Thanks for the reply.
God does not remove from any man anything. Man has the "free will " left to them by Adam .
What we do know is that dead men can not choose life. That life has to be given to them .
So God Quickens the man dead in sin and He is born again. Once that happens that man will desire Christ, He will choose to repent and believe. His will is no longer in bondage to the sin of Adam...
The atonement is limited to the elect .
I'm still getting hung up on how "dead men can not choose life" seems to contradict "Man has the 'free will' left to them by Adam."
Does the "free will" left to Adam merely mean freedom to sin, and only sin? Then, is that freedom?
I'm not really suggesting man would ever seek or choose God on his own. But, perhaps the quickening is the grace of restoring the man so that he does have a choice to seek or choose God. But if that is irresistable, it seems like we've lost free will again.
Yes, the atonement is limited to the elect... sounds like a tautology. I don't believe in universalism - that everyone on the planet was saved by Christ, regardless of their choice to follow Jesus or not.
Thank you for your patience.
I'm still getting hung up on how "dead men can not choose life" seems to contradict "Man has the 'free will' left to them by Adam."
Does the "free will" left to Adam merely mean freedom to sin, and only sin? Then, is that freedom?
I'm not really suggesting man would ever seek or choose God on his own. But, perhaps the quickening is the grace of restoring the man so that he does have a choice to seek or choose God. But if that is irresistable, it seems like we've lost free will again. Let me answer your question with a question.
What happend right after the fall?
Did Adam and Eve seek out God to repent and confess?
God told them if they ate the fruit from the tree they would die immediately..was God telling the truth?
Man does indeed have the free will left to him from Adam, but as you have observed it is a will in bondage able only to choose from degrees of evil.
I'm not really suggesting man would ever seek or choose God on his own. But, perhaps the quickening is the grace of restoring the man so that he does have a choice to seek or choose God. But if that is irresistable, it seems like we've lost free will again.
Yes, man would never choose God on his own without the grace of God.
Would you see that as a general grace given to all men? Then we must ask why then do not all men respond to that grace? Is an equal amount given to all men , or more to some than others?
If it is Gods will that all men without exception be saved, then why did He not give all men enough grace to overcome their resistance?
Sorry I tend to answer questions with questions..kind of a "what shall we say then..." approach:>)