JAG**

Laugh Out Loud , , , ,"I will sit back and see what happens"____Justin Adams You can expect huge Data Dumps from favorite "end times" web sites and possibly 1/2 of Bible Gateway and Bible Hub put up here in this thread. /Big Grin ___________ I doubt this thread will reduce the number of books and videos on You Tube, but you never know? , , , LOL , , , ___________ Thanks for your comments Justin. I might just sit back myself, and see what happens. This thread may die still born, you never know. But it is a very interesting subject and I hope it makes a contribution to further personal study -- this was my main motive in writing the Opening Post and the follow-up posts --- not so much to argue about it -- but rather to encourage personal study of the subject. For example, anyone interested in a personal study can start here: The Millennium by Dr. Loraine Boettner 410 pages Best. JAG

Dr. Benjamin B. Warfield, one of Christendom's most accomplished and distinguished theologians, provided 3 helpful insights on John's antichrists. {1} John takes his antichrists out of the future and puts them into the present time of the 1st Century. See below where 1 John 2:18 1 John 2:22 1 John 4:3 2 John 7 , , , are quoted. ______________ {2} John expands his antichrists from being one individual to being a multitude {"many antichrists"} 1 John 2:18-19 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. __________________ {3} John reduces his antichrists from being only a person to being a heresy, that is to say, a heretical movement of the 1st Century 1 John 4:1-6 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood." _____________ 1 John 2:22-23 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 2 John 7 "I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist 1 John 2:18 and 1 John 4:1-6 and 1 John 2:22-23 and 2 John 7 describes a 1st Century heretical movement, and does NOT predict any future antichrist. ___________ There are no BIBLE VERSES that connect John's antichrists to any other part of the Bible. Any connection made is pure interpretative speculation. JAG

There Is No Bible-Verse Evidence That Connects the "Beast" of the book of Revelation with John's antichrists in John's epistles. Who Was The Beast Of the Book Of Revelation? _________________ {The following was taken from He Shall Have Dominion. by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. It is not a word for word quote but the substance of this below is Dr. Gentry's. I typed it in. It is not on the web. Footnote at the bottom} _________________ Who Was The Beast Of Revelation? Start quote. The Beast is a well known Christian Eschatological character. Premillennialists incorrectly believe that the Beast is to appear in the future. This is false. The Beast was a 1st Century character that appeared in the 1st Century and will never appear again in human history. The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. The Time Of The Beast. John clearly expects his prophesied events to take place in his day, the 1st Century. John writes: "The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place." Revelation 1:1 "Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near" Revelation 22:10 "must soon take place" "the time is near" In light of Revelation's significance to its first-century audience, the Beast must be someone relevant to that first-century audience. "The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." Revelation 1:1-4 “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Rev. 1:11 {These were churches of the 1st century that received this letter of Revelation and the warnings about the "Beast" were addressed to THOSE 1st Century churches who had to deal with the "Beast" who was a 1st Century evil character that was to do harm to THEM.} _____________________ Revelation 13 presents the Beast as a horrible and powerful foe attempting to destroy God's people. Sometimes Revelation presents the Beast as a kingdom and sometimes as an individua leader of that kingdom. In some places the Beast has seven heads which are seven kings collectively considered. In Revelation 13:1 John notes that he saw a Beast coming up out of the sea having 10 horns and seven heads. Revelation 17:10 specifically says that the seven heads represent seven kings. Thus the Beast is presented as a kingdom. But kingdoms have representatives. This is why John also speaks of the Beast as an individual. John urges his readers to calculate the number of the Beast which is the number of a man Revelation 13:18 The Beast's General Identity is the first-century Roman Empire and NOT a "revived Roman Empire" as imagined by Dispensationalism. According to Revelation 17:9 the Beast's seven heads represent "seven mountains." The seven mountains symbolize Rome. Rome is the one city in history distinguished and recognized by its seven mountains. ___________________ The Beast's Specific Identify. The Beast in his personal identity is Nero Caesar. He and he alone fits the bill as the personal and specific expression of the Beast. This vile character fulfills all the requirements of the text of Revelation. First the number of the Beast. In Revelation 13:18 the number of the Beast is 666. The usefulness of this number lies in the fact that in the first-century alphabets serve as both phonetic symbols and as arithmetical values. Significantly a common spelling of Nero Caesar's name is Nrwn Qsr, which provides the numerical value of 666 Second the Textual Variant. See Dr. Gentry's book for this explanation. Page 381 Third the Beastly Image. Revelation 13 both calls and portrays the one behind the 666 riddle as a "beast.". The term "beast" can easily symbolize persons with a beastly nature. Almost all scholars agree that Nero Caesar possessed a beastly nature.. Nero Caesar is even hated and feared by his own countrymen, as ancient Roman historians agree. The pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, a contemporary of Nero Caesar, calls him a "beast." Fourth, the war with the saints. John's Beast will make war with the saints and overcome them.{Rev. 13:7} In fact Nero Caesar conducts a blasphemous war with the saints for a specific period of 42 months {Rev. 13:5} Nero begins his persecution of Christians in A.D. 64. The persecution finally ends when Nero Caesar dies on June 8, A.D.68 forty-two months later, but for a few days. {Point of interest: Nero's own end comes by the sword.} Conclusion: The Beast of Revelation was the beastly Nero Caesar of the 1st Century. End quote. Source He Shall Have Dominion by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. pages 379 - 381

There is no Bible-Verse evidence that connects the "man of sin" mentioned in 2 Thess. 2 to John's antichrists in John's epistles. Many orthodox Bible believing Christian scholars disagree that there is to be a future "man of sin." Many reputable orthodox Bible believing born again Christian scholars identify the "man of sin" mentioned in 2 Thess. 2 as Paul referring to Nero Caesar who lived in the first century. Christendom has not settled on who the "man of sin" was. There is NOT a Christian consensus that the "man of sin" refers to a future individual who will appear in the end times. Regarding Paul's mention of the "man of sin" 2 Thess 2 is a very difficult passage to interpret: Start quote. We come now to another difficult eschatological passage, one rivaling Daniel 9 in the intensity of its interpretative controversy: 2 Thessalonians 2. This famous passage contains Paul's reference to the "man of lawlessness" (Nestle's text) or "man of sin" (Majority text.) Scholars note this passage's exceptional difficulty. Augustine writes regarding a certain portion of the passage: "I confess that I am entirely ignorant of what he means to say." New Testament Greek scholar Vincent omits interpreting the passage in his four volume lexical commentary: "I attempt no interpretation of this passage as a whole, which I do not understand." Renowned Greek linguist A. T. Robertson despairs of the task of interpreting this passage because it is "in such vague form that we can hardly clear it up." Leon Morris urges "care" in handling this "notoriously difficult passage." F.F. Bruce notes that "there are few New Testament passages that can boast such a variety of interpretations as this." Even some Dispensationalists admit that it is "an extremely puzzling passage of Scripture that has been a thorn in the flesh of many an expositor." End quote. Source: He Shall Have Dominion by Dr. Kenneth Gentry, page386 _________________ So? So one might "go slow" in claiming certainty with regard to interpreting 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 Gentry concludes "that the "man of lawlessness" was Nero Caesar, who was also the "beast" of Revelation." --- and he presents his arguments to support his conclusion. Dr. Kenneth Gentry makes a very convincing argument that the "man of sin" was Nero Caesar who persecuted the Christians of the first century. JAG

Some more thoughts on There Is No Bible-Verse Argument For A Future Antichrist. The antichrists mentioned in John's epistles were in John NEAR FUTURE and NOT in John's FAR OFF FUTURE. Pure speculation about John's "future" yet to come antichrist is NOT a COMPELLING argument because the Biblical text nowhere in John's epistles gives any indication that John was saying that the antichrist was in John's FAR OFF FUTURE. That means that John's antichrist appeared in John's NEAR FUTURE and in fact John's epistles clearly support the NEAR FUTURE interpretation. Evidence to support the NEAR FUTURE interpretation is the clear statements in John's epistles that certainly and COMPELLINGLY identify John's antichrists as JOHN'S PRESENT DAY Christian apostates. John clearly said the following about them, and about his present time of the first century: (1) "this is the last hour" (written over 2000 years ago and clearly not a reference to the year 2020) "this is the last hour" is a clear reference to the time when John wrote that, namely the first century. (2) "even NOW many antichrists have come." (John's antichrist were there in the first century) (3) "they went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" In (3) up there John is clearly speaking about his time of the first century and clearly does NOT have reference to some future time period. So? So the Bible is CLEAR that John's antichrists were first century Christian apostates. JAG

Says Dr. Loraine Boettner ". . . not one single reference in Daniel or Ezekiel or Paul or the Book of Revelation . . . which (some) allege refer to the Antichrist is connected in any way with the verses in the epistles of John that mention the antichrist. All is based on inference. Let the reader search for himself and see how far-fetched that (alleged) connection is. We make bold to say that this picture of Antichrist as a (future) world ruler . . . is pure fiction, without so much as one clear supporting verse in all Scripture." The Millennium, Dr. Loraine Boettner, page 210 The Bible mentions Antichrist in only the following 4 verses: 1 John 2:18 1John 2:22 1 John 4:3 2 John 7 There is no Bible-Verse argument for a future Antichrist because . . . . There is no Bible-Verse argument that connects these 4 verses with anything said in Daniel or Ezekiel or Paul or the Book of Revelation. For example: There is no evidence that the "man of sin" or the "man of lawlessness" mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:3 is connected in any way with the antichrists mentioned in the 4 verses in John's epistles. Also note the following from John's epistles that mention antichrist: (1) Antichrist is applied to many persons existing in the first century 1 John 2:18 "even now has there arisen many antichrists" In the next verse, 1 John 2:19, John identifies the antichrists as first century Christian apostates "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us." (2) In 1 John 2:22 the antichrist is identified as those who deny the Father and the Son. "This is the antichrist, even he that denies the Father and the Son." The antichrists were first century apostates. (3) In 1 John 4:3 the antichrist is identified as every one who does not acknowledge Jesus. It is then said that antichrist "even now is already in the world" (of the first century). (4) 2 John 7 says that the antichrist is many deceivers that have gone out in the world (of the first century.) Therefore this verse says that there are many antichrists, not just one antichrist. What say you?

The passage you referenced, 2 Thess. 2:1-3, mentions the "man of lawlessness" See below. Do you wish to discuss who this "man of lawlessness" was? Or are you not interested in that subject and do not wish to discuss it? _____________ "concerning the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us-whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter-asserting that the day of the LORD has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." ___2 Thes 2:1-3

Thanks for your comments. You wrote: "We need to dispense with the dogmas and categories of the Calvinist -Arminian dichotomy. Both are flawed and adherence to either means limiting God to man's perception and concepts."___Michael My Opening Post has got nothing to do with Calvinism or Arminianism. My Opening Post does NOT mention the dogmas and categories of the Calvinist -Armenian dichotomy. ______________ You quoted me as follows in the bolded red. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am not an Armenian. I never said I was was an Armenian."___JAG I wrote that in reply to a poster, a gentlemen named Ronald Bruno who accused me of being an Armenian. I merely wrote back and said what you quoted me as saying, in order to correct his mistake. JAG

I have no idea what you are talking about. I am not an Armenian. I never said I was was an Armenian. You continue to make points that My Opening Post does not deny. You continue to make points that has zero to do with my Opening Post. I never said that I acted independently of God. Where did you get that from? My Opening Post does not say that. You are reading into my Opening Post ideas that are NOT in my Opening Post. We have Free Will. I gave you many Bible verses that teach clearly that we have Free Will. You can re-name Free Will and call it Volitional Agency but it is still Free Will. A rose by another name is still a rose. You are attributing views and positions to me that I have NOT said I hold. John 7:17 "Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." A clear and solid Bible verses that teaches Free Will __________________ Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." ____________ Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to open the door. ___________________ John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Assumes that the person hearing this will use their Free Will to choose to believe on the Lord Jesus and receive eternal life. ________________ The people who recently committed the following sins and crimes used their Free Will to choose to do these sins and crimes. To claim they used their "Volitional Agency" is nothing but playing a "word game." You are re-naming Free Will and calling it by another name. If you can do that, then I can do that too. I can re-name Volitional Agency and call it Free Will. Looting of stores Burning police cars Rioting in the streets Throwing bricks through store front windows Shooting police officers __________ The word "evil" means "disaster" and does not men sin. "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.___Isaiah 45:7 NIV Bible Gateway has 57 different English translations of Isaiah 45:7 and none of them translate it like this: "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create SIN; I, the LORD, do all these things." So? So Isaiah 45:7 is not saying that God causes men to choose to commit sins. _______________ And my dialogue between Henry and The Judge still stands true and unrefuted in the point that it made. HENRY AND THE JUDGE: HENRY: Yes Your Honor it is true that I robbed that bank and killed those 3 bank tellers, however Your Honor I am NOT primarily responsible for robbing that bank and killing those 3 bank tellers because Ronald Bruno told me about Isaiah 45:7 that says it is God that created all things and so Your Honor it is God that is primarily responsible and not me. Your Honor, Ronald Bruno reports that in Isaiah 45:7 the New King James Version says that "I the LORD . . .create evil" so Your Honor me and my Free Will is NOT primarily responsible for me robbing that bank and killing those 3 bank tellers THE JUDGE: Thank you so much for explaining all that to me. I fully understand and case dismissed. HENRY: Thank you so much Your Honor, for dismissing my case. I am glad I do not have to go to jail. You can claim that Henry up there did not use his Free Will to rob that bank and murder those 3 bank tellers but the fact is that he DID use his Free Will to do that --- and you re-naming Henry's Free Will and calling it Volitional Agency is not gong to change the reality that Henry's used his Free Will to rob that bank and murder those 3 bank tellers. JAG

You're welcome. JAG

Josheb, thanks for posting that. Your post deserves a careful thoughtful consideration. I enlarged it so it would be easier to read. Some eyes have a little age on them. Best. JAG ``

Thank you David for your comments and for your contribution to the thread. JAG

Thanks for your comments Michael. Christian Apologists have written books defending the God of the Bible from the attacks made against Him be atheists because of such as the Imprecatory Psalms. One such book was written by as associate of William Lane Craig, named Paul Copan. He wrote "Is God A Moral Monster: Making Sense Of The Old Testament God." Paul Copan defends the God of the Bible against attacks made against Him by atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, the late Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Matt Dillahunty. amazon has it. 200 pages Best. JAG ``

Thanks for the comment.

Hello Marilyn, Thank you and thanks for the comment. JAG

I have no idea what YOU mean by your use of the word "free." What did you decide about this? Ronald are we agreed on this below? The word "evil" means "disaster" and does not men sin. "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.___Isaiah 45:7 NIV Bible Gateway has 57 different English translations of Isaiah 45:7 and none of them translate it like this: "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create SIN; I, the LORD, do all these things." So? So Isaiah 45:7 is not saying that God causes men to choose to commit sins. My view is that Isaiah 45:7 teaches that God brings disaster and calamity upon men for His good purposes and reasons. Some of His reasons might be to punish men for their sins. At other times He might bring disaster on His believers in order to purify them or sanctify them or to teach them valuable lessons. Best JAG

"All the scriptures you give speak of choosing right from wrong." ___Ronald Bruno Your phrase "speak of choosing right from wrong" is just another way of saying humans have Free Will, but you previously told me that humans do NOT have Free Will. Then we have human Free Will. I do NOT deny that He chose us first. I do NOT deny that He predestined us and called us and that we responded willingly. I do NOT deny that. The Opening Post does NOT deny that. You are continually making points that I do NOT deny and the Opening Post does NOT deny. I do NOT deny that. There is nothing in the Opening Post that denies that. I do NOT deny that. The Opening Post does NOT deny that. You continue to make points that nobody is challenging. Its almost as if you are arguing with yourself I do NOT deny that. The Opening Post does NOT deny that. You continue to make points that nobody is challenging. Its almost as if you are arguing with yourself You tell me you are "sorry" but you are not a Calvinist and not an Armenian. I have no idea why you would tell me that. I have NOT said one word about Calvinism or Armenianism. The Opening Post is NOT on those issues. My view is that you are "reading into" the Opening Post a LARGE number of ideas and subjects that are NOT in the Opening Post. You continue to make points that nobody is challenging. Which is okay if you want to do that. Its not a problem. The Opening Post does NOT take a position on that. The Calvinist vs. Armenian controversy has NOTHING to do with my Opening Post. My Opening Post asserts that God is NOT responsible for the evil in the world, rather human beings ARE responsible. The word "evil" in my thread title means sin. My Opening Post does NOT assert or even imply that man is Sovereign and God is not. ___________________ These 3 Bible verses clearly and boldly teach human Free Will. John 7:17 "Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." A clear and solid Bible verses that teaches Free Will ___________________ Deuteronomy 30:19-20 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." A clear and solid Bible verse that presents the Biblical truth of human Free Will. This verse alone is enough to settle this issue __________________________ Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." _________________ Ronald are we agreed on this below? The word "evil" means "disaster" and does not men sin. "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.___Isaiah 45:7 NIV Bible Gateway has 57 different English translations of Isaiah 45:7 and none of them translate it like this: "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create SIN; I, the LORD, do all these things." So? So Isaiah 45:7 is not saying that God causes men to choose to commit sins. My view is that Isaiah 45:7 teaches that God brings disaster and calamity upon men for His good purposes and reasons. Some of His reasons might be to punish men for their sins. At other times He might bring disaster on His believers in order to purify them or sanctify them or to teach them valuable lessons. Best. JAG

JAG Writes: Speculation: Regarding The Children Drowned in The Genesis Flood: What follows in this post is pure 100% speculation and is NOT presented as an argument or as being factually true. What follows is nothing more than me speculating on what might have happened. What follows carries no weight whatsoever. Here we go: We know that God is merciful and that He loves the human race and sent His Son the Lord Jesus to die on a cruel cross to pay for the sins of the human race so they could be redeemed. 1 John 4:16 "God is love." John 3:16 "for God so loved the world" So on Christian doctrine God loves the world. And therefore it is reasonable to speculate on what this God who loves the world, might have done for those children during The Great Flood. We do not know what God does in the unseen world. Maybe God took the souls of the children out of their bodies before they drowned in The Great Flood, so they did not have to endure the agony of being drowned. If God did not do that, then maybe He gave the children special grace to bear the drowning so that it was not a horrifying experience for them If neither of the above is true, then the children experienced about 8 to 12 minutes of drowning agony, after which they found themselves in the eternal happiness of Heaven. On Christian doctrine God saves the souls of all children who have not reached the age of moral accountability (whatever age that is). Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Why so? Because He takes them into Heaven to be with Him for all eternity. God Bless. JAG ``

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Thanks for the quote. How do you like these two quotes? “I am an atheist, but as far as blowing up the world in a nuclear war goes, I tell them not to worry.”___Fred Hoyle https://www.goodreads.com/author/quo...992.Fred_Hoyle` Said the atheist Fred Hoyle: "Would you not say to yourself, "Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind forces of nature would be utterly minuscule. A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question." — Fred Hoyle[19] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_H...ucleosynthesis

Ronald thank you for your comments. You and I are talking about two different things. _______________ "So where are the dozens of other scriptures?___Ronald Bruno Here below are a few Bible verses that teach human Free Will. Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." The assumption is that the readers will use their Free Will to choose not to indulge the flesh, but will choose to serve one another in love. ___________________ John 7:17 "Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." A clear and solid Bible verses that teaches Free Will __________________ Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." ____________ Mark 8:34 "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Assumes that the listeners would use their Free Will to choose to take up their cross and follow the Lord Jesus __________________ Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to open the door. _____________ John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Assumes that the person hearing this will use their Free Will to choose to believe on the Lord Jesus and receive eternal life. ________________ Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die." Assumes the truth of human Free Will. This is clear and solid. Adam and Eve had a Free Will choice to either obey God or disobey God. They used their Free Will to choose to disobey God. This is crucial to the entire Bible narrative. __________________________ Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to turn away from sin. It cannot be denied that Paul was calling upon his readers to use their Free Will to choose to turn away from sin. ______________ Galatians 5:16-17 "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to walk by the Spirit, and to turn away from what is contrary to the Spirit. _____________________ Deuteronomy 30:19-20 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." A clear and solid Bible verse that presents the Biblical truth of human Free Will. This verse alone is enough to settle this issue __________________________ Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" Assumes the truth of human Free Will and calls upon the wicked to use their Free Will to choose to forsake their evil ways and to use their Free Will to turn to God. __________________ Ezekiel 18:30-32 "Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 3For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!" Assumes the truth of human Free Will. Clear and solid. Not refutable. God calls upon these people to use their human Free Will to "turn away" from sin and to "rid yourselves" of their sins. ___________________________ Romans 13:2 "Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Assumes the truth of human Free Will. The Bible verse calls upon the readers to use their human Free Will to choose to obey the lawful commands of the government. __________________ Romans 10:9-10 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is LORD," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Assumes human Free Will and calls upon the readers to use their human Free Will to choose to believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior

Agreed.

Agreed.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." A clear and solid Bible verse that presents the Biblical truth of human Free Will. This verse alone is enough to settle this issue __________________________ Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" Assumes the truth of human Free Will and calls upon the wicked to use their Free Will to choose to forsake their evil ways and to use their Free Will to turn to God. __________________ Ezekiel 18:30-32 "Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 3For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!" Assumes the truth of human Free Will. Clear and solid. Not refutable. God calls upon these people to use their human Free Will to "turn away" from sin and to "rid yourselves" of their sins. ___________________________ Romans 13:2 "Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Assumes the truth of human Free Will. The Bible verse calls upon the readers to use their human Free Will to choose to obey the lawful commands of the government. __________________ Romans 10:9-10 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is LORD," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Assumes human Free Will and calls upon the readers to use their human Free Will to choose to believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior JAG

Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die." Assumes the truth of human Free Will. This is clear and solid. Adam and Eve had a Free Will choice to either obey God or disobey God. They used their Free Will to choose to disobey God. This is crucial to the entire Bible narrative. __________________________ Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to turn away from sin. It cannot be denied that Paul was calling upon his readers to use their Free Will to choose to turn away from sin. ______________ Galatians 5:16-17 "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Assumes that the readers will use their Free Will to choose to walk by the Spirit, and to turn away from what is contrary to the Spirit. _____________________ More coning , , ,