Christians only please: I believe in election but how does that fit in with free will?
111119
You just asked one of the top 4 toughest theological questions, and I don't understand it fully.\n\nThe phrase "the elect" was frequently used by Christians to refer to themselves ("Christian" on the other hand was a derogatory term used by the non-Christians). It appears throughout the New Testament, however the 1&2 Peter and Romans deal with its implications.\n\nNote that Peter was chosen by Jesus, not the other way around. Peter is depicted in the gospels as a bumbling fool. Certainly not a leader. What's more, Paul (number 1 opponent of Christianity turned most influencial leader in Christian history) considered himself the least likely person to be a member of the church, let alone a leader in it (this being to show God's glory through the extremely unlikely situation). \n\nHe was elected by God. Jesus FOUND HIM and 'turned him around'. This amazing fact blew Pauls mind, and he believed that God must have chosen him from the beginning.\n\nConclusion: God electing people for his purpose doesn't exclude people from exercising their free will. God does things that he has chosen to do, and are obviously not the work of man, BUT HE'S NOT RUNNING A PUPPET SHOW.\n\nAlso check out 2 Peter 1, where it talks about making your election sure.
545779
jesus, he came up with the idea of free will in the first place.\nbut then again, we did go along with his idea, soo, WE ALL ARE! it was our choice in heaven. i mean, we coulda went with the "non-free will, totalitarianism" idea that lucifer had, but what fun would that of been?
942555
Technically, free will is an illusion.  Given all the data present in any situation, including the data that a person has accumulated over a lifetime, it is possible in principle to calculate the outcome.  As a practical matter, this is of course impossible, and "free will" is an appropriate model for the actual situation.
1126587
Why would the Bible tell us to pray for wisdom and then not have us apply it?  What is free will if there are no consequences for our choices?\n\nBesides, there's a fine line between faith and presumption.\n\nSometimes God has asked people to do things that seemed downright foolish.  It stretches your faith.  Everyone who loves you will come with their "concern" and "reasoning."  But at the eleventh hour, God comes through.\n\nOther times, people assume God is asking them to do something when He has done no such thing.  Or, in other words, they presume upon Him and put themselves in bad situations and tight spots.\n\nI've done both.
1094711
It's not the child's direct choice that people are talking about when they talk about free will.\n\nI believe that there was no suffering or death before sin entered the world.  Since the fall, evil has caused suffering, illness, and death.  It is a result of having free choice, but it's not driven by cause and effect in an individual sense.  \n\nIf there were no consequences of sin, we wouldn't leave it.  Would it be loving to leave us in sin?\n\nGod shows His love and mercy in wanting us to avoid sin - the root of suffering - and by drawing us to Himself.  There is comfort and rest with Him.  He suffers with us.  He has defeated death on our behalf.  \n\nHe is loving even in the face of sin, evil, and suffering.
403587
you have free will to do what you want with the actions you are capable of doing.  you have the free will to jump in the air.  however gravity is in effect and will also play its part.  everyone's free will is dependent upon everyone else's free will.  you have free will to want the world to blow up.  if everyone else uses their free will to not want the world to blow up then you got out voted.  their free will trumped yours.  jump in the air all you want, gravity trumps you.\n\nyou can want to go to heaven all you want.  but if your spirit is at a level that cannot exist in heaven then your free will gets trumped.  and if you want to go to hell but your spirit is at a level that is far beyond that then you got trumped.\n\nyou can want all you want, but there are other forces at work that place limitations.  so your free will is mainly focused on your ability to make decisions.  doesn't mean you're just going to get your way.  it means that when faced with a situation you have the ability to choose how YOU respond, not necessarily to how others respond.
465872
In Christianity the trinity is belived to be a mathimatical annomaliy. Instead of 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 (Father, Son, and Holy spirit) it is actually 100% for all three. The debate over free will versus destiny has existed since time began. I believe in a divine creator and His rule over my life, but I also believe in free will. To me it is another annomaliy in our reality. I believe we have 100% free will, but that we are also 100% bound to our destiny. I don't think it's one or the other, but rather both in a very complete way. \n\nWith that in mind we are divided in our aims and goals based on our relation with that source. Since we all carry the same creator and that creator gave us free will, we all take different paths. One leads to that creator, others don't. I would love it if pluralism applied to reality, but since all faiths say they are THE one, then they all can't be right. Especially with Christianity. Christ said "I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except through the Son." In that scripture He is saying that you can only take one path to reach God and no other.\n\nImagine a city street with millions of pedestrains. Half of them are going in one direction and the other half are going in the oppposite direction. They are bumping and shoving and stumbling on to each other. This is the human experience. One group is traveling towards the creator and what is good, the other half is traveling away from the creator to satisfy their pride. Either way you travel you will have conflict and you will bump into others with different aims, goals, and destinies. What really matters is that you travel with kindness, love, and in the right direction.\n\nlightbringer1979@yahoo.com\n\nGodspeed\n\nP.S. Just one note on a comment above. The Muslims and Christians actually DO worship the same God. And both believe in Christ as well. It's just that Christians believe He is the son of God.
1042716
God doesn't make mistakes lol! Think about this... would you want someone doing something for you or in your name if they didn't want to be doing it?? \nAlso, if we didn't have free will we would pretty much just be robots. Where is the beauty in that?
917231
Wow, talk about looking at yourself.  That was me not too long ago.  The problem is that God can only interfere on a limited basis with out obscuring "free will".  The hard truth is that rapists and murderers have free will also.  It's complicated, and hard to justify. but I guess the better questions would be, why didn't  we do something about it?
771939
He does have free will, but He has promised "I will never leave you nor forsake you".  We can depend on Him to always be there for us.
117721
The elect are those chosen by God for salvation and eternal life. There is considerable debate around whether the elect are already chosen (i.e. who is to be saved is already determined) and whether Jesus died for all or simply the elect. Equally, there is the argument that such decisions will be made on the day of judgement. Thats a whole other issue :-)
44278
That's a very good question and I wish we could be, but God let us have our own choice and does not go against free will.
181467
every thing is free will if u find your goal\nThank u for giving answer of my Question.\nIf u r ready for this, then i am ready but u will have to come here in my country.
691604
God gave us free will to make our own choices.Hitler had the same free will we all have.What he chose to do with it, was his free choice. I might guess that God was not liking what was happening, but had to allow it to happen.
866006
No, not at all---in fact Christians today must remain neutral and not get involved with politics in any way, shape or form. We must not put our trust in human rulers.(Psalms 146:3) \nIf we vote for any imperfect human, then we are showing disloyalty to our King, who now reigns in heaven. Our allegiance is to our righteous King, and his Father's heavenly government only. The Bible says that man was not meant to rule over man. ( Ecclesiastes 8:9 )\nWe must obey the laws of governments as long as they do not conflict with God's laws. We maintain the same position as Jesus' apostles: "But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)\nHuman governments will soon be put out of existance and will be replaced by God's government which will rule over the entire earth. When you say the Lord's prayer and ask for God's Kingdom to come, that is what you are praying for. \nThe new government will last forever as seen at Daniel 2:44--"\n"And in the days of these kings(current human rulers) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." \nChristians should not put their trust or confidence in political governments or rulers that God will soon overthrow. We need to look to God's Kingdom as the only hope for all mankind.
748038
God gave us free will, and He is all knowing because He knows the choice we will make, but He doesn't force us into it.  We have to decide where we will spend eternity.
433770
Nope; it follows one of the fallacies of logic.  It is called a "loaded question".\nAs with religion, as much as I feel Christianity is correct, I also believe we are made and given the freedom to choose.  It doesn't get much worse than a false Christian who chooses it due to pressure/obligation; it is best done on free will.