Freewill (part 4)

December 14, 2008, 9:49 am by dc-agape.

Well I promised a post on the Holy Spirit and freewill being the next installment in the series.  At the moment, I am wishing that I said it would come later.  I know what I want to say about Jesus’ affect on freewill (part 5), and also the Word in general (part 6).  But I promised and here it is.

Starting from where I finished in Freewill part 3:

^{2nd Thess 2:13} But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

The Spirit must sanctify any believer.  A person’s belief is not enough, and as a result there is no freewill.  You cannot choose to be a believer!

Another verse along the same lines is:

^{1Cor 12:3} Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now we know that recent fallen pastors have had no trouble saying “Jesus is Lord”, so this verse is not revering to “lip-service”.  There must be a deeper physical meaning to this phrase, like whether a person acts like a disciple of Christ or just a christian.  The Book of Matthew will be my next readings, and in that I will define the difference between a disciple and a christian.

But let me say that the “pouring out of the Spirit” is not our choice, and as a result being a christian is also not a choice.  We do not have freewill in this matter!  Don’t believe me, read this:

Acts 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.

YHWH is the one who gives the Holy Spirit. Knowing that lip-service is not enough, we cannot have freewill to believe.

So we know that the Holy Spirit must be given to us, can it be withheld?  Yes, it can be!

Acts 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

The Spirit kept Paul from preaching to the province of Asia.  The Spirit was withheld from these people; they had no choice in the matter.  Many of them died before hearing the news of Jesus, and as a result are perishing in hell right now!  They had no freewill; the Spirit was withheld from them.

I will end with how the Spirit eliminates freewill in defense.  Both in Mark (Mark 13:11) and in Luke defending oneself against opposition is on a “need to know basis only “from the Spirit.

Luke 12:11-12 When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourself or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.

Even in training a believer does not have freewill.  The Spirit will only teach what is needed when it is needed.  Sorry but I want to be prepared, that Holy Spirit is way to flakey for my taste. 

Posted in Freewill, Biblical topics | Print | No Comments »