Where in the Bible does it say man has free will?

lovelylil

I was doing some research on another topic and this scripural point kept coming up - Jesus said "no one comes to me unless the father who sent me draws him" This word draw means to "entice" or "attract". In light of this statement, does this mean we actually do not have free will to decide to serve Christ? For it says we cannot do so unless drawn by God. Wouldn't this negate the whole "free will" idea of the Watchtower? Lilly

Warlock

lil

I've thought about that also. The place in the Bible where I remember the eternal life is open to anyone who wants it, is Revelation 22:17 where it states "anyone that wishes, take life's water free".

Warlock

Gopher

In the account of the birth of twin boys Jacob and Esau, father Isaac is quoted prophesying that the younger one would have God's favor.

Going by the Bible says, God would have a foreknowledge of how things turn out for individual humans, as to whether they would have his favor or not.

So the fact that God is shown to have foreknowledge contradicts the idea that anyone is given free will by God.

Just a thought.

By_Blood_Immortal

This is not true. God has knowledge of what is going to happen, does not mean he causes it. that is part of the arguement of "Predestination vs. Freewill".

Both sides recgonize that one way or the other, God knows what is going to happen. Free will because of foreknowledge, him knowing but not causing, and Predestination because God caused all those things to happen.

rebel8

Free will, IMO, requires that a person can freely change his/her mind about anything at a moment's notice.

Being able to predict that an embryo--whose brain isn't developed and who hasn't had the benefit of life experiences to develop attitudes--will take one course of action or the other makes no sense at all. It isn't possible to predict that.

Whether someone chooses the "right" path or not depends upon observing what the person does when the choice is presented to him.

Warlock

But what about lovley lil's initial point? No one comes to the Father unless he/she is DRAWN by the Father. That is a quandry, considering there are thoughts in the Bible that support the idea and some that conflict with the idea. This was a conflict in my mind and continues to be when someone reminds me of it.

Warlock

By_Blood_Immortal

just to let you know, I believe in predestination. I was just telling you that your point was invalid.

By_Blood_Immortal

first of all God does not "predict". Predict means to make an educated guess. God does not guess he knows. Second, nonody said anything about God judging unborn babies. But for the sake of argument. Seeing as how God knows omniscient, assuming you even believe in God because, quite frankly, I have no idea what you believe, He knows EVERYTHING. He is not confined to what has happened and what will happen, He knows what could have happened, and what would have happened had somebody made a different choice. For example, had that mother not gotten an abortion this baby would have... God knows what they would have done had they been given an opportunity.

Star Moore

Hi Lil,

What about the idea, that many are called, but few are chosen?

I think God draws us, or calls us, or chooses us. But that when he does call us, we have the prerogative to respond or decline..

He has the right to call us, and we have the right to decline..

Jeffro

By_Blood_Immortal

first of all God does not "predict". Predict means to make an educated guess. God does not guess he knows. Second, nonody said anything about God judging unborn babies. But for the sake of argument. Seeing as how God knows omniscient, assuming you even believe in God because, quite frankly, I have no idea what you believe, He knows EVERYTHING. He is not confined to what has happened and what will happen, He knows what could have happened, and what would have happened had somebody made a different choice. For example, had that mother not gotten an abortion this baby would have... God knows what they would have done had they been given an opportunity.

Any basis for this claim? Given that you can't prove even the existence of God, it seems a bit of a stretch to assert what he does and does not know.

Where in the Bible does it say man has free will?

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