Doesn't that contradict the concept of "free will"?
Where’d the concept of free will come from? Because it’s sure not found in Scripture.
Is God obligated to give man free reign to run his life as he chooses?
God has two claims of ownership on man.
One is as his Creator, and the other as his Redeemer.
The person who has surrendered his life to God is not his own any more. He was bought with a price and now belongs to God. He has transferred ownership of himself to the RIGHTFUL owner, God, instead of usurping that.
And there is no free will, really. It’s not found anywhere in Scripture. On the contrary, according to Scripture, we are all sold as slaves to sin by our choice to sin, or we are slaves to God, when He redeems us.
People like to think that they are free and independent entities, autonomous individuals, but nothing is further from the truth. Without God’s sustaining us, even the unbeliever, we could not even draw our next breath.
This point you make and the responses to it are quite fascinating to me and, while I know I'm fairly ignorant, I didn't know how ignorant I am until this post.
At the risk of getting my account here suspended, which of the three branches of Christianity, Orthodox, Catholic and the various factions of Protestants, believe in "Free Will" and which do not?
Thanks