FREE WILL
WHO OWNS IT?
BY: HADLEY G LAYMAN
www.fathersheartbeat.blogspot.com
christreconciledu2god@gmail.com
Let's carefully read through a very important scripture. It's the entire chapter - Romans 9:
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience also bearing
me witness in the Holy Spirit,
2 that I have great heaviness and continual pain in my heart.
3 For I myself was wishing to be accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, (Isn't this amazing!)
4 who are Israelites; to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 whose are the fathers, and of whom is the Christ according to flesh, He being God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
6 Not however that the Word of God has failed, for not all those of Israel are Israel;
7 nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But, "In Isaac shall your Seed be called."
8 That is, not the children of the flesh are children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for a seed.
9 For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son."
Take special note here! Ask God to open up your spiritual eyes and ears.
10 And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, by our father Isaac
11 (for the children had not yet been born, neither had done any good or evil; but that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who called, ) [By his Free Will!]
12 it was said to her, "The elder shall serve the younger."
13 As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
14 What shall we say then? Is there not unrighteousness with God? Let it not be!
15 For He said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
That's God at his best operating in his Free Will!
16 So then it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God, the One showing mercy. (By his Free Will!)
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "Even for this same purpose I have raised you up (God's Free Will), that I might show My power in you (God's Free Will), and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth." (That's God's purpose accomplished via his Free Will!)
18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens.
19 You will then say to me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will?
20 No, but, O man, who are you who replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him who formed it, Why have you made me this way?
21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?
22 What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction;
23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He had before prepared to glory; (BY HIS FREE WILL!)
24 whom He also called, not only us, of Jews, but also of the nations?
25 As He also says in Hosea, "I will call those not My people, My people; and those not beloved, Beloved."
26 And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them. "You are not My people; there they shall be called sons of the living God."
27 Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel is as the sands of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.
28 For He is bringing the matter to an end, and cutting short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work on the earth."
29 And as Isaiah said before, "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been as Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah."
30 What shall we say then? That the nations, who did not follow after righteousness have taken on righteousness, but a righteousness of faith.
31 But Israel, who followed after a law of righteousness did not arrive at a law of righteousness.
32 Why? Because it was not of faith, but as it were by the works of the Law. For they stumbled at that Stumbling-stone;
33 as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a Stumbling-stone and a Rock-of-offense, and everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."
AND GOD DOES THIS ALL BY HIS 'FREE WILL!'
Let's take a look at the definition of 'Free Will:'
It is the ability to make a PERFECT decision and PERFECTLY following through with it WITHOUT any type of influence. NOTHING is able to disrupt or overthrow this PERFECT Free-Willed decision and the action thereof. In other words, any being possessing Free Will is a God and it is therefore THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE MOST HIGH GOD, THE GREAT I AM who has this divine ability called FREE WILL!
So, do you still think that you have 'free will?' I should think not because to say so is to declare yourself a god which you and I are certainly not! I sense that there are of those who still think that they possess Free Will.
YOU DON'T!!
Has God lied when he said that he had to swear by himself because he could not find anyone greater at the time he made a covenant with Abraham? God should have found you at that time but he didn't because you are not a god possessing free will! God by his 'Free Will' made a covenant with Abraham by swearing by himself.
CAN YOU OR I DO THE SAME?
God by his 'Free Will' created the heavens and the earth,
CAN YOU OR I DO SUCH AN AWESOME THING?
By his 'Free Will,' God has laid out the entire creation including the whole lifespan of human history by creating time and therefore knows the end from the beginning as well as every thought, action, etc, of every living and created thing! Again:
CAN YOU OR I DO SUCH A MIND-BLOWING THING?
I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the picture by now that we as mere fallible human beings DO NOT possess 'Free Will!'
FREE WILL VS CHOICE:
Having given the definition of Free Will, lets take a look at 'choice.' It's rather simple. When one has to choose, one can only do so when there is a presentation. Remember when God said to Israel: “I lay before you good and bad, life and death; therefore choose?” It was a presentation which God had given by his own Free Will. The people then had to choose, and when they did, it was NOT by their Free Will! Why? Let's take another look at the definition of Free Will:
It is the ability to make a PERFECT decision and PERFECTLY following through with it WITHOUT any type of influence.
God influenced Israel in them having to make a decision. Proving that the people of Israel, including ALL human beings, DO NOT have Free Will! Take note: No existing 'thing' influenced God in what he has purposed BY HIMSELF!!
NOTHING is able to disrupt or overthrow this PERFECT Free-Willed decision and the action thereof.
The above being true; if people (in this case Israel), have Free Will, how is then that Israel was successfully 'influenced' by being tempted into 'doing wickedly' by fist choosing life in God's presence but then afterwards embracing death? Isn't this also true about all us humans? Again: It's proof that we as fallible human beings DO NOT have Free Will! From OUR perspective, it may look like satan has disrupted and overthrown God's Free Will by bringing death to ALL MANKIND via Adam. But even satan's wicked activity is brought about by God's Free Will! What satan doesn't know is that his wicked activity, is part of the GREAT AND MARVELOUS PLAN OF GOD! In my HELL EXPOSED Part 1 the last paragraph is dedicated to how God reveals that life always 'blossoms' after death!
Any being possessing Free Will is a God and it is therefore THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE MOST HIGH GOD, THE GREAT I AM who has this divine ability called FREE WILL!
SATAN'S WILL, OUR WILL ALONG WITH THE WHOLE CREATION IS UNDER GOD'S GUIDANCE IN THAT IT IS PREDESTINED VIA HIS FREE WILL:
That must be the longest heading to date!
However, it's true! We, especially us believers in Christ, ought to know that God as The Sovereign Creator, knows exactly how to create and, how yo run his very own creation!! The Word of God makes very clear that EVERYTHING came from God, that includes evil. Do you actually think that satan has the ability to come up with something all by himself, 'without any influence?' Why, that would make him a God having FREE WILL which he CERTAINLY IS NOT AND DOES NOT POSSESS! This I will cover in my next installment: 'SATAN!'
Most Christians think that God does not always know the choices human beings, including satan, will make as if his creation has run amok or something! I mean come on now already – please!! They continue to say that when a bad decision (sin) is made, God is well able to overpower it or turn it around by his might. Yes, agreed that God is All Powerful however, in this case God ALWAYS knows the good or bad decisions that will be made by any of his creation and that is TRUE FREE WILL POWER!!
EVERYTHING HAS BEEN PREDESTINED BY GOD!
Predestinate
PREDES'TINATE, a. Predestinated; foreordained.
PREDES'TINATE, v.t. [L. proedestino; proe and destino, to appoint.
To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose.
Predestination is a part of the unchangeable plan of the divine government; or in other words, the unchangeable purpose of an unchangeable God.
Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Rom 8.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. Eph 1.
Websters dictionary
People who believe in the 'hell theology' (which is the majority of Christians!), by the definition given above, will then also have to say that God has;
PREDESTINED MANY SOULS TO HELL!
This of course is
EXTREME BLASPHEMY!
But yet, that is what MANY Christians are saying God did by preaching 'eternal hell fire!'
Concerning the 'eternal punishment in hell' man-made theory, here is Wisdom:
God's punishment and correction is ALWAYS for the purpose of ;
REPENTANCE, REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION!
And God has already accomplished ALL this via his Son's death and resurrection, ascension and pouring out of his Holy Spirit! Isn't that just like our merciful and loving God? What God has accomplished through his Son, is his 'CAUSE AND EFFECT' method of operation in bringing about his desired WILL to pass. This has not happened 2000 years ago, but right in the beginning when God had not yet even started to create yet. This was also the the same 'time' when God slew his Son in his heart (just like Abraham slew Isaac in his heart), hence:
“The Lamb who was slain from (i.e. way before creation), the foundation of the world!”
God perfectly guides our wills even though we are not robots. It is by his mercy that our wills are under his PERFECT DIRECTION (cause and effect) because only God knows what would happen to us if that wasn't the case! Still not convinced? Let's take a look at some examples where it is clearly reveals that God guides our wills:
King Abimelech wanted to take Abraham's wife Sarah, for himself, but God changed his will via a dream. Actually, it was more like nightmare!
God was the One who 'caused' jealousy in the hearts of Joseph's brothers who then sold him into slavery by God's purposed Will. The coat of many colours, the dreams in which Joseph is exalted above his brothers, etc was God's 'cause and effect' method to get to his fulfilled Will. Hence the declaration Joseph made to his brothers: “What you meant for evil, God has turned to good!”
Who do you think hardened Pharaoh's heart even before birth? It was God! Have you not read it at the beginning of this installment in Romans 9? Do you actually think it was Moses who by himself, changed God's mind in not killing off all of Israel? Of course not! God himself put that in Moses' heart for Moses to inquire that very thing from him! It was God who put it in Moses' mother's heart to place him in a basket and put it in the river. It was God who put the love for Moses in the hearts of Pharaoh and his daughter. It was God who allowed Moses to be in Egypt for a certain period for one of the main purpose which was to learn how to write so that God at his appointed time could hand over the first five books of the bible (the Torah) to him to have it written down! (The skill of basic handwriting was founded in Egypt.) It was God who drove Moses into the wilderness.
It was God who 'caused' it in King Hezekiah heart to ask for an extension on his life for the purpose of showing His Sovereign Power! At first may have seemed like a disaster because King Hezekiah became filled with pride in later years and had the most wicked sons who caused Israel to sin the most horrible sins which included their sin in Gehenna where they sacrificed their infant babies to false gods by casting them into fire! Yes, it's that very same place that translators translated 'hell' from which I dealt with!
Ever read Isaiah 6 ;9-10? God deliberately prophesied through Isaiah to shut up Israel's ears so they would not hear; shut up their eyes so that they may not see and shut up their perception so that they may not understand! That is the reason why the Israelites DID NOT understand the parables Jesus spoke! Jesus said to his disciples that they are privileged to receive understanding of God's Word! Now who can blame Israel for NOT understanding? It was God by his SOVEREIGN FREE WILL who shut up their spiritual perception!
It was God who laid out his Son's entire life including his will. Jesus boldly declared that he is nothing without his Father; that his Father is Greater than he in that his Father ALONE has FREE WILL POWER; That as he hears his Father's voice so he speaks and judges! In other words, JESUS HAD NO FREE WILL EITHER! He completely understood that his Father's Will takes precedence!
Precedence
PRECE'DENCE
PRECE'DENCY, n. The act or state of going before; priority in time; as the precedence of one event.
The state of going or being before in rank or dignity or the place of honor; the right to a more honorable place in public processions, in seats or in the civilities of life. Precedence depends on the order of nature or rank established by God himself, as that due to age; or on courtesy, custom or political distinction, as that due to a governor or senator,who, though younger in years, takes rank of a subordinate officer, though older; or it is settled by authority, as in Great Britain. In the latter case, a violation of the right of precedence is actionable. Websters dictionary.
How can we forget: “Father NOT my will but YOUR WILL BE DONE?!”
I can stop right here because certainly I have pinned down my case (to God's Glory!), that man does NOT HAVE FREE WILL!
Saul wanted to continue his killing spree on the believers in Jesus, but God by his FREE WILL STOPPED HIM BLIND IN HIS TRACKS AND BROUGHT ABOUT A SHIFT IN SAUL'S HEART WHO THEN WAS BAPTIZED PAUL AND FELL HOPELESSLY IN LOVE WITH JESUS! ALL THIS BY GOD'S FREE WILL!
It was God by his Free Will who planted the message in Paul's heart to deliver to you and me, of the truth that God has PREDESTINED the entire human race and all of creation!
Here is that message:
“[God] Who WILLS [BY HIS FREE WILL!] that ALL MANKIND BE SAVED, and to come into a realization of the truth. [Jesus is the TRUTH]” (Concordant Literal Version. I Tim. 2:4).
And he [Christ Jesus] is the PROPITIATION [atonement] FOR OUR SINS: and not for ours only, BUT ALSO FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. (1Jn 2:2 KJV )
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us.
DID YOU GET THAT?!
Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, 2 Co 5:18-20a M.K.J.V.
SO WHY IS THE CHURCH PREACHING THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN THE WORLD ARE DESTINED FOR A HELL WHEN GOD CLEARLY STATED THAT;
HE NO MORE IMPUTES THEIR TRESPASSES TO THEM?!
REPENT CHURCH, REPENT!!
Reconcile
RECONCI'LE, v.t. [L. reconcilio; re and concilio; con and calo, to call, Gr. The literal sense is to call back into union.]
1. To conciliate anew; to call back into union and friendship the affections which have been alienated; to restore to friendship or favor after estrangement; as, to reconcile men or parties that have been at variance.
2. To bring to acquiescence, content or quiet submission; with to; as, to reconcile one's self to afflictions. It is our duty to be reconciled to the dispensations of Providence.
3. To make consistent or congruous; to bring to agreement or suitableness; followed by with or to.
4. To adjust; to settle; as, to reconcile differences or quarrels.
It is God who is at this very moment 'Willing' His 'Good Pleasure' through me to pass this TRUTH TO YOU;
BY HIS SOVEREIGN FREE WILL WHICH ONLY HE POSSESSES!!
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