Something terrible has happened to us. We have lost all desire for God. The thoughts and desires of our heart are only evil continuously. The freedom of our will is a curse. Because we can still choose according to our desires, we choose sin and in this we become accountable to the judgment of God.
R.C. Sproul [Taken from: Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R. C. Sproul, Copyright © 1992 (Sproul), p. 180, Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.]
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If the final decision for the salvation of fallen sinners were left in the hands of fallen sinners, we would despair all hope that anyone would be saved.
R.C. Sproul
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(We without God have) wills that choose…the problem is that even though we have the power to choose, we are dead to the things of God, and as a result have no desire for the things of God. Rather, we follow a different course. We follow it willfully; we follow it freely, in the sense of doing what we want to do. But with respect to spiritual things, we are dead.
R.C. Sproul [The Purpose of God, An Exposition of Ephesians, Christian Focus Publications, 1994, p. 47]
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It always seems inexplicable to me that those who claim free will so very boldly for man should not also allow some free will to God. Why should not Jesus Christ have the right to choose his own bride?
C.H. Spurgeon
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Free will carried many a soul to hell, but never a soul to heaven.
C.H. Spurgeon
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Free will I have often heard of, but I have never seen it. I have met with will, and plenty of it, but it has either been led captive by sin or held in blessed bonds of grace.
C.H. Spurgeon
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I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, "You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself." My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will.
C.H. Spurgeon
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Once there was free will in paradise, and a terrible mess free will made there, for it spoiled all paradise and turned Adam out of the garden. Free will was once in heaven, but it turned the glorious archangel out, and a third part of the stars of heaven fell into the abyss. I want nothing to do with free will, but I will try to see whether I have got a free will within. And I find I have. Very free will to do evil, but very poor will to do that which is good.
C.H. Spurgeon
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Free-will doctrine – what does it? It magnifies man into God. It declares God's purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God's will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent on human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice, it holds God to be a debtor to sinners.
C.H. Spurgeon
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A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved.
C.H. Spurgeon
Sermons, 10.309
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We should observe that God does not send anyone to hell. It is a human's choice to experience to agony of hell. His or her own sin sends the person there, and his or her rejection of the benefits of Christ's death prevents escape. As C.S. Lewis has put it, sin is the human being saying to God throughout life, "Go away and leave me alone." Hell is God's finally saying to the human, "You may have your wish." It i
s God's leaving the person to himself or herself, as that individual has chosen.Millard Erickson
Christian Theology, Baker, 1998
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Free-will tears the reins of government out of the hands of God and robs Him of His power. It places the creatures beyond His absolute control and in some respects gives them veto power over His eternal will and purpose. It even makes it possible that angels and saints in heaven might sin, that there might again be a general rebellion in heaven such as is supposed to have occurred when Satan and the fallen angels were cast out, and that evil might become dominant or universal.
Loraine Boettner
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination ________________________________________
If God actually stood powerless before the majesty of man’s lordly will, there would be but little use to pray for Him to convert any one. It would then be more reasonable for us to direct our petitions to the man himself.
Loraine Boettner
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
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Men are not sinners because they choose to sin; they choose to sin because they are sinners.
Walter J. Chantry [Man's Will-Free Yet Bound, The Banner of Truth magazine, Issue 140, by permission Banner of Truth, CarlisleBound, PA. May 1975]
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God never forces men to act against their wills. By workings of outward providence or of inward grace, the Lord may change men's minds, but He will not coerce a human being into thoughts, words or actions.
Walter J. Chantry [Man's Will-Free Yet Bound, The Banner of Truth magazine, Issue 140, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. May 1975]
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Indeed, in conversion, a man must make a decision. We shy away from that term because in modern jargon a 'decision' has come to be identified with an outward expression, such as raising the hand or going forward to the front. While such external acts have nothing to do with forgiveness of sins, the heart must make a decision to be saved.
Walter J. Chantry [Man's Will-Free Yet Bound, The Banner of Truth magazine, Issue 140, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. May 1975]
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When a sinner refuses to come to Christ, he is guilty because he has made a free choice. It reflects his own state of mind, feeling and attitude toward GOD and His Son. He has acted voluntarily without coercion. It is his decision.
Walter J. Chantry [Man's Will-Free Yet Bound, The Banner of Truth magazine, Issue 140, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. May 1975]
