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SignUp Now!You know, one of the things the Holy Spirit brought to my attention as I continue to seek God & Jesus Christ His Son is that there is a lot of debate & arguments erected only for the sake of debating & arguing against the truth.
It comes in many forms, but ultimately it comes down to the love of God.
For instance, some unfortunate souls know the scriptures through & through with limited understanding, and seek continually reasons to debate, argue, and prove against it; what they are missing is the Love of God.
What is free will in the Presence of the Lord? What is it? Since I know the Love of God is everything, then free will is truly nothing; what is in it? What does it do? What does it prove? Nothing at all. If free will is erected as a means to protect sin, of any kind, that is not free will, even the word structure 'free will' seems to have been something that came from the devil to cause us to separate from God.
What has my own free will ever gotten me, but to confirm me in rebellion against the Word of God and His Love? What is free will? A choice between what is good, of God, in His Word & Truth, or what is not? Hell! I can not see anything at all about free will that encourages anything other than rebellion, and what is rebellion, other than to despise and reject God's truth, His Word, His Commandments, His Son Jesus, His Holy Spirit, and .... His Love? God forbid.
That's why I'm saying this. There is so many arguments that are erected that truly hold nothing in them other than to fuel opportunity for rebellion & falling away. For example, the debates & arguments between genuine, God loving and God fearing men and women, and atheist or agnostics or whatever. 'Prove it, prove it..' Prove what? For God so loved the world that He Sent His only Begotten Son Jesus to die for the sins of mankind! What is there to prove? Jesus commanded us to not even be angry with our brothers without just cause, and to seek reconciliation even so, and to forgive even so, or WE would not be forgiven, to love God first, and to love one another second! Prove what? Nothing to prove. His Word says it all. Love. Love. Love. Be holy. Walk righteously. Walk by the Spirit and we would not fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh. Exalt God in your life. Exalt God through your life. Share the love of God with all those around you. Prove what?
I have seen someone use on a letter to me to influence my vote for that year the word 'free will' to defend someone who is pro abortion and to abase someone who is anti-abortion, to keep abortion legal, and to prop it up under the satantic guise of 'free will' God forbid it for ever. Then comes the devil saying 'well she was raped,' to defend abortion! God forbid. Do you see what the devil is doing? The devil attacks an innocent woman, puts a seed in her, then uses filthy devices to cause the defilement of murder to flow from her belly, and then uses that to trap her! To trap those around her! To prop up his own device, abortion! All under the guise of 'free will.' Free will what? Free from who? From God's Will? GOD Forbid. Never.
Speak for yourself.becasue we are not worthy.
"The LORD saw that the wickedness of humans was great in the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually." (Gen 6:5 NRSVue)Returning to the OP: Do we have freewill? Did we have free will since the since the beginning?
Since this uses the pronoun "we", it is apparently in reference to our father Adam, the first man. The OP involves some of the most complex topics, it is difficult, but no matter how you approach it, you ultimately end up with "the problem of evil" and how do you explain it. No philosophy or theology has satisfactorily given an answer. I'd like to give an approach on free will some may find helpful, it is as with most subjects, that definitions and how we view the meaning of words is critical to accurate communication.
Do we have free will? No, we do NOT have free will, we have free agency. We obviously make choices, and they are not dictated from outside our persons so they are free. That is free agency which every person has. But free will involves our very nature, and our will is bound to our sinful nature, and our choices are always sinful, unless moved upon by the Holy Spirit. Martin Luther and his followers, and John Calvin and his followers are in general agreement here. Luther wrote Bondage of the Will and the followers of Calvin teach Total Depravity. J I Packer Describes this well -
The Distinction Between Free Will and Free Agency | Monergism
INABILITY: FALLEN HUMAN BEINGS ARE BOTH FREE AND ENSLAVEDby J.I. PackerThe heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? -www.monergism.com
The second question in the OP, I take it refers to Adam. Adam had both free agency and free will. Once he sinned, he lost freedom of the will, he became a sinner. The day he sinned, he died spiritually, and eventually died physically.
The second complex subject involves defining and giving meaning to: fatalism, determinism and predestination distinguished from both fatalism and determinism.
Fatalism conceives of god or some other inscrutable power as decreeing the end, and then waiting till the appointed time to bring it about, regardless of human will or the prior course of events.
Determinism asserts that events are determined by the events that immediately precede them, which allows for the human will as a factor.
Predestination must be distinguished from both fatalism and determinism. Predestination is determinism plus the belief in a supernatural power that establishes the determining natural order, which includes the will. I find the following verses give an illustration of this:
"We are always bound to thank God for you, my friends beloved by the Lord. From the beginning of time God chose you to find salvation in the Spirit who consecrates you and in the truth you believe. It was for this that he called you through the gospel we brought, so that you might come to possess the splendour of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2Thess 2:13-14 REB)
"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance." (1Pet 1:1-2 NRSV)
God predestined his elect to find salvation, BUT, he also predestined the means, (his gifts of repentance and faith) by which He accomplishes his purpose.
The "problem of evil" is a philosophical question regarding how the following three ideas can coexist: God is almighty, God is perfectly good, and yet evil exists. This is not a problem for the theist alone, atheistic philosophies struggle with this as well.
In spite of my clumsiness of expression, hopefully it will help stir biblical investigation into truth. The difficulty as I see the problem of evil, the truth of the matter involves delving into the mind of God, and we humans just cannot go there.
Kind sir, truth be told, I can barely understand your English (okay, actually I don't understand your English - I find myself having to make too many assumptions). But while I really do appreciate your effort, I do not find poorly written concepts to be of any help to me.I do wish help to rhema