“In proportion as a man habitually yields to intemperance or some other vice, his freedom diminishes and he does in a true sense sink into slavery”[1]

John 8:34-36 tells us that. The fact is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This means our will is bound in sin and the one who has to set it free is Jesus Christ. There is no manner to which you can exercise your will out of the bondage of sin. To God be the Glory!

[1] You see, I can also quote the Catholic encyclopedia, but I think it best to reference the source, lest I become a thief.

“Pretty much the entirety of scripture is filled with examples of people acting in ways that are not in accordance with God’s will.”

Genesis 50:20

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today”

Romans 8:28

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

The question of the will is so amusing for someone who is struggling with Christianity. For the Christian, it is a non-issue. If you want your free will, take it, but the very thing a Christian is, is the person who submits his will to the will of God, giving God all the glory, even for the ability to ‘choose’.

Matthew 6:10

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 26:42

“Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’”

The Greek work agape means a love that is an act of the will. If we have no free will, all biblical references to agape are meaningless.

Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure,” indicates that salvation is a partnership between God and us.

In 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 and Philippians 3:12-15 Paul talks about his own responsibilities in persevering toward salvation. That’s him exercising his own will, in conjunction with God’s will.

I’ll probably go into more detail on my own blog.

Anyone who claims that we can always choose two opposites. Anyone who claims that man always has multiple options, or that under the same set of circumstances with the same set of information, etc that all men could choose two different things.

But ultimately we do make real, genuine choices about many things.

Of course we do. No one’s denying that we make choices, the question is, what is the nature of choice? You’ve already admitted that our choices are shaped by our environment, by our genetics, by the knowledge we have and the ramifications of these things iterating over time. How is that “free” will? I mean, do you really believe that after all those influences are removed, the environment, the parents, the inputs, etc, that there is some part of you that is left over that is of your own doing/making (read as: that you can take credit for)? And if not, it’s all God all along. Having said all that, we still choose, because that’s what choice means. And we are still judged for our choices, because God says that we are.

Does that make sense?

I’m afraid my answer is, absolutely not.

Unless you’re defining free will as acting in a moral vacuum, without benefit of any external input from any source, it simple does not follow that “God must walk a very careful line of interacting with us, lest He tip our scales one way or another.” Certainly our choices will be influenced by our environment, our temperament, other people, and even God. But ultimately we do make real, genuine choices about many things.

I’m trying to say that we have defined it in such a way that it cannot exist with a God who wants to do any specific thing.

Who defines free will this way, other than people who deny its existence?

On the other hand, I still don’t see any way it would be possible to have free will unless there are at least two options legitimately open to us at all times. In other words, if all our wants, desires, and choices are predetermined by our previous experiences and by our personalities and by God’s nudgings, then I don’t know what “free will” might mean.

So…I am still highly curious to understand your definition of “choice.” You say you are not denying the existence of free will, but what does it mean to you?

Two more comments:

In fact, if one were to take this seriously, the list of areas where God would not be allowed to exert His will would be incredibly large.

Why rule this out? Could it not be true? The Bible often seems to imply that God waits (i.e. restrains Himself) precisely for the purpose of allowing us to work out our decisions (Rom. 2:4, among others).

And if He did choose to act, He would have to nudge us back towards perdition every time He did something that pushed us in the direction of redemption, lest He be accused of making our choices for us.

Not necessarily, because there are other influences (not least of all our own sinful natures) that push us the other direction.