Okay, so if the Will itself is not free, by your own admission, what is the "free" agent that makes Will make its decision for Christ? I did not say that the will is not free. But as with all freedoms, it has its limitations. Being able to accept or reject the Gospel of Christ is not one of those limitations. God grants sufficient grace to men to make a knowing decision and allows them the free will to do it. It does not diminish God's sovereignty if he sovereignly grants to men that ability. He gives men the ability to do lots of things. How does that subtract from his sovereignty?
I did not say that the will is not free. But as with all freedoms, it has its limitations. Being able to accept or reject the Gospel of Christ is not one of those limitations. God grants sufficient grace to men to make a knowing decision and allows them the free will to do it. It does not diminish God's sovereignty if he sovereignly grants to men that ability. He gives men the ability to do lots of things. How does that subtract from his sovereignty?You can claim that God gives men the grace to make a "knowing decision" (although your claim is in conflict with Scripture, which declares: "1 Corinthians 2: 14 -- But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."). You can claim that Man has a free will for the making of decisions (no objection from this corner).
All of which does the Arminian System not a bit of good, as the Bible remains ADAMANT that so long as a Man remains Spiritually Dead, that Man will always Reject God (Romans 8:5-8) -- for he still hates God, and so rejecting God is what he wants to do.
As long as a Man remains Spiritually Dead, he will always reject God. This is the nature of Spiritual Death, according to the Bible.
Now, I have a question: it seems to me that the Arminians think it fundamentally "unfair" that Scripture commands all men everywhere to Repent, when at the same time Scripture teaches us that no man ever will Repent unless he is first Regenerated by the Holy Spirit. So here is my question:
- God commands all men everywhere to obey the Law of God perfectly. Yet even the Arminian will admit that NO man who comes into the world in an Unregenerate state (which is all men except Jesus) will ever obey the Law of God perfectly -- Unregenerate Men are 100% certain to commit Sin, and indeed they enter the world with one Sin (Original Sin) already upon their account! Yet the Arminian does not think it "unfair" that God commands all men everywhere to obey the Law of God perfectly -- even though He knows that, being Unregenerate, they will not!!
- So if God is not "unfair" to command all men everywhere to obey the Law of God perfectly -- even though He knows that, being Spiritually Dead, they will not obey; why, then, do Arminians consider it "unfair" of God to command all men everywhere to Believe on Jesus and Repent unto Him -- even though He knows that, while they remain Spiritually Dead, they certainly will not Believe and Repent??
Anybody have an answer for me?