Posted on 10/02/2021 6:57:25 AM PDT by JAG 5000
What We Believe CAN Be Consciously Chosen.
By JAG
October 2, 2021
"We cannot consciously choose what we believe."__ Internet Poster
The Bible specifically contradicts and repudiates that claim.
Christendom's core Bible verse, John 3:16, assumes that humans can choose what they believe. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." We CAN choose to believe that John 3:16 is the truth and get the gift of eternal life ~ or we can choose not to believe John 3:16 is true and get John 3:16's perish.
"choose you this day" , , ,
"And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15
This also involved consciously choosing what one would believe. There was a set of beliefs behind them choosing to serve the Lord.
Human Sin and the desire to protect that sin and to continue to sin, is the father of the notion that beliefs cannot be consciously chosen.
When a person allows themselves to believe that beliefs cannot be consciously chosen that means they can say to themselves: "Hey I have no control over what I choose to believe, therefore I will NOT repent of my sins and believe in God because I know that doing that would require me to give up my sinning." Here we can list our your most enjoyable sins that we want to hang on to.
Believing that beliefs cannot be consciously chosen will allow us to keep on enjoying our favorite sins ~ and THIS, at bottom, is what UNBELIEF is all about and has ALWAYS been about.
Free Will is heavily assumed throughout the Bible and the entire Bible is written on the assumption that beliefs CAN be consciously chosen, and in fact one's eternal destiny is based upon what one chooses to believe.
Thoughts?
JAG
There’s also a secular case for the same point! :)
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want these people to believe God is NOT an angry old white guy with a head of long white disheveled hair and a scraggly, long white beard who rides around on a cloud shaped like a horse while carrying a lightning bolt in the shape of a harpoon looking for the creatures he formed to skewer them and roast them over a bed of hot coals for all eternity because they missed a tithe or repaired their leaky roof on the Sabbath??? What if everybody thought God loves them and forgives them for their misdeeds? THEN how would we squeeze money out of them? Crucify Him!"
“There’s also a secular case for the same point! :)”
Absolutely!
The problem is that most people are unaware of what they believe. If you were to ask them to tell you succinctly what they believed about the world and especially human nature, most would have trouble coming up with an answer.
They have beliefs, but are totally unaware of what they are so they’ve never taken the time to examine them and determine whether those beliefs conform with reality and whether they best serve their interests.
They’re especially unaware that they can change those beliefs if they are not serving them well.
A book that addresses these issues very well is “Awaken the Giant Within” by Tony Robbins. Well worth the read.
These scriptures command choice and growth:
Make your calling and election sure. 2 Peter 1:10
Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Acts 2:40
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
If we walk in the light… 1 John 1:7
A Day of Judgment logically requires choice.
There is God’s Truth or our acceptance of false truths.
We may not fully understand God’s Truth, but having faith in God requires us to believe all of God’s revealed truths.
God has endowed us with reason and free will and a sense of responsibility. We can choose to follow God’s will or the ways of the world.
The angels faced an immediate decision to accept God or reject Him. We, on the other hand, have our whole life to form our conscience and put it into practice.
John 3:16 is just one verse of God’s Truth and we need to accept and believe all of God’s Truth.
John 1: 1-5 “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God”. “In him was life.”
So we also need to accept John 6:47-58 “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Even when faith seems gone, when your soul is crying out, “Where are you, God? Are you even there at all?” you can still keep faith, by obeying God. “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Sam 15:22
Even in the dark night, even when you can not sense God at all, you can still choose Him, and refuse the spirit of the age and your own weakness.
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