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If one concludes that 'free will' and 'God's sovereignty' are diametrically opposed concepts, then I suppose the 'fly in the jar' analogy makes sense. Otherwise, folks tend to define 'God's sovereignty' in whatever way suits their bias. For example, is Sovereign God somehow prevented from giving man the free will to choose to love or reject God ... within the framework of this world? ... or must 'sovereign' mean that God absolutely controls every aspect of our existence?
If man does not have free will in this earth (where God established the conditions of free will: good, evil, cause and effect, etc) .... then concepts of 'love', 'grace', 'mercy', 'justice', 'condemnation' and many others -- lose their meaning. What does love mean, if one cannot choose to not love? --- How can mercy and grace exist without Justice? .... and How can justice exist without the ability to choose injustice or disobedience?
Leslie Weatherhead in his book, ‘God’s Will’ presented different aspects of God’s Will: Circumstantial, and Ultimate were two of these. As an illustration of God’s circumstantial will, Weatherhead presents a Father dealing with a son who was faced with going to war. Certainly the father’s will is NOT that the son go to war and be killed, BUT, it is similarly NOT that the son run-away and live out His life in shame. Therefore, in that circumstance, the 'Father's will' is that the son use his free will to choose to go to war ... where he might be killed (The breakdown, of course, is that God knows the consequences of our choices, but, if He makes them for us, they are no longer our choices).
The problem with some of these non-Biblical concepts (such as that man's free will doesn't exist) is that they depend largely on human philosophies and reasoning, rather than the truth of God's Word. And if man has the 'free will' to philosophize or reason ... apart from God's absolute control, isn't that, in itself, a form of free will?
If one concludes that 'free will' and 'God's sovereignty' are diametrically opposed concepts, then I suppose the 'fly in the jar' analogy makes sense. Otherwise, folks tend to define 'God's sovereignty' in whatever way suits their bias. For example, could Sovereign God not declare that man be give the free will to choose to love or reject God ... within the framework of this world? Does 'sovereign' mean that God absolutely controls every aspect of our existence?
If man does not have free will in this earth (where God established the conditions of free will: good, evil, cause and effect, etc) .... then concepts of 'love', 'grace', 'mercy', 'justice', 'condemnation' and many others -- lose their meaning. What does love mean, if one cannot choose to not love? --- How can mercy and grace exist without Justice? .... and How can justice exist without the ability to choose?
The problem with some of these non-Biblical concepts (such as that man's free will doesn't exist) is that they depend largely on human philosophies and reasoning, rather than the truth of God's Word. And if man has the 'free will' to philosophize or reason ... apart from God's absolute control, isn't that, in itself, a form of free will?
mankind will never be free from anything. we make choices according to our surroundings. Free-will is having a will with total freedom. It is impossible to make such a choice without being influenced. everything we do and see influences us. our senses dictate what we like and dont like, our experiences, upbringing, nationality, race, etc.... all of it influences us to make choices. If we do in fact have free will, then God does not have total control. He depends on us, mere men from dirt, to make a choice within the little lifetime we have, to make a good choice and follow Him. This is a topic that will never be agreed on, like so many others out there. Everybody believes they are right. I say God will sort it all out in the future.
mankind will never be free from anything. we make choices according to our surroundings. Free-will is having a will with total freedom. It is impossible to make such a choice without being influenced. everything we do and see influences us. our senses dictate what we like and dont like, our experiences, upbringing, nationality, race, etc.... all of it influences us to make choices. If we do in fact have free will, then God does not have total control. He depends on us, mere men from dirt, to make a choice within the little lifetime we have, to make a good choice and follow Him. This is a topic that will never be agreed on, like so many others out there. Everybody believes they are right. I say God will sort it all out in the future.
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