? Since the Lord opened my eyes some 6 yrs. ago, I began to see the lies I was believing. Most of these lies where things I had heard or things that I was taught. God has and is revealing to me the truth. The source of the lies can always be traced back to the creator of lies. Satan is the creator of lies, therefore God is the truth. As a drug addict I told myself I was practicing my free will to do as I please. I believed this lie until I decided to stop using drugs. I swore oaths to God to my wife and to my children and most of all to myself that I would stop using. Do you think I quit? I learned I was still trying to practice my free will or self determination on this problem. Later I learned ( after years of anguish ) that I did not have the power to quit. The drugs were in fact in control and they decided I would use until I died. I COULD NOT WILL THIS PROBLEM AWAY! Through Jesus, God took mercy on me and today I am free to make the choice to use or not to use. When I first made the choice to try drugs I was not practicing free will I was simply making a bad choice with dire consequences. I was a fool and I was also fooled into believing that I had some kind of control over the out come of my actions. I know some of you want to point out that free will is the ability to make a choice. God wills things into being and they begin. Is this the power God has granted to man? Will defined in the dictionary is determination. Can man determine the outcome of a human action? I know that in my Christian life my path is set before me by God. It’s a path I try my best to follow, but sometimes I veer to the left or to the right before He corrects me. I am determined to follow that path, but still. Well you know. I find I need help from outside myself. So God sets my path and then He aids me to stay on it. Does this sound like my will or Gods will. Well I could choose not to do it. In fact I have obviously made that choice in the past. I learned that by making bad choices I ended up following a different path. Was this path of my own creation because of practising my God granted power of free will? I thought so. Until I tried to practice my free will to quit drugs. I found that I had indeed fallen into a trap. Even before the drugs my worldly views led me into other traps. I believed money could solve my problems, but when I began to make a lot of money I found I had more problems. Which eventually led to a new drug problem and so on. So by denying God and practicing my free will I was falling into traps. But, who set the traps? I had believed lies that led me into traps. Satan is the author of lies and deception. By believing these lies and deceptions was I following my will or satans will? Ask any drug addict if he or she believes in God, some will some won’t. Ask any addict if he believes in satan. He will answer yes. It’s because using drugs is dabbling in the occult. Therefore drug use is satans tool. It is the reason an addict can’t successfully quit on his own. He is doing satans will and is therefore controlled. Sometimes satan will allow a person to swap addictions as long as he can keep them fooled. These people will stop using only to become workaholics or alcoholics or what ever, but the one constant in it is that that person will be controlled by him. All in all I don’t see where a person is practising anything close to free will. When Eve ate from the tree of knowledge was she practicing free will or was she fooled into doing someone else’s will? Saying that someone is practising free will is not saying they have the ability to make a choice. It is saying that they have the ability to direct the outcome of the choices they make. If you believe you have this ability then tell me the day you will physically die. Free will is something I have determined satan uses to keep people fooled and also to make them feel guilty and unworthy. God never makes us feel guilty or unworthy. God convicts us of our sins and then forgives us all the while telling us how worthy and important you truly are. Although guilt and conviction might seem like the same thing they are not. One is used put down and degrade while the other is used to teach correct and edify. In fact they are exact opposites. Saying free will is the same as making a choice is much like guilt and conviction. If you still don’t see the difference then the next time you have diarrea, use your will to make it go away. God gave man the ability to make choices not the ability to create or own destiny by the power of our will. We can choose to follow Gods will are we can reject it. When we reject Gods will we don’t live by our own terms we then live by the devil’s will. Maybe this is of no importance, but I think it is and I would sure like to hear your thoughts.
Thank You
Alta

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