I've attempted to answer most of the comments and questions posed by William, Joe, Fred and Marie. Apologies if I haven't answered all of them.
(1) WILLIAM:
You asked:
> "Could you show from scripture that man has free-will?"
It is implicit in the creation of man in the image of God that we possess a free-will.
Man being created in the natural likeness of God presupposes that he was created with a relative amount of autonomy to rule over the lower order of creation (Gen. 1:28). And man being created in the moral likeness of God (cf. Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10) presupposes that he was created with the faculty or ability to either obey or disobey God. The intellectual and moral responsibility of man is indispensable to the existence of free will, even after the fall of man and entrance of sin into the world.
Even with an inherited sinful nature, Cain was a free moral agent who had the ability to master sin by not murdering Abel (Gen. 4:7). So although the image of God in man is corrupted and distorted because of the fall, he nevertheless continues to reflect the moral image and likeness of God (Gen. 9:6; Jas. 3:9).
> "If Gods purpose was to save the entire world, did He fail?"
As a Calvinist I also used to reason this way: If God desires that all should be saved, but we know that all are not saved, then God's will must be thwarted (but, of course, I couldn't believe that humanistic Arminian interpretation!!!). So, either (1) God truly desires, out of his benevolence, that all should be saved (cf. Ezek. 18:23, 32), but it is not his elective purpose to save all. Or (2) "all" does not refer to every individual person, but rather, to classes or groups (v. 2).
However, (2) does not hold water since groups are made up of all individuals. And (1) is extremely puzzling and illogical, for God desires that all should be saved, and yet, he witholds his saving grace from them!
(2) JOE:
> "If He knows them (which He does) and permits them (yes free decisions--), how can He not be the Determiner (in some form) of them all?"
Determiner of free decisions in what sense? In God being the First Cause of those decisions?
Loraine Boettner says that God foreknows what will occur because he has, according to his good pleasure, "freely and unchangeably foreordain[ed] whatever comes to pass" (Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, p. 46). In other words, God foresees all events and actions because they have been fixed and rendered certain according to his good pleasure – "the great first cause".
Therefore, it is my contention that if Calvinists maintain that human actions are fixed and set, not according to God's foreknowledge of them, but according to his good pleasure, then the Calvinian claim that God only permits sin is totally misleading. In the end, God is the first cause of all human actions, including sinful ones.
> "Do you believe in a god who is not all-knowing or have an exhaustive knowledge of the future (called, open theism)? Is this your theology, if so please provide personal biblical proof and exegesis?"
No, I do not believe in Open Theism. In my post to Janean, I said that OP is aberrant. God is all-knowing.
> "Man is not a puppet..."
If man can make a free decision, then by definition, it was possible for him to decide otherwise. But Calvinian theology says that man's decisions are determined by an unconditional, efficacious decree. In my estimation this does indeed make man a puppet on the strings of causal determinism.
> " ... but, the Scripture also teaches that God is not a puppet, but you make Him one with you definition of free decisions, for God in your estimation must not know the future."
As I said above: I believe that God does know the future. God is not a puppet. God foreknows all of the future free decisions of man, and, in lieu of his foreknowledge of them, he sometimes turns the hearts of men (Pro. 21:1) or prevents them from fulfilling their plans (Pro. 16:9) in order to accomplish his own purposes (Pro. 19:21). Man's freedom is limited. God is still sovereign.
(3) FRED:
> "There is just way too much stuff to handle at once..."
Totally agree... but we seem to be progressing <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
> "The Bible is clear that all men will die and the reason we die is due to our sin. Would you agree with that?"
Of course. By the way, sorry to hear of your father's death. I'm glad to hear that he knew the Lord. My wife and I have just been to visit a friend in hospital who is dying of cancer. What the disease has done to her body is pretty horrific. Please pray for Margie as she is not a Christian, but it is clear that the Holy Spirit is working in her life as she is afraid to die and wants to know more about God and Jesus Christ. My wife shared the gospel with her and we prayed for her salvation (in her presence). We've given her a book by John Blanchard, "Ultimate Questions". (Heard of it?)
As you pointed out, at some time death will be knocking on all of our bodies unless the Lord returns.
I believe, however, that you may have misunderstood my point about Leigh's death because I am not suggesting "that it is cruel of God to allow anyone to die at all". Perhaps you will understand my point if I ask the following questions:
(i) Did God foreknow what would happen to Leigh, and permitted it? (ii). Did God foreordain the means to Leigh's death? (Remember, according to Calvinists, foreordination is not based on God's foreknowledge because God is the First Cause of "whatsoever will come to pass".) (iii) Did God bring about the decisions of the kidnappers to murder Leigh? (iv) If God did not foreordain the kidnapper's decision to murder Leigh, could they have chosen otherwise?
Just a simple "yes" or "no" to each question would suffice (and be much appreciated).
(4) MARIE / Semper Reformanda
> "So God's will can be thwarted? Is God really in charge, if God's purposes can be thwarted?"
Yes, God's will can be thwarted (Lk. 7:30; Acts 7:51). And, yes, God is in charge in spite of the sinful actions of men (Gen. 50:20). It is not God's will for us to plot murder or sell people into slavery againt their will (as in the case of Joseph's brothers), but God used their sinful actions to bring about his ultimate purpose: "the saving of many lives". However, in order to accomplish his purpose, God did not bring about the evil thoughts or actions of Joseph's brothers. Yet, Calvinian theologians would have us believe that God did (John Frame & RC Sproul). This would make God the author of sin.
> "If God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, to those called according to His purpose, then doesn't it follow that God is in control of all things? According to this passage, if Leigh had a Christian sibling or was a Christian herself, Leigh's death was for the good."
Yes, if Leigh was a Christian, I believe that God WORKED, not CAUSED, this situation for the good, especially in lieu of the fact that she would be with him in heaven. I'm not disputing God's sovereignty. Please see my response to Fred and my questions to him.
> "I found this interesting in that the Psalmist attests God's sovereignty, and then he attests to the fact that man is responbsible for his own sin."
Yes, God does whatever he pleases. But does he cause men to sin? Calvinists would answer no, but then, affirm (their view of) sovereignty by saying that God does foreordain sin. You can't have it both ways.
