So, some will say "where does free will come in concerning the angels, humanity, and any other conscious moral powers, rulers, authorities in the heavenlies?"
God will that all moral beings He created would be free to choose to obey Him or not. When the angels sinned and the other angels did not, He then sealed the holy angels to be forever sinless and judged the sinful angels to never be restored to their original holiness.
For human beings, He consigned all human beings over to sin and corruption, leaving none that are truly righteous as He is righteous. Romans 11:32 i order that He may be merciful to them in their need for redemption.
Adam and Eve were the only humans who truly had a will that was free to obey God or disobey. Since their sin, they and all humans are now in bondage to sin and the corruption of sin and the wages of sin, which is death.
We are not free to righteously choose to seek God, obey Him, love Him, or worship Him in our fallen, unredeemed state. We are only free to choose sin, and that we do. But thank God, that in His sovereignty He chose to regenerate those He elected so that they can have a new nature that is once again free to choose to obey Him yet still having a nature that wills to disobey. See Romans 7.
The sovereignty of God is absolute. We cannot sway His eternal will inn any way. We are all at His mercy and in need of His grace. Thank God He is Yahweh, who is gracious to whomever He is gracious to and gives mercy to whomever He is merciful to. Exodus 33:18-19. This is a major aspect of what His name means! He shows mercy and grace to those He sovereignly chooses.
We cannot understand the workings of this mercy and grace within the Godhead and His will. We are altogether NOT like Him and His ways are far beyond our ability to search out. But He is love and He expresses that love to humans in that while we were yet dead in sin, He made us alive to Him and saved us through the Son. ( Eph. 2:1-8)
Cont.
So, some will say "where does free will come in concerning the angels, humanity, and any other conscious moral powers, rulers, authorities in the heavenlies?"
God will that all moral beings He created would be free to choose to obey Him or not. When the angels sinned and the other angels did not, He then sealed the holy angels to be forever sinless and judged the sinful angels to never be restored to their original holiness.
For human beings, He consigned all human beings over to sin and corruption, leaving none that are truly righteous as He is righteous. Romans 11:32 i order that He may be merciful to them in their need for redemption.
Adam and Eve were the only humans who truly had a will that was free to obey God or disobey. Since their sin, they and all humans are now in bondage to sin and the corruption of sin and the wages of sin, which is death.
We are not free to righteously choose to seek God, obey Him, love Him, or worship Him in our fallen, unredeemed state. We are only free to choose sin, and that we do. But thank God, that in His sovereignty He chose to regenerate those He elected so that they can have a new nature that is once again free to choose to obey Him yet still having a nature that wills to disobey. See Romans 7.
The sovereignty of God is absolute. We cannot sway His eternal will inn any way. We are all at His mercy and in need of His grace. Thank God He is Yahweh, who is gracious to whomever He is gracious to and gives mercy to whomever He is merciful to. Exodus 33:18-19. This is a major aspect of what His name means! He shows mercy and grace to those He sovereignly chooses.
We cannot understand the workings of this mercy and grace within the Godhead and His will. We are altogether NOT like Him and His ways are far beyond our ability to search out. But He is love and He expresses that love to humans in that while we were yet dead in sin, He made us alive to Him and saved us through the Son. ( Eph. 2:1-8)
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