[InterestedQuestioner]

"We are not spoken to in the Bible as if we were pawns, but as free agents who will be faced with the consequences of our choices."

We agree that man has free will. To follow up on that:

"Once they are reborn, they have a new nature and they have the Spirit of God living within their hearts - literally."......"God is the originator and sustainer of our salvation....."

In your view, PM, how is it that humans continue to sin after being reborn?

[PetroniusMaximus]

*** In your view, PM, how is it that humans continue to sin after being reborn?***

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The believer is dual-natured --- old nature & new nature. The old nature, or "old man" is just as sinful as it ever was. The new nature is a new creation. It is a result of the new birth and desires the things of God. It is by the power of the Spirit that the new nature overpowers the old.