Deviant Oath? - Not a judge!

[David Merrill]

There is a common misconception that arises from the use of the phrase "free will" without proper definition. "Free" in the context of "free will" is usually used to mean "unfettered" as in "unfettered will", this clearly is a logical impossibility, since I can have the "will" to float over my couch unaided, but I cannot fulfill that will. So, "free will" in an objective, non-theological sense, does not mean the ability to do everything I wish, instead it means something closer to "I am free to desire anything". In a theological sense, especially in the Biblical context it means something importantly different.

"Free will" in the Biblical context usually more precisely refers to the question of "Are humans free to choose to do good vs evil?" or "Is a person unhindered in choosing their eternal destination (heaven or hell)?" We can see that narrowing the question down immediately makes it easier to find an answer in the text of the Bible.The mark of one who is dead is utter inability to do, think, feel, decide, or anything other than.. well, rot and stink. A dead person has no will, and a spiritually dead person has no spiritual will. So, we can see right away that we definitely do not have an unfettered will, nor an unhindered will. We are slaves to sin, and sin has domain over our will and therefore our actions. This is why we need God to be the initiator, and why Christ says that he leaves the 99 sheep that are safe to go find and rescue the one that is lost. (Notice that it is us who are lost, not Christ, and we are not the ones who go out to look for and find Christ, it is He who finds us.) But again, Paul sheds some clarity in this, by quoting from the Old Testament.So, before being saved and redeemed, our will is only continually desiring evil, all the time. And it is only the common grace of God that restrains evil men from being as evil as they could be, and doing the evil they wish to do. This explains why we haven't wiped ourselves off the face of the earth in our evil. So again, our will is not unhindered, it is enslaved to sin. And whats a biblical sin and a modern sin both enjoy slavery .Bible documents mans sin its greatest industry what will eventually just hold a bible as just a human research account. Enterprise is the virtue of will God is sovereign over all creation, including the will of man, it does not actually mean that He controls the will of man at all times. knowing everything that will happen is not the same as causing everything to happen. Though, again, God is sovereign, and omniscient, I just wanted to clarify that these things are not the same.

In summary, we do have a will, but it is bounded by what is possible, and the common grace of God, who does not allow us to be as evil as we could be, and as slaves to sin, we definitely do not have free will. Even after redemption, our will is a result of the new nature He gives us, the new heart (which is a Biblical metaphor for "desires", ie, the fruit of our will) so in a sense, even after being freed from sin, we still do not have a truly "free" will, it is still bounded by what is possible and by the sovereignty of God. So when God controls the believer's decisions, it is because the believer has invited God to work through them . This control is something accepted by faith. A fear of God is what we control if its measured its at free will .

Thank you for that post. It is good to hash this out now and again.

This sounds hedonistic, but to me free will is the choice to feel guilty or not. Conscience is what decides what is worthy of guilt. Sin is the emotion of guilt, not the action.

I spoke to somebody today who ascribes to ACIM. I showed the finding of fact that Bill and John were dosing Helen with LSD. My only twang of guilt was that this fellow might become scared or angry about what I presented. Then I might feel guilty about turning what is allegedly a good experience (loving) into a fearful one.

It has always been so easy to forgive Bill and John because they were products of the Cold War and dosed people with LSD as part of their military duties. Then the perfect laboratory (Helen) came along and she trustingly sipped her morning tea with Bill.



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It took me a lot longer to forgive Ken, who had already made millions on erroneous interpretation of the Text. He died in 2013 but MK-ULTRA was declassified in 2001 so there was twelve years for him to expose the truth and to adjust his teachings according to the findings of fact.

I did finally forgive Ken though. But as I sit in class I realize that he has caused fear to guard falsity in people who otherwise seek peace, joy and love. So I don't bring up LSD as a rule.



P.S. In five years of study groups I have found only one or two people who seem to have acquired a sustainable "Holy Instant". The rest are there to gripe why they cannot, or more commonly why it has to be in their future and not now or in their past.

I presume it is due to the "Wapnicult of Nihilism" as I call it. Ken's teaching that reality is a dream.

Row, Row, Row your Boat...