This book contains a brief study on a very important but neglected subject, that is, the subject of free will. We will be considering in what sense the will is free and how important this subject is to the Christian faith. Does salvation depend upon man's willingness to be saved apart from a prior work of the Holy Spirit? We will see that no one is saved against his will; however, God changes the "willer" so as to make the sinner willing. We will see that the subject of free will is at the very heart of Christianity and has a profound effect on our message and method of evangelism. We will see that "whosoever will may come." We will see that the Bible teaches that salvation depends not on man's willingness but on God's willingness, God's grace, and God's power-and if God did not have power over man's will the whole world would go to hell. We will see that God does not exclude anyone in His invitations; however, sinners do exclude themselves.
This book is a thought-provoking study of some issues concerning the historic Calvinist/Arminian debate. Does God know absolutely everything that's going to happen? Can He foresee future moral choices and actions which have not yet been made? If one's future responses and behavior are totally foreknowable, is she truly free? Dr. Richard Rice explores these and other fascinating questions which have sometimes divided Christians. The author gives new perspective on one of the most fundamental issues of the Christian faith: the relationship of God to His creation and the reality and extent of human freedom. Carefully scrutinizing the Scriptures on this subject, the author challenges the reader to examine for himself this critical issue of theology. With strong theological background and sound biblical scholarship, Dr. Rice presents his viewpoint in a convincing and readable style.
Mans demise has always been situated predominantly in the fact that he does not want to abide in Gods Will. Man wants to do and achieve everything on his own steam and energy. This book shows mans weaknesses and reveals to man the way back into Gods Will, including the results of such a dedicated life. In this book, it is also then downplayed against the life beyond Gods Will with the consequences of such a life.
GOD'S WILL, MAN'S WILL, AND FREE WILL Is it possible for a creature to have a free will and to continually exercise that will in complete conformity to the will of God? Yes! Are the creatures who thus conform their wills continually to the will of God in servitude? Are they slaves? Yes! If God plans, fore-determines and predestinates each and every deed of a man's life, powerfully controlling all circumstances, all persons, even all forces of whatever variety and magnitude that affects his life, can that one be free? Yes! In this little book the large subject of God's Will, Man's Will, and Free will is keenly examined by five different authors who make use of the Holy Scriptures to answer the multitude of questions, and of objections to what is written HORATIUS BONAR notes three things about men without Christ: 1. Their souls are not at rest. 2. Their conscience is not at work. And, 3. They do not tremble at the Word of God. The Lord has spoken. There is no room to question when His voice is heard. JONATHAN EDWARDS notes that God is the Supreme Orderer of all things, but that His ordering of all things (His orderings of the heart and fixing the steps of a man - Proverbs 16:1, 9) does not interfere with a man's ability to choose. C. H. SPURGEON notes that men will not come to Christ that they might have LIFE because they are dead in trespasses and sin. Can there be a soul that will not become wiser from these discussions? Edwards (1703-1758) is by far the best known American theologian. After graduating from and teaching at Yale University, he began a very fruitful ministry at Northampton, MA. The church was the scene of the explosive revival of 1734, 35, and burned fiercely for God under Edwards for several years. Edwards then went to pastor the lowly Indians. But at last he was called to be the first president of Princeton University, where he served only 5 weeks, dying of smallpox. C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) was not only the famed preacher for whom The Metropolitan Tabernacle was built, but he wrote a host of books, published a magazine, was a colporteur, was an expositor, etc. Horatius Bonar (1809-1899) was a Presbyterian minister in Scotland and the author of many excellent books of much practical value. Jay P. Green, Sr. (1918-) is Translator and Editor of The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible and the translator of the Modern King James Version of the Holy Bible, The Teenage Version of the Holy Bible, and the Literal translation of the Holy Bible. He has written numerous books on textual criticism.
"The Grace of God, the Will of Man: A Case for Arminianism" was written by an impressive team of evangelical scholars from many traditions. This work carries on the ancient debate about the scope of God's saving purposes and the manner of his effecting salvation in human beings. It defends the proposition that God is a dynamic personal Agent who respects the freedom he chose to delegate to his human creatures and relates sensitively to us in the outworking of his plans for the whole of history. God is love and expresses his power by working salvation among us under conditions of genuine mutuality. The contributors to this volume are Christian scholars who are eager to present this evangelical model as an alternative to deterministic theology. They do not claim to have said the last word on the subject but want at least to keep the ball of theological discussion in play.
Have you ever wondered what you were created to do? You may think you have an idea, but aren't positive that you are fulfilling the purpose for which God created you. First of all, you have to find the unique purpose that He created you for. In his new book, Andrew Wommack teaches you how to do just that. Once you find the will of God for...
This treatise is an echo of Scripture teaching how God’s will and man’s will work in their respective spheres, and with each other working from his text, Matthew 23:37-38. This work is designed to humble the creature in realizing that God’s free grace is that which enables man to believe the Gospel. And it also teaches that man’s free will is actually a slave to his desires. Perkins' covers the will of God looking at both God’s sovereignty and God’s good pleasure in light of Jerusalem’s unwillingness to repent. He also covers the will of man in four important areas: in the garden before the fall, after the fall, in light of and after regeneration, and glorified in heaven. This is not a scan or facsimile and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.
Nearly 200,000 copies sold! Chosen by God by Dr. R. C. Sproul is a contemporary classic on predestination, a doctrine that isn’t just for Calvinists. It is a doctrine for all biblical Christians. In this updated and expanded edition of Chosen by God, Sproul shows that the doctrine of predestination doesn’t create a whimsical or spiteful picture of God, but rather paints a portrait of a loving God who provides redemption for radically corrupt humans. We choose God because he has opened our eyes to see his beauty; we love him because he first loved us. There is mystery in God’s ways, but not contradiction.
The Bible claims that Gods sovereignty is absolute and that humans make their own choices. Christensen explains two harmonizing viewsArminian and Calvinisticmaking a fresh, biblical case for Calvinisms.
For many of us, the question of whether or not God exists is one of the most perplexing and profound questions of our lives, and numerous philosophers and theologians have debated it for centuries. Laura Ekstrom here takes a new look at the issue of God's existence by examining it against the reality of human suffering, bringing to the fore contentious presuppositions concerning agency and value at the core of the matter. When we survey the world, we observe an enormous amount of pain, including virtually unspeakable kinds of maltreatment and agony, many instances of which seem patently unfair, unearned, and pointless. This book argues that, in light of these observations, it is reasonable to conclude that God does not exist. The book unravels the extent and power of arguments from evil. Ekstrom provides a close investigation of a largely overlooked claim at the heart of major free-will-based responses to such arguments, namely that free will is worth it: sufficiently valuable to serve as the good that provides a God-justifying reason for permitting evil in the world. Through fresh examinations of traditional theodicies, Ekstrom develops an alternative line called divine intimacy theodicy, and makes an extended case for rejecting skeptical theism. The book takes up an argument from evil concerning a traditional doctrine of hell, which reveals a number of compelling issues concerning fault, agency, and blameworthiness. In response to recent work contending that the problem of evil is toothless because God is indifferent to human beings, Ekstrom defends the essential perfect moral goodness of God. She further tackles the question of whether or not it is possible to live a religious life as an agnostic or as an atheist. Through rigorous reflection, with deep respect for religious thought and experience, and with sensitivity to the range and kinds of suffering so many endure, Ekstrom firmly advances discussion of the problem of evil and paves the way for further scholarship in the philosophy of religion.
