And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. {Joshua 24:15 AMP}
Yes, we do have a certain amount of what is commonly referred unto as being “freewill”. For we could not be of any true and lasting value unto our Heavenly Father without it{1}.
It is, however, extremely limited. In fact: it is only in regards unto the choice that we are given to make about wanting to truly accept our Heavenly Father as truly being our own Heavenly Father that we can be confident of there not being any divine intervention involved{2}.
No, this is not to say that we are all on our own in this. For no one can come unto our Heavenly Father except through His only begotten Son{3}; and no one can come unto His only begotten Son unless our Heavenly Father draw them{4}.
Yes, it would appear that not all are given a choice in the matter. That is, of course, unless you are of the opinion that all who fail to reach their own age of accountability before their own time as a part of this world never counted in the first place.
No, it has not been revealed unto me just exactly how it will work in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom Of Heaven. For that is on a strictly need to know basis{5}; and I obviously do not need to know—albeit only at this time{6}. For if I did need to know: it would have been already revealed unto me{7}.
Anyway: what I do know is that it will be as it should be in the end. For no one will be forced to spend all of eternity with our Heavenly Father in His Kingdom Of Heaven as an heir unto all that is His in glory against their own desires not to do so{8}.
Alas, there is another thing that needs to be addressed before proceeding further. For there are some who have become convinced that none of us are given any choice in the matter at all.
This is, of course, a result of unbridled Calvinism in the extreme; but in all fairness: they do have some Scriptures to point unto. For it truly is as it is written: The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end {and} His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity {and} evil.{9}
The ninth chapter of Romans appears to make it all the more clear that our Heavenly Father creates some for glory and all of the rest for destruction; but I would think that most (if not: all) would want to believe that the passage is meant to be rhetorical in nature. For who in their right-mind{10} would want to spend all of eternity with someone so cruel? After all: what would there be to prevent Him from changing His mind about even the elect{11} somewhere down the line{12}???
[{1}Ephesians 5:22-32; {2}John 1:12-13; {3}John 14:6; {4}John 6:44; {5}2 Corinthians 12:4; {6}John 20:29; {7}2 Peter 1:3; {8}John 6:66-67; {9}Proverbs 16:4 AMP; {10}1 Corinthians 2:6-16; {11}Matthew 24:21-31; {12}Job 34:12-15]
It is, however, extremely limited. In fact: it is only in regards unto the choice that we are given to make about wanting to truly accept our Heavenly Father as truly being our own Heavenly Father that we can be confident of there not being any divine intervention involved{2}.
No, this is not to say that we are all on our own in this. For no one can come unto our Heavenly Father except through His only begotten Son{3}; and no one can come unto His only begotten Son unless our Heavenly Father draw them{4}.
Yes, it would appear that not all are given a choice in the matter. That is, of course, unless you are of the opinion that all who fail to reach their own age of accountability before their own time as a part of this world never counted in the first place.
No, it has not been revealed unto me just exactly how it will work in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom Of Heaven. For that is on a strictly need to know basis{5}; and I obviously do not need to know—albeit only at this time{6}. For if I did need to know: it would have been already revealed unto me{7}.
Anyway: what I do know is that it will be as it should be in the end. For no one will be forced to spend all of eternity with our Heavenly Father in His Kingdom Of Heaven as an heir unto all that is His in glory against their own desires not to do so{8}.
Alas, there is another thing that needs to be addressed before proceeding further. For there are some who have become convinced that none of us are given any choice in the matter at all.
This is, of course, a result of unbridled Calvinism in the extreme; but in all fairness: they do have some Scriptures to point unto. For it truly is as it is written: The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end {and} His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity {and} evil.{9}
The ninth chapter of Romans appears to make it all the more clear that our Heavenly Father creates some for glory and all of the rest for destruction; but I would think that most (if not: all) would want to believe that the passage is meant to be rhetorical in nature. For who in their right-mind{10} would want to spend all of eternity with someone so cruel? After all: what would there be to prevent Him from changing His mind about even the elect{11} somewhere down the line{12}???
[{1}Ephesians 5:22-32; {2}John 1:12-13; {3}John 14:6; {4}John 6:44; {5}2 Corinthians 12:4; {6}John 20:29; {7}2 Peter 1:3; {8}John 6:66-67; {9}Proverbs 16:4 AMP; {10}1 Corinthians 2:6-16; {11}Matthew 24:21-31; {12}Job 34:12-15]
Brilliant reasoning- but of course that's according to God's will that you have such intelligence! :)
ReplyDelete(I'm serious about your excellent aptitude for apologetics and exegesis- and having fun with the weightiness of the topic!)
Dear Fishhawk,This is the word of God and I do agree with it especially this part...
ReplyDelete"The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end {and} His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity {and} evil".
BTW I can't judge you for being a calvinist infact when I found out that there where various Christian movements I was stunned there and then, but the beauty of it all is that we all agree that Jesus is Lord.
Godbless
I am quite sure that many who really are serious about being Calvinists would find you calling me one highly offensive, my dear IJ. Either way: we are supposed to have the mind of Christ; and this means that there should not be any divisions in the body of Christ.
ReplyDelete