Hostile Free Willers

 

By Dr. Ken Matto

  

Amos 5:10 (KJV)   They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

 

In Amos 5:10, we read about an indictment of the wicked judges.  They hated the prophet of the Lord especially Amos for the simple reason of him bringing the truth to the people.  The word “rebuketh” in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “convince, rebuke, or reprove” and the word “uprightly” in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “without blemish, truth, or integrity.”  In other words, Amos was bringing to light the real condition of the judges of his time and how they hated to be reproved with the truth.  The Apostle Paul faced the same situation when he asked the people the following question:

 

Galatians 4:16 (KJV)   Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

 

The Apostle Paul was engaged in a battle between the Judaizers who tried to get the people to believe that one must be circumcised plus keep the Law of Moses to become saved.  Then Pontius Pilate asked a most pertinent question concerning truth which is still apropos for today.

 

John 18:38 (KJV)   Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

 

Pilate’s question is very relevant to today’s mindset especially in the body of Christ which is being tossed around with every wind of doctrine, even to the point that many argue against truth and defend the false.

 

Ephesians 4:14 (KJV)   That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 

It seems every time someone writes a new prophecy book or suggests another person for the office of Antichrist, the church runs after them and adopts that belief until the next candidate comes along or a new prophecy book is written.  In this article I want to approach the subject of Free Will and how its proponents actually hate those of us in the Reformed community who adhere to the doctrines of Free Grace.  Calvinist is not a proper term because in this article you will not find one quote by Calvin but will find only Scripture and I will use the term "Calvinist" sparingly.

 

Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the doctrines of Grace as many people are looking at the subject of salvation.  With this rise in interest of the Doctrines of Grace, Satan has begun a war against that belief by his army of free willers in the church who have begun to act like attack dogs and attack every Calvinist as heretics and church dividers.  (I use the term free willers not as a derogatory term but a term of identification.) There has been a serious rise in bitter attacks against Calvinists painting them as heretics and unbelievers.  Those of us who adhere to the doctrines of Grace realize that according to the Scriptures, salvation is all in the hands of God without any addition by men.   Free Willers believe that Christ’s sacrifice was not complete until they complete it by “accepting it.”

 

John 19:30 (KJV)   When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

 

Jesus stated in John 19:30 that it is finished.  This meant that this portion of the salvation plan of God was complete, it would be completed totally upon His resurrection.  However, the free willer does not believe that.  Their belief is it is finished as soon as I “accept the Lord.”  Free Willers believe in partial atonement in that it is not completed unless they do the work of accepting it.  What it really means is that the free willer has to add a work to the finished work of Christ.  This is why free will is so closely aligned with Roman Catholicism because they too add works to the finished work of Christ.  Having to accept the Lord is no less a work than doing penance or saying 5 Hail Marys.

 

When Christ stated that it was finished, it was the completion of the salvation of all those who were named before the foundation of the world.  Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  The penalty had been paid and now from that time to the last day, those who are predestined to be saved will become saved according to God’s timing. 

 

John 6:37 (KJV)   All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

 

Notice in John 6:37 that Jesus Himself states that all those the Father gives Him “shall” come to Him.  The Father gives, the Lord Jesus receives the believer.  Nothing about given a choice or anything about exercising free will.  The Free Willers totally misunderstand what type of free will they have.  It is true God has given us a free will concerning the things of this earth.  We may buy the type of car we like, we may live in a city we like, we can wear one blue sock and one brown one if we choose, or we can even attend any church we like.  That is the extent of the freedom of the unbeliever.  Where the free willer makes their huge mistake is that because we have free will for earthly things, they take that to mean that we can extend that free will into the spiritual realm.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  A free willer cannot will the common cold out of their body, how are they going to will themselves into Heaven?  The great mistake they make is they neglect the biblical teaching that every human being is born in sin and that sin causes us to be spiritually dead.

 

Nekrous - Lifeless, Useless, or Dead

Ephesians 5:14-15 (KJV)   Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.  {15} See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

 

Matthew 8:22 (KJV)   But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

 

Luke 15:32 (KJV)   It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

 

John 5:21 (KJV)   For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

 

Colossians 2:13 (KJV)   And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

 

Thnesko - Be Dead or Die

1 Timothy 5:6 (KJV)   But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

 

Thanatos - Death

1 John 3:14 (KJV)   We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

 

Here we have just looked at seven verses where God uses three different words to describe the condition of those who are not saved.  The Bible teaches us here that the only condition that the unbeliever is in is a state of spiritual death.  This applies to every person who has ever lived and goes back as far as the Garden of Eden.  So here we have biblical proof that a person is spiritually dead and dead means dead.  There is no getting around it.  Genesis 2:17 (KJV)   But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  God Himself pronounced death to Adam and Eve if they disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden.  Once they sinned, not only was physical death decreed it was also spiritual death.  To deny this is to actually deny and reject the words of God Himself.  Free willers are notorious at rejecting Scripture they do not like as we will see further down.

 

Free willers totally neglect this biblical truth and as a result they teach that a person can save themselves by just believing.  Well how does a dead person believe when they are dead?  When Lazarus was in the tomb, did he raise himself from the dead?  The answer is no, Jesus stood at the entrance of his tomb and commanded him by name to come forth.  John 11:43 (KJV) And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.  The fact that He commanded him by name to come forth is an important fact. 

 

John 10:3 (KJV)   To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

 

Notice the verse is stating that the Shepherd “calls his own sheep by name.”  Those He calls by name are the very ones that shall come to Him as we read in John 6:37.  In John 10:3, He calls his sheep by name and leads them out.  There is no act of the will.  They hear their name and they follow His calling.  Just as the believer today is called by name into salvation and is led out of the world system.  The scenario in John 10 is about the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal church.  For a person to be saved means that a resurrection has taken place first before one can believe.  Since a person is spiritually dead, for them to have the ability to believe and have faith unto salvation, they would literally have to resurrect themselves from the dead.  The question remains, does any human being have the ability to raise themselves from the dead, whether physical or spiritual?  The answer is no.  The only qualified ones we know about who have the ability to raise the physical dead is God the Father and God the Son.  Since the human cannot reach into the spiritual realm, the only qualified ones who are able to raise someone spiritually are God the Father and God the Son.  Resurrection of the soul must take place before a person can believe and have faith unto salvation.  Once a person is regenerated they now have the ability to believe simply because they now have the Holy Spirit indwelling them and they are no longer spiritually dead.

 

Galatians 5:22 (KJV)   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 

According to Galatians 5:22, faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit but if you do not have the Holy Spirit living in you, then you are dead but if He indwells you, you are able to have faith and believe.  So we conclude biblically that one must be regenerated first and only then can that person believe.  So the order is salvation first and belief second!  This means that it is God doing the saving.  No matter how many sinner’s prayers a person prays, if they are not regenerated first, they will remain unsaved.

 

Here is a quotation from a free will preacher named Warren Wiersbe.  “The fundamental problem lost sinners face isn’t that they’re sick and need a remedy.  The problem is that they’re dead in trespasses and sins and need to experience resurrection.”  (from The Voice, April 2017 Newsletter of the Bible Broadcasting Network) 

 

How many testimonies have we heard from people where they claimed that they accepted Jesus when they were young but walked away from Him?  The fact was that they said a few words and were pronounced saved by the “I want another jewel in my crown” preacher but they remained unsaved.  Therein lies a great danger of the free will movement in that people think that by saying a few words they are automatically saved.  There will be many standing at the Great White Throne Judgment thinking they were saved because they did something or said a few words and were lied to by being told they were saved.

 

Now I went through these biblical teachings to show that it is impossible for a person to save themselves by means of a simple prayer or by some type of free will which does not exist. 

 

What is the Condition of the Will of Man?

Romans 6:20-22 (KJV)   For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.  {21} What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.  {22} But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

 

To further understand the condition of man, we must look at the will of man before and after salvation.  We find a comparison in Romans 6:20 & 22.  In Romans 6:20, we find the phrase “servants of sin.”  The word “servant” is the Greek word “doulos” which can be understood as slave.  In any society that had slavery, the slave had no will of their own.  Their will was to do the master’s will.  When a person is unsaved they are in the kingdom of Satan and Satan is their master and the only will that the unsaved person has is the will that serves Satan’s will.  Martin Luther understood this as the bondage of the will.  Verse 21 gives further understanding that the things which were done in service to Satan’s will would cause shame to those who became saved and not only that, but that life and its works would end in death.  This is speaking of spiritual death, eternal damnation.

 

Now we move on to verse 22 and we find the same word “doulos” in reference to service to God.  When a person becomes saved, they now become servants of God which produces fruit unto holiness and the saved are given eternal life.  Jesus elevates the believer even higher.

 

John 15:15 (KJV)   Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

 

In John 15:15, the words “servants and servant” are also the word “doulos” but here Jesus changes the status of the believer from a servant to a friend.  In fact, it may be understood as a “dear friend.”

 

Now I brought these verses in Romans up for a purpose.  We read that either a person is a slave of sin, which means, their will is in bondage, or they are a servant of God which means they are saved.  There is no in between these classifications.  If a person is a slave they must be freed from that slavery but the slave does not have the authority to free themselves.  It is their master who must free them from the bonds of slavery.  According to the Scriptures, Satan will not free his prisoners.

 

Isaiah 14:17 (KJV)   That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

 

Isaiah 14:17 teaches plainly that unbelievers are in the house or kingdom of Satan and he will not let any of his prisoners go.  Therefore, they must be freed by an outside source.  The battle is not between the slave and master but the battle is between master and master for the freedom of that slave.

 

John 6:44 (KJV)   No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

Now those who are in bondage to sin in Satan’s house but are named before the foundation of the world for salvation must be brought out of the kingdom of Satan and placed into the kingdom of God.  We read in John 6:44 that a person who is predestined for salvation is drawn out of the kingdom of Satan.  The word “draw” means to “drag or force.”  It doesn’t sound like a free will choice.  The reason is that Satan will put up a fight to keep every one of his captives and therefore the removing of the believer from the kingdom of Satan is like one being dragged plus man loves his sin and will do anything to remain in sin since it pleases the flesh.  John 3:19 (KJV) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  Since man loves darkness rather than light, they too will resist God from coming to Him in salvation.  This is why God must do the saving since man cannot save himself because of the sinful condition he is in and the kingdom he is in, there is no way out unless God does the saving.

 

Colossians 1:12-13 (KJV)   Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  {13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

 

Colossians 1:13 gives us the reality of the situation that first of all it is that it is the Father who delivered us from the power of darkness just as John 6:44 states.  The word “delivered” carries with it the meaning of “rescued.”  The word “translated” carries with it the meaning of “carry away or remove.”  Colossians 1:12 & 13 give clear Scriptural evidence that salvation is all of God.  Remember, it is the Father who gives the believer to Jesus.  John 6:37 (KJV)   All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.  It is the Father that rescues us from the prison house of Satan and removes or translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son.  The flesh may not like it because it loves sin but the soul is happy to receive that pardon. 

 

Colossians 2:13-14 (KJV)   And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  {14} Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

God the Father not only takes us out of the prison house of Satan but with that release according to Colossians 2:13-14, all trespasses have been forgiven and all laws that we broke were nailed to the cross.  It resulted in the indictment against us being blotted out.  The charges no longer exist, they are gone for eternity.  All of this was done by the hand of God as we read in the various verses.  Nothing, not even a smidgeon of man’s will is mentioned in that spiritual battle.  The battle for the souls of the Elect takes place in the spiritual realm, not the physical realm.

 

The summary is clear.  Man has no neutral ground, either a person is a slave to Satan or they are a servant of God.  There is no in between or any neutral state of the soul whereby a person can make a choice.  What we discovered was that the choice was made for us.

 

Now I wish to offer some reasons why the free willer hates the idea that they cannot save themselves thus hating the person bringing this biblically based truth.

 

Free Will Teaches that God is the Beggar and Man is the Sovereign

The Bible Teaches that God is the Sovereign and Man is the Beggar

By them placing salvation in their hands it makes God the Beggar like He is begging them to accept Jesus and they stand there with the attitude of “I’ll think about it.”  What Calvinism does is it places man as the beggar and God as the Sovereign and the pride of man will not tolerate being second, even to God.  This is why they make God out to be the beggar because it puffs up their pride.  Colossians 1:12-13 (KJV)   Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  {13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: God does not beg, He just translates His Elect from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ.

 

Free Will Teaches Its Own Salvation Plan

The Bible Teaches God’s Salvation Plan

When the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He died for the sins of His people and came to save His people.  Matthew 1:21 (KJV) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  We already saw in John 10 how Jesus calls His people by their names just as He did Lazarus.  If Jesus would have stood in front of the tomb of Lazarus and said “come forth” then all the dead in the world would have come forth.  It is the same with salvation, if He would pronounce salvation, then everyone in the world would be saved.  Instead, He calls those named from before the foundation of the world by their name unto salvation.   Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Notice the verse uses the word “us and we” which denotes a specific group of people.  Free willers do not believe that the sacrifice of Christ was for His own people but it was a random death which means anybody and their brother can get saved.  It made people savable rather than saved which is not a biblical teaching.  God’s salvation plan was all of grace for the believer but the free willer believes you have to accept it for salvation making it a works gospel.  The gospel of grace applies salvation to those whom God has chosen without the approval of the person receiving it.

 

Free Will Teaches You Have a Choice

The Bible Teaches a No-Choice Salvation

Free willers would have you believe that your salvation is totally a choice that you make out of your own free will.  As we have already seen, there is no such thing as a neutral position for a person to go either way.  The biblical plan of salvation is simple.  If you were named from the foundation of the world to become saved, at some point in your life God will apply His grace to you upon hearing the word of God.  Revelation 13:8 (KJV)   And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

 

Free Will Teaches You Have To Give God Permission to work in Your Life

The Bible Teaches that God works in a Person’s Life without their Permission

Free Will teaches a dangerous myth that you have the authority to actually give God permission to work in your life.  This self-aggrandizing myth is nowhere taught in Scripture.  Jonah 1:17 (KJV)   Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.  Did Jonah give God permission to work in his life?  If Jonah had free will and the authority to give God permission to intervene in his life, would God have pursued Jonah or let him go his way?  If God gave us free will, then God would have appointed someone else to go to Nineveh, but He didn’t!  Jonah was the chosen prophet to go to Nineveh!  Free willers forget who the Potter is and who is the clay!

 

Free Will Rejects the Biblical Teaching that Man is Spiritually Dead

The Bible Teaches Plainly that Man is Spiritually Dead

We have already studied the subject that unsaved man is in a state of spiritual death and is incapable of anything but being dead.  Free Willers totally ignore this truth and espouse the teaching that all one has to do is just hear the word of God and then make their choice.  This teaching is as heretical as those who teach the Holy Spirit is only a force.  Romans 10:17 (KJV)   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Romans 10:17 is used as the key verse for those who teach the “hearing only doctrine.”  However, the two words in this verse must be looked at, they are the words “hearing and hearing.”  Both of these words are translated from the same Greek word and that is “akouw” (pronounced ah-koo-oh) which means not just hearing physically but “hearing with understanding.”  For a person to have faith, they must understand the words of the Scriptures to generate faith.  Luke 24:32 (KJV)   And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?  The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had talked with Jesus while they walked together but they did not know it was Jesus until one event happened.  Jesus opened to them the Scriptures.  The word “opened” carries with it the meaning of “opened thoroughly.”

 

Here were two disciples that didn’t even know that they were in the presence of Jesus until He opened their understanding of the Scriptures.  Luke 24:45 (KJV)  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,  Then when they reported back to the Disciples that they met Jesus on the road and it was He who opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.  The first use of understanding in that verse carries with it the meaning of “opening of the intellect or mind or will” and the second usage of understanding carries with it the meaning of “comprehend, to put together.”  Notice that it was not man who opened his understanding, it was Jesus who opened their understanding.  John 1:12-13 (KJV)   But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  {13} Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  This is why John 1:12-13 state that those who are saved are not saved by the will of man but by the will of God.  It was Jesus who opened the will of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, not them.

 

Free Will Teaches that Each Person is given a Measure of Faith

The Bible Teaches that only the Saved receive that Measure of Faith

Free willers espouse the belief that every person in the world has been given a measure of faith.  This way they believe that a person can hear the word of God and when they hear it, they can then exercise their faith if they choose to become saved.  However, this cannot be because the Bible does not contradict itself.  We saw in Galatians 5:22 that faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  If one does not have the Holy Spirit, they cannot have the fruit associated with it.  Romans 12:3 (KJV)   For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.  Romans 12:3 is used or I should say misused by the free willers to try and prove every person has some faith.  If we look at the context of Romans 12:3, we read that Paul is about ready to discuss the spiritual gifts and only those who are saved have the spiritual gifts.  What is in view is that God gives the measure of faith to the believer according to the spiritual gifts they receive.  Where the free willer gets confused is when they associate secular faith with biblical faith.  In other words, I have faith to sit in a chair hoping it will not tip over.  I have faith to drive my car in hopes it will get me to my destination without it breaking down.  I have faith in using my home burglar alarm to protect my home when I am absent.  These things are all types of faith but they are not fruits of the Holy Spirit.  In fact they may be more of a confidence or an anticipated assurance instead of faith.

 

Free Will Teaches You Can Lose Your Salvation

The Bible Teaches You Cannot Lose Your Salvation

Free willers espouse the belief that a person can lose their salvation.  They come up with this by believing that a person attained salvation by their free will and therefore can lose it by their free will.  Charles Finney was one of the most ardent believers in free will and he even believed that a Christian who was already in Heaven could actually still lose their salvation.

 

Here is the quote from Finney’s Systematic Theology: “It is not intended that saints, or the truly regenerated, cannot fall from grace, and be finally lost, by natural possibility. It must be naturally possible for all moral agents to sin at any time. Saints on earth and in heaven can by natural possibility apostatize and fall, and be lost. Were not this naturally possible, there would be no virtue in perseverance” (Page 550).

 

Unfortunately this is the belief of many free willers but the Bible is very clear that when one has truly become saved, they cannot lose their salvation.  1 Peter 1:5 (KJV)   Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:5 states that the believer is kept by the power of God.  Does the power that the free willer thinks they have is more powerful than God’s?  John 10:28 (KJV)   And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  Here Jesus states that the believer has eternal life and they shall never perish nor shall any man pluck them out of His hand.  Does the free willer think that they have the power to pluck themselves out of the hands of Jesus, who by the way is eternal God!  Romans 8:38-39 (KJV) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, {39} Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 clearly proclaims that nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ, that is, nothing can sever us from the salvation that Christ gives us. 

 

(Col 3:3 KJV) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

 

This verse teaches us that the believer has died and their life is now hidden in Christ. The believer’s identity is with the Lord Jesus Christ. The words “is hid” is the Greek word “krupto” which carries with it the meaning of “kept secret and kept safe.” So this verse is telling us that we are kept safe and secret in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the passages of John 6:37-39 where Jesus stated that He will lose none? Now we know why, because our eternal lives are kept safe and secret with the Lord Jesus Christ. How is it possible for sin to be able to break that safekeeping by eternal God Himself? It is impossible.

 

So we see in these few examples (and there are many more) that it is impossible for a saved person to lose their salvation since we are kept by the power of God and nothing can cause a loss of salvation  and the fact that we are hid with Christ in God makes the believer totally secure.  For those who believe you can lose your salvation, it is obvious they have no clue as to what happened on Calvary and who died there.  But then again why would they since free willers only focus on themselves.

 

Summary

From the information we have gathered in this article from the Bible, it is obvious that free will is another Gospel.  It does not adhere to the teachings of Scripture instead exalts man and his mythical free will as having authority even over God believing that they have to give Him permission to work in their lives.  Free will is a total myth and does not exist in the Scriptures in any form concerning salvation.  The only time man had free will was in the Garden of Eden and look where that got us.  I have been told that Reformed Theology is fatalism and yet the gospel that free willers teach is nowhere found in the Bible.  They must take verses out of context and give an erroneous interpretation to make their non-existent belief system palatable to the hearers.  Free will is a total lie in that it seeks to exalt man rather than God.  We in the Reformed community laud God for our salvation knowing it was totally of Him.  The free willers can only laud themselves for saving themselves.  Free will is a cult like the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses because it is an extra-biblical teaching with a following and that is very dangerous.  I am not saying that everyone who espouses free will is unsaved because even their salvation is by grace and without their permission.  I am saying they have a very bad understanding of Scripture to the point they exude false teachings. 

 

Galatians 1:8-9 (KJV)   But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.  {9} As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

 

The warning in Galatians 1:8-9 needs to be heeded since Free Will is a false gospel which is taught in the majority of churches and that false gospel is accursed.  Now you understand why free willers are so hostile because the true gospel invades their territory of self-aggrandizement and pride.  They want nothing to do with the true gospel because it takes them out of the forefront and puts them in the background.  On Facebook there is one free will preacher who exalts himself so much that in his posts he places the biggest picture of himself that he can.

 

Proverbs 13:10 (KJV)   Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

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