From The Pastors Desk: How do we reconcile the fact that God is - TopicsExpress

From The Pastors Desk: How do we reconcile the fact that God is sovereign with the fact that He has given us free will as persons? God is indeed sovereign (1 Tim. 6:15). Scripture is clear in this regard. But does man have a free will? That is less clear. First of all, we must understand that the phrase “free will” has different connotations to different people. If we mean that man has the liberty to choose, scripture is clear that he does. Consider the prophet Elijah’s challenge to choose God over an idol: “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). God was not forcing the people of Israel to worship Baal. They chose to do so of their own volition. But now a caveat must be made. Did they have the ability to choose God? Men lack that ability unless God regenerates their hearts. So a distinction must be made between liberty and ability in seeking to understand free will. God is sovereign and man has true liberty to act, yet lacks ability. In seeking to understand free will, we can say that God is sovereign and man has true liberty to act, yet lacks ability unless God grants him the ability. So if we presume that “free will” means both liberty to choose and the ability to choose, we would have to say there is no free will in man since the Fall (Eph. 2:1-5). Yet man is not an automaton; he is a free moral agent, acting from his nature. If he is unregenerate, he will choose to reject God and the things of God. If he is regenerate, he will be predisposed to and capable of choosing God. Liberty is present for both unregenerate and regenerate man. Ability is present only in regenerate man. In reference to John 6:44, does God compel people to come to him? Based on the Greek word used, which is translated in the New American Standard Version as “draws” in John 6:44, a better translation would be dragged. R.C. Sproul’s explanation of this in his book entitled Chosen is the best I’ve come across.

Pero el Señor dice: • Que el reino de los cielos vaya y

98% PG medicos in Karnataka decline rural stint Around 98% of

When Obama first began his campaign for the presidency , and was

BISMILLAAH.. Met pagi sobat.. N met [[f9.coffee]] :D Beberapa

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and

I promised her 20k Last Week As we were chatting on BBM. She Came

Cyber Monday Sale JL Audio XB-BLUAIC2-9 2-channel Twisted-Pair

...TIPE ORANG-ORANG DI PESBUK... 1. Type MODEL : ganti foto

It has been my honor to spend the last 13 hours with my mother,

MOSES AND ELIJAH THE TEACHINGS OF BISHOP DAVID HILL/THE LORD

SHARE COMMISSION LIST FOR SALE Palm Jumeirah , Marina Residence ,

Surf report 7/18/14 Its dead Jim! we finally hit 0

Russian Deputy FM Gennady Gatilov announced that the peace

কৌতুকঃ না পড়লে আপনার

The story of Adam and the Angels is mentioned in the Quraan Surah

Kız Kardeşimi Artık Karım Gibi sikiyorum Merhaba 1982

Some of you may have heard this before and this song took a huge

♠♠♠ Teva Clifton Creek Leather Shoes For Men

Saturday & Sundays FREE DELIVERY AREAS cut off for ORDERS is 12pm

That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for

Black Friday Deals on 14786--New York State Barge Canal

Catatan syiah yang ku kenali (PART 6) Kejatuhan Kerajaan