toddpedlar
Iron Dramatist
SO then we are not free. I feel this is a war on semantics. If man's will is contrained by his nature then it is not free will. Correct? I understand that a prisoner is contrained by outward. I get that part. I understand Adam had free will. But it seems i keep hearing "yes you have free will but it is contrained free will" Well that is not free will then. My brain is about to explode LOL!!
In the sense of complete autonomy, i.e. that your will is governed by NOTHING, then that is correct. We do not have free will. But then neither does God.
So is it safe to say that when we are Born Again we gain back our Free Will?
Absolutely not. We do not change one whit in regard to how free our will is. What changes in regeneration is our nature, and thereby what changes is that which governs our will. We are able to choose good, whereas previously we could do nothing but sin.
So if I was trying to explain to somoene who is arminian what Free Will is and without trying to lose them in terminologies would I be safe to say to them "we do not have free will because our will is subject to our sinful nature and we can only do what our nature enables us to do"?
You also should emphasize, I would think, that we are completely free to do whatever we actually want to do, and are never compelled to make decisions and do things that we don't actually want. Our choices are real.
At the same time as WE are constrained by our nature, so too is God. this is also very important to emphasize. God is a perfectly pure spirit, perfectly holy and righteous. He CANNOT choose contrary to His nature. He always chooses that which is in accord with His attributes. His will is no more free than ours. He is constrained by His nature.
This second point blows Arminians away all the time, and gives them at least some pause to consider how tightly they demand autonomous free will.