Free Will?

There is only one way to do good, and that is by receiving and following the Spirit of God. We are born into sin, for the psalmist says, "Surely I was sinful at birth." So "as in Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order." If God can harden Pharaoh's heart and if as He says, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" then surely He can change someone's free will at any time He wants "by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself".

He uses the wicked to chasten and judge His children. Are those people wicked by nature or by His will? Good question. In Revelation 17 it says, "For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled," and "These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast." Also, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is aionios life." If we are slaves to God by His Spirit, and do only as He commands, entering Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4), then is there really a such thing as free will? If our old man who is a slave to sin has died and you have been born again to a life yoked to Christ then you, like He, speak, "not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak," and "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" and yet again "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."

"But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you."

"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence."