Bittersweet Refinements: Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The Freedom to Choose

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. [Joshua 24:15 AMP]

Yes, we do have a certain amount of what is commonly referred to as being freewill.  For we could not be of any true and lasting value unto our Heavenly Father without it [Ephesians 5:22-32].

It is, however, extremely limited.  In fact, it is only in regards to the choice we are given to make about wanting to fully accept the Lord God Almighty as truly being our own Heavenly Father that we can be confident of there not being any divine intervention involved [John 1:12-13].

No, this is not to say that we are all on our own in this.  For no one can come to our Heavenly Father except through His only begotten Son [John 14:6], and no one can come to His only begotten Son unless our Heavenly Father draws them [John 6:44]. Nonetheless, being drawn does not include full acceptance [Matthew 7:21-23], and it is in respect to this that we are given a choice to make [Matthew 7:24-27].

Yes, it would appear that not all are given a choice in the matter.  That is, of course, unless you are of the opinion that all who fail to reach their own age of accountability before their own time as a part of this world comes to an end (such as aborted babies) never really counted in the first place.

No, it has not been revealed to me just exactly how it will work in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom of Heaven.  For that is on a strictly need to know basis [2 Corinthians 12:4], and I obviously do not need to know—albeit only at this time [John 20:29].  For if I did need to know, it would have been already revealed to me [2 Peter 1:3].

Anyway, what I do know is that it will be as it should be in the end [Romans 8:18-21].  For no one will be forced to spend all of eternity with our Heavenly Father in His Kingdom Of Heaven as an heir to all that is His in glory against their will [John 6:66-67].

Yes, there are many who insist that none of us are given any choice in the matter at all.  This is, of course, a result of unbridled Calvinism in the extreme.

No, it is not that they do not have any Scriptures to point to.  For it is written: The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end {and} His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity {and} evil. [Proverbs 16:4 AMP]

[Romans 9:14-24] appears to make it all the more clear that our Heavenly Father creates some for glory and all of the rest for destruction, but I would think that most (if not all) would want to believe that the parts that appear to be saying such are meant to be rhetorical in nature.  For who in their right-mind [1 Corinthians 2:6-16] would want to spend all of eternity with someone so cruel?  After all, what would there be to prevent Him from changing His mind about even the elect [Matthew 24:21-31] somewhere down the line if so many of us are of no concern to Him [Job 34:12-15]?