[HarleyD]

* Here is a point for you: Joshua told the people “choose you this day whom you will serve.” That’s Free Will

If one was to give an altar call at church, they certainly wouldn't say, "Will all the elect come forward." Same with Joshua. He knew the people of Israel would fall away. It was predicted back in Deutoronomy 31 with Moses instructions to Joshua.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. 16 The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ 18 But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.

Joshua was simply telling the people who he was going to serve. Joshua's heart was changed. So, in fairness were many of the Israelites that crossed over the Jordan. But it wasn't their doing. God told the rebellious Israelites that they would die in the wilderness and He would bring their children into the Promise Land.
Numbers 14:30 Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.

The children God brought in. They didn't have a choice.

John 3:16 presents all people with a Free Will choice: {1} Choose to perish or {2} Choose Eternal Life Again Free Will.

As far as John 3:16, this is often one of the most abused passages in scripture for people fail to read the entire text.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

From the entire text God loves the world but man will not come to Him because it will expose his sinfulness. Just like Adam hiding in the garden after he transgressed God's command. Keep these two things in mind, 1) God really, really loves us and wants to walk among us, and 2) men really hate God and want nothing to do with Him because He will show just how corrupt we are. That is the nature of God and man, and is what John 3:16-21 tells us. We like to think of the first while ignoring the second simply because we don't want to admit our sinfulness. In order for God to be partakers of our lives, God has to cleanse us and change our hearts to desire to have fellowship with Him. That is how wonderful this truth is.

A companion to John 3:16-21 is Ephesians 2:

2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

* “Behold I satand at the door and knock”___The Lord Jesus This again is Free Will. This presents you with a choice: {1} Choose to open the door or {2} Choose to refuse to open the door. Free Will.

One can make a choice. And people do every day. But it isn't a "free" choice. Satan has bound our hearts. People (as shown in John 3) are not going to open the door unless God does it because we love to sin. But just as Noah preached for 120 years all the while building an ark that would only hold 8 people, God constantly calls people knowing that most people will not come.

If one don't believe me, just stand out on a street corner and tell people they need to repent and come to Christ to be saved. See how many will make a "free choice". Stats says they have a 50/50 chance of selecting the right path. I seriously doubt one will convert that many people.

[JAG 5000]

HarleyD,

* Thanks for your post.

* This issue has been argued back and forth
for 2000 years.

* This issue is argued back and forth on the Internet
every day.

* I expect that every day on the Internet there
are millions of words Copyed and Pasted into threads
by both sides of this issue.

* I have seen threads where it looked like 80%
of Bible Gateway AND Bible Hub had been Copyed
and Pasted into the thread.

* I encourage you to continue to present your case
in support of your personal views on this subject.

* You have a difference emphasis than I have.

* The Internet has presented a situation where
there is no need to even “raise an eyebrow”
when one encounters a different viewpoint.

* That means there are probably hundreds of
thousands of articles both FOR and AGAINST
what you believe.

* Those articles are at everybody’s fingertips.
One click and you have it right in front of you.

_____________

In another vein , , ,

* Its reasonably certain that I have a very much
different view of PRESENT DAY Christendom than
you do.

* Its reasonably certain that I have a very-much
different view of THE FUTURE of Christendom than
you do.

* I believe in a bright cheerful optimistic view
of the Christian future.

* I believe that the Lord’s Great Commission to His
Christian Church will be successfully carried out
by His Christian Church, through the power of the
Holy Spirit working through the Biblical gospel
message.

* That the Christian Church will actually go and
make disciples of all nations.

* The Lord Jesus will have dominion.

Christ “shall have dominion from sea to sea”
Psalm 72:8

“The whole earth will be filled with His glory”
Psalm 72:19

“All nations will call Him blessed”
Psalm 72:17

“The gospel is the power of God unto salvation”
Romans 1:16

* The Lord Jesus really meant it, when He told His
Christin Church to “go and make disciples of all
the nations” Matthew 28:19

Victory!

The Lord Jesus will have Vivtory!

Best.

JAG

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