So many people are convinced that they have free will and yet free will is not defined or analyzed

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Can you lose your salvation?
1. Jesus said in John 10:28, "and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand,"
2. If we can lose our salvation, then what good work must you do to keep it? Yes, good work for it is a good work to remain faithful, to not lie, to not steal, to not lust. So, are you being good enough to keep your salvation? Is your heart pure before God?
Free will
1. We are only as free as our nature permits us to be free. If the Bible says the unbeliever is not "free" then he does not have "free will." The Bible says the unbeliever is a slave of sin, dead, full of evil, cannot understand spiritual things, etc. How then is the unbeliever the possessor of "free will"?
2. Calvinists don't deny free will. Calvinists teach that a person is free only as far as his nature permits him to be free. Therefore, what are the limits on the unbelievers freedom according to scripture?
3. The unregenerate is deceitful and sick (Jer. 17:9), full of evil (Mk 7:21-23), loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19), does not understand, does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12), is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3), cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14).
4. If Adam and Eve who were not slaves to sin but chose to sin, what makes you think that the unsaved, who are slaves of sin, are going to choose to not sin by choosing God when the Bible says they cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor 2:14) and are haters of God (Rom. 3:10-12)?
God
1. God Saves
  1. It is God who appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48), chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14), grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29), grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26), causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3), predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30), makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13).
  2. It is God who draws people to Himself (John 6:44,65), appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48), works faith in the believer (John 6:28-29), chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14).
  3. It is God who grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29), grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26), calls according to His purpose (2 Tim. 1:9), causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3), predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30) and adoption (Eph. 1:5). according to His purpose (Eph. 1:11), and makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13).
2. God Hardens People
  1. "But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today," (Deut. 2:30).
  2. "And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go," (Exodus 4:21).
  3. "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires," (Rom. 9:18).
  4. "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses," (Joshua 11:20).
  5. "And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false," (2 Thess. 2:11).
3. God's Sovereignty
  1. God can desire one thing and ordain another. He can desire that sin NOT occur, but ordain that it does. Likewise, he can desire that all be saved, but not ordain it. A judge can desire to set criminals free, but ordains that they go to jail because it is the right thing to do.
4. God hides information
  1. Mark 4:11-12, "And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables,¹²in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven."
Limited Atonement
1. "Now if we have died with Christ..." (Rom. 6:8); "If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world..." (Col. 2:20); "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God," (Col. 3:3); "It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him," (2 Tim. 2:11).
2. 2 Cor. 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."
3. Rom. 5:18, "So, as through one offense, there resulted condemnation to all men, so also, through one righteous deed, there resulted justification of life to all men."
4. Arminians have the sinner be held accountable for sins that Jesus paid for thereby making Christ's blood weak.
5. If rejection/unbelief is paid for then why are the sinners held accountable for a sin that Jesus paid for? To hold them accountable is to weaken the very blood of Christ by making its effectiveness dependent upon what the "sinner does."
Lose Salvation?
1. Regarding Matt. 24:13, The context is the time right before Christ's return. He isn't saying you keep your salvation by enduring. It is like saying, "He who endures to the end has demonstrated that He is truly regenerate/saved."
Partiality
1. partiality IS to look into the future to see who's good enough to pick God and then God chooses them. THAT is God showing partiality because it has God picking someone because of something in THEM!.
Questions to Ask
1. If the Bible says the unbeliever is a slave of sin, dead in sins, cannot understand spiritual things, is a hater of God, is full of evil, and a slave of sin, then how does he freely choose God?
Total Depravity
1. It is man who is deceitful (Jer. 17:9), full of evil (Mark 7:21-23), loves darkness (John 3:19), does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12), is ungodly (Rom. 5:6), dead in his sins (Eph. 2:1), by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3), cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14), and a slave of sin (Rom. 6:16-20).
  1. The unbeliever CAN respond to God. His response will be in accordance to scripture that says he cannot do good, is a hater of God, is full of evil, etc., Therefore, we conclude that his free will response will be to reject God, according to the limits described by scripture itself.
2. It is God who appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48), chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14), grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29), grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26), causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3), predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30), makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13).
Tulip Listed Out
1. TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints
Verses
1. Prov. 1:28-29, "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me, ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord."
  1. The context is how wisdom shouts in the street (v. 20) and calls people to follow her. But, no one would (v. 24), because no one wanted her reproof (v. 25). When disaster comes, then they will call on her but she will not answer, (v. 28). Why? Because "they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord," (v. 29). This is consistent with the doctrine of Total Depravity which states that the unsaved will not choose God.
2. Matt. 15:24, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
3. Matt. 24:13, “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved."
  1. The context is the time right before Christ's return. He isn't saying you keep your salvation by enduring. It is like saying, "He who endures to the end has demonstrated that He is truly regenerate/saved."
4. John 15:16, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you."
5. Romans 9:22-23, "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,"
6. 1 Pet. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," (NASB).
7. 2 Pet. 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
8. Rom. 11:8, "just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.'"
9. Acts 13:48, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; AND AS MANY AS HAD BEEN APPOINTED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED."
10. John 1:12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, WHO WERE BORN NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD."
11. Philippians 1:29, "FOR TO YOU IT HAS BEEN GRANTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE IN HIM, but also to suffer for his sake."
12. Romans 8:29-30, "FOR WHOM HE FOREKNEW, HE ALSO PREDESTINED to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
13. Ephesians 1:5, "HE PREDESTINED US to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."
14. Ephesians 1:11, "Also WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE, HAVING BEEN PREDESTINED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE who works all things after the counsel of His will."
15. 1 John 2:2, "and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
  1. Calvinists say that the "world" there is both Jew AND Gentiles, not just the Gentile nation. Jesus was sent to Israel, not the Jews (Matt. 15:24). Therefore, John is saying that Jesus is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
  2. Matt. 15:24, "But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
  3. Rom. 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
16. 1 John 2:4, "The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
  1. keeping his commandments is a result of knowing him....not a cause of it. Otherwise, that would be works righteousness teaching which is false.
Comments and Questions
1. OSAS:
  1. If you can lose your salvation, then what must you do to keep it? If you say stay faithful, then you keep your salvation by being good (believing God, is good). This means you take credit for your believing, yet God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29) and our believing is His work (John 6:28-29).
  2. For those who believe you can lose your salvation: Do you believe you can perish if you have eternal life? If so, then what about where Jesus said that those who have eternal life will never perish (John 10:28)?
2. God commands people to repent
  1. God commands people to repent and believe in Him because it is the right thing to do. Remember, God requires that we do what is right. Whether or not an unbeliever can or cannot repent and believe God doesn't negate the moral truth that they should. That is why God commands that we repent and believe.
    1. It is man who is deceitful (Jer. 17:9), full of evil (Mark 7:21-23), loves darkness (John 3:19), does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12), is ungodly (Rom. 5:6), dead in his sins (Eph. 2:1), by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3), cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14), and a slave of sin (Rom. 6:16-20).
    2. Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me."
    3. Acts 17:30, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent."
3. Would God ask us to something we cannot do like believe in Him when we can't?
  1. Yes, God would ask us to do something we cannot, doesn't God say, "Be holy, for I am holy," (1 Pet. 1:16)? It is right for God to command us to believe in Him (Ex. 20:1-3) because that is what all should do. We cannot be holy ourselves, yet God grants it to us in Christ. Likewise God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29) not of our own wills (John 1:13).
4. As a Calvinist
  1. Are you saying that Calvinists serve a false god? On what basis? Remember, God does predestine (Eph. 1:1-11), elects (Matt. 22:14; John 15:16; Eph. 1:4; Titus 1:1), and justify -- as Calvinists teach. Are you saying that these things are not of God?
  2. Are Calvinists Christians? If not, on what basis do you state that they are not?
  3. If Calvinists preach a false gospel, then how? They teach that Jesus died, was buried, and rose bodily from the dead per 1 Cor. 15:1-4. How is that a false gospel?
5. Foreknow
  1. Foreknow in Rom. 8:29 does not mean to know the future. It means TO KNOW IN A SALVIVIC WAY, (see John 10:28; Matt. 7:21-23; Gal. 4:8-9 for proof that God only "knows" believers, not unbelievers.) God says he ALSO predestines THE ONES who are foreknown (Rom. 8:29). They are the same group. The foreknown ARE ALSO the predestined.
6. Predestination
  1. Noah Websters 1828 Dictionary. Predestination. "The act of decreeing or foreordaining events; the decree of God by which he hath, from eternity, unchangeably appointed or determined whatever comes to pass. It is used particularly in theology to denote the preordination of men to everlasting happiness or misery."
  2. www.dictionary.com:
7. Misrepresentation:
  1. To say that I misrepresent Calvinism is an admission that the critics understand what I am saying and that it doesn't fit what they think that Calvinism really is. Yet, I am a Calvinist, trained on a graduate level in Calvinism. Therefore, who logically is most probably misrepresenting Calvinism...me or those who oppose it?
8. Responseability of the unbeliever
  1. The unbeliever CAN respond to God. His response will be in accordance to scripture that says he cannot do good, is a hater of God, is full of evil, etc., Therefore, we conclude that his free will response will be to reject God, according to the limits described by scripture itself.
9. Servetus
  1. Executions for heresy were common in Calvin's time..."after the Peasants' War in Germany, after the siege of Munster...In England 39 people were burned at the stake for heresy between 1547 and 1550...If one says that Calvin was in error in agreeing with the execution of heretics then why is there not equal indignation against all the other leaders who did the same thing?"
    1. from http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/issue02/c_vs_s.htm
  2. "Thomas Aquinas explicitly supported the burning of heretics saying, "If the heretic still remains pertinacious the church, despairing of his conversion, provides for the salvation of others by separating him from the church by the sentence of excommunication and then leaves him to the secular judge to be exterminated from the world by death." (Summa Theologiae, IIaIIae q. 11 a. 3)
    1. from http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/issue02/c_vs_s.htm
  3. Calvin went France to meet Servetus to try and convert him to the truth. But in Catholic France, Calvin would have been executed as a heretic, yet Calvin went there. So, Calvin risked his life to speak to Servetus.
  4. After Servetus was arrested, Calvin pleaded with the members of the council, if he is going to have to be put to death, don't burn him. It is too cruel. At least behead him. But, Servetus was executed on Oct. 26, 1553.
  5. Calvin didn't "have Servetus killed." He risked his own life by going to France to warn Servetus not to come to Geneva, yet Servetus did go there. Furthermore, it was the law of Geneva that heretics be killed. So, it was a lawful execution (Rom. 13:1-2). Also, Calvin was not the prosecutor in Geneva. He was only a witness.
  6. If Calvin had Servetus killed, how is that possible if Calvin had been previously banished from Geneva for three years. Therefore, he didn't have the power and authority to have anyone killed. Calvin was only a witness at Servetus' trial.

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