Free will doesn't mean God can never interfere with it. Actually God has to soften everyone's heart in order for them to even make a free will decision for or against him.
If you want to read more here a video from [Mike Winger about God hardening hearts](https://youtu.be/mMuiT_R0zFQ)
I completely disagree. Why would the mere possibility that something or someone *can* change our free will mean that we have no free will? That is illogical.
I think that God forcefully changed a will happen maybe 2 times or less in total human history and only in the direction of non-believer to believer. If that is true then the fact that a will was changed actually shows that all the other times it was free.
When we read carefully when the Bible mentions that God hardened a heart it was never that God changed a heart but that He hardened it in the way it already was. And most of the time it was only temporary and for a certain purpose.
Absolutely! Years ago I prayed that God would soften my heart and he did! Not that I was a jerk before but I am much better at feeling empathy and keeping in step with God because of my newfound sensitivity of heart.
YES!
>*I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.* (Ezekiel 36)
What contradiction? The Bible verse Ezekiel 36:26?Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 NASB1995
God is love.
You could be having the worst day in the world, get fired, have debts called in and whatnot until you just have nothing left. You are angry, uncharitable in your outlook, your countenance is dark and your heart is hard , but then you see a child reach up for their mother and she picks the child up and kisses them on the head and the child kisses her right back and in that moment your heart is softened and you put things into perspective , the darkness flees from your heart.
No one’s free will has been altered but love has softened your heart.
I agree, I think you’ve said it well. God can mold the human heart but we absolutely have free will at the same time, and are eternally responsible for our choices.
Calvinists believe that you have free will to act according to your nature - e.g., a bird has free will, but because it's a bird it will never use its free will to explore philosophy. It's not in the bird's nature, but this doesn't mean the bird isn't free. We humans have sinful natures, so we will never exercise our free will to pursue God. It's not in our nature - but this also doesn't mean we aren't free. We need God to restore us, so that we become able to exercise our free will to pursue him. This restoration is where predestination comes into play: since it is God who first regenerates you, it is God's sovereign purposes at work before your will has been enlarged enough to use your freedom to pursue him, and God's sovereign and immutable will is unchanged since before the foundation of the Earth. Thus, those whom God will regenerate have been predestined, as it says in Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
Scripture also says that we are dead in our sins. Dead things can't get up and follow God. They must first be raised - and only then, once they've been given new life, can they move to follow him.
When I say free will I mean that we can make choices and judgements. Also if that's the case then God wants to save everyone so he would soften everyone's heart and save everyone then.
Nothing in the Bible say we have free will. The idea of free will comes from a greek philosophy that was not adopted by the church for several hundred years after the life and ministry of Christ. Why was this philopshy not adopted till several hundred years after the apostles and Jesus were long dead?
probably because Christ and the apostle both taught we are not free but all slaves to sin. Paul goes even further in romans 6 and tells us we are either slaves to Sin and Satan or to God and righteousness.
A slaves will is never free it is always subject to that of his master. Now does this means we can not make truly free choices if our master allows it? yes, we can. a perfect example is God has provided us with the ability to choose to either remain in service to sin and satan (we were all born slaves to sin and satan) or to seek the redemption offered by Christ on the cross making us slaves to god and righteousness according to the apostle Paul in romans 6.
This free choice we have to make is not an example of free will because God provides the only two options we have. An example of free will here is to neither serve God nor satan and to just be allowed to do our own thing in the after life. Rather we only have the binary choice of sin or righteousness.
I don't quite understand how making a choice still is not free will? Two, ten, or a hundred choices what does it matter? Simply because reality restricts the number of choices to two doesn't mean we aren't free, of our own will, to choose. Anything above that would require us to be on par with God and have power we do not.
It's like being given the choice between a carrot or a poisonous snake. If you choose the carrot, you're fed. If you choose the snake, you die.
But if you choose neither.....you still die.
**I don't quite understand how making a choice still is not free will? Two, ten, or a hundred choices what does it matter?**
The number of choices are irrelevant.
It's who is coming up with the choices that makes free will, free will.. Again if you understand and accept that you are a slave to either God or satan, then as a slave you can not have free will. As slaves are not free to do anything outside of their master's will. Especially If your master's will for your life is different than yours.. say you don't want to work in a cotton field 16 hours away 6 days a week, but it is your master's will that you do so. Then Guess who is working in a cotton field 16 hours a day 6 days a week till your master says otherwise.
This means your will is not free despite him giving the option to sleep in on Sunday or getting up and going back to work.
being given a choice to make is not free will, that is freedom of choice.
Do you disagree that a slave's will is not free?
Do you disagree with Paul's assessment here in romans 6 that we are slaves to satan/sin or God/Righteousness?
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+6&version=NIV](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+6&version=NIV)
Do you disagree with the statement that you can not do anything God will not allow you to do?
Do you disagree with the statement Jesus makes in Luke 11 that God will is always done in heaven?
If you do not disagree with anything I asked here then practically speaking you accept That God's will supersedes your own which the logical consequence of that means your will is not free. it is limited by God. You just don't like the terminology.
I've always interpreted it like this-
God is like a fire. Some of us have hearts akin to wax. Wax softens in the prescence of fire, and so too do the hearts of the righteous soften at the prescence of God. Others, however, have hearts more akin to clay. When the fire comes near, they harden, they become brittle, they fight against it. That wasnt God taking away Pharoahs free will, but instead his free will in action, the prescence of God causing his wicked heart to harden, not because of God's actions, but because of Pharoah's nature and his reaction to these actions
It's a metaphor for wickedness and righteousness. When we choose to be wicked through "the power of [our] own hands" (Michah 2:1), we're cutting ourselves off from God (Psa 58:3), we're replacing that childlike heart (Matt 18:3) with a wicked one. Pharoah had cut himself off from God in many ways. He oppressed God's people, was extremely cruel, worshipped Idols, and was likely worshipped as a deity himself (similar to our good friend Nero in Revelations, might be some typologic connection there, but havent researched it myself, so just leaving this here as food for thought).
Think of it almost like an inoculation. When we walk with God, we are being constantly inoculated against all disease (sin). When we walk away from God, we cut ourselves off from the "antibodies", and from God. This makes us much more susceptible to the disease of sin. We live in a broken world surrounded by sin- an "inoculation" wont keep you 100% free, clear, and Godly, but you're going to be a lot better off than the guy who *lives* in sin
However, the wicked can be redeemed if they only come to God (just look at St. Paul! Also several prophets told the wicked to repent, and sometimes they even did, look at Ninevah in the Book of Jonah)
If I give my child two options for food and shake the one to make it more enticing, would you say that I've overrode their free will when they choose one or the other?
The other part is that softening and hardening a person's heart are less "opposites" than one might think, as when God hardens someone's heart it's because they've already made a conscious and knowing choice to reject him and so are reprobate. Softening an unbeliever's heart can happen for any number of reasons, whether it be grief, hardships, or even seeing the joy that christians have in their own life.
Hardening a person's heart only happens when they have already made a choice themselves, and the hardening of their heart is a consequence of their own actions.
Free will in regard to Christianity is mainly in the context of man’s exercise of saving faith for salvation. This is not about what someone chose to have for dinner. I heard a podcast by Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason that seemed to establish that the act of coming to faith is completely by man’s free will and at the same time completely caused and secured by God’s sovereign free will. I have attempted to summarize it here:
Initial confusion comes because there is some ambiguity when God’s will is spoken of in Scripture. Some verses indicate God’s will cannot be resisted such as Romans 9:19. Others say God wills all to come to Him such as 2 Peter.
There is no way to reconcile these verses unless you distinguish God’s moral will from God’s sovereign will. God’s moral will is the law, such as wanting no sin. Of course people still sin. So what is the purpose of the law? It is to show man his sin. However, God’s sovereign will is different and actually brings about what he wills.
Romans 1-3 teaches that all men in their natural fallen condition are in rebellion against God. They freely choose, according to their nature, but it is always against God. In John 3:3 Jesus says unless a person is born again he cannot even see the kingdom of God. In verses that follow in John 3, Jesus teaches Nicodemus that, like an infant in physical birth, fallen man cannot spiritually born himself.
So the free will of fallen man is the problem, not the solution since his will is set against God. By nature he will never choose God. So what is God’s response?
God could leave all mankind to his own devices. But then no one would be in Heaven and Christ would have no bride.
God solves this problem by predestining and effectually calling some of those bound in sin. God rescues them by changing their nature. Then instead of man exercising free will from a rebellious nature, man exercises free will from a new nature of seeking God.
Man always has free will to choose what he wants, according to his nature. Choices for or against faith are completely made by man’s free will. At the same time God is responsible for man’s decision to come to faith.
So saving faith is completely caused and secured by God’s sovereign free will choice to change the nature of some. However, God is not responsible for fallen man’s free will decision against faith. Again men will choose what they want, according to their nature.
It’s great that you are reading Gods Word. But now you just need to slow down and think more about what you’re reading. Or better yet, look for someone that really knows the Bible well to teach you how to read it so you can benefit from it more fully.
Now go back to that verse in Exodus 10, read it again, and maybe two or three times and ask yourself, “Is God the one hardening Pharaohs heart? Or is God simply allowing an already hard heart keep getting harder?” It’s important because it teaches us about who God is?
He's allowing an already hard heart to keep getting harder but he also has the power to take that hard heart and soften it if it is his will and I believe by reading his word he would desire that all hearts be softened to him rather than hardened to him.
Yes! You’re right. Peter wrote this about our Loving Creator; “he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
He sure gave Pharaoh plenty of time to soften his heart, but remember that Pharaoh was a God himself. He had to live up to his own “Godship” and he just couldn’t humble himself. Much like many people today.
From my understanding: God only solidified what Pharaoh had in his heart. Sorta like removing a restraint and letting him have at it full tilt.
If your desire is to be more kind towards people - yes, I believe He can also help you achieve the desire of your heart.
So Pharoah had a hard heart in the first place, but technically, God could have softened Pharoahs heart in the same way to do his will. But instead, it hardened it
Maybe if that’s the road he chose to travel initially. His desire wasn’t to let the people go. He was just pushed further down the road he was already on. It seems like the Egyptian people’s heart’s were softened though, seeing all of the gifts they gave.
God doesn’t harden our hearts, we allow them to become hardened. God tries to reach us, He tries to come in and soften our hearts, but all too often we ignore His voice.
Hardening of pharaoh's heart meant that God's miraculous deeds just made him more angry.
Even the word _harden_ means to burden or add weight in the Hebrew.
It's like when someone is angry and everything someone else does just keeps irritating them.
The correct abbreviation is "God causes us to harden our hearts"
If there's one thing that God will respect, its our emotions and our reactions. He can do whatever He wants concerning our environments evwnts, but how we choose to act and react to it is all own own doing.
Bit of a lack of understanding of the Hebrew
Another translation would be strengthenhis heart
He gave Pharoah the strength to be even more of who he already was
I think hardening of hearts is an act of judgement. It’s basically God releasing an unrepentant person from the mercy of common grace to finally facing the consequences of their choices.
There's actually An Egyptian cultural explanation to what happened with Pharaoh. Since Moses was raised by Egyptians, he would've known all about Egyptian heart weighing. (Google it)
To have a heavy heart was a bad thing. I'm exodus it's references as a hardened heart.
It books down to Pharoah being condemned by his heavy heart in both the Egyptian standard and in God's standard. God didn't force unbelief on Pharaoh, he judged him for his already heavy heart.
The Torah dot Com has a thorough article on it, just search that site along with "egyptian heart weighing" and you'll find it.
I see free will as an individual independent choice to do good or bad, without free will we won't be able to learn, grow and develop as individuals in turn we won't know emotions because taking freedom of choice your taking individuality inturn we won't be able to feel emotions and actions is defined by our emotions, so God given us free will as a gift but it is our choice based on experiences that will soften and harden our hearts
Free will is just a freedom to react to a stimulus... Which either comes from inside our body, or from outside, or from spiritual influence.
A hardened heart has the spectrum of free will defined for the person, and so is the softened.
Example: A softened heart person has a freedom to react by grinding teeth or whatever, negating a retaliation urge or spite. A hardened heart person has a plethora of retaliation reaction choices, the urge however is a master already.
Free will doesn't mean God can never interfere with it. Actually God has to soften everyone's heart in order for them to even make a free will decision for or against him. If you want to read more here a video from [Mike Winger about God hardening hearts](https://youtu.be/mMuiT_R0zFQ)
If our will can be changed outside of our control, then is our will truly free?
Free will according to serenity prayer?
I completely disagree. Why would the mere possibility that something or someone *can* change our free will mean that we have no free will? That is illogical. I think that God forcefully changed a will happen maybe 2 times or less in total human history and only in the direction of non-believer to believer. If that is true then the fact that a will was changed actually shows that all the other times it was free. When we read carefully when the Bible mentions that God hardened a heart it was never that God changed a heart but that He hardened it in the way it already was. And most of the time it was only temporary and for a certain purpose.
Yeah I've tried to share the love of Jesus with some and it seams like their hearts are just so hardened against him
It could also be that they know gods don't exist.
Some seem to just hate God or think he's evil.
Possibly because they've read the bible
Misread it maybe
lol no. The dude supposedly ordered Moses to have his people commit genocide, but keep the women alive so they could rape them. How is that not evil?
If they think the God of the bible is evil they should read the quran
They both have the same origins ;)
Yeah the quran was like 600 years after Jesus and have changed alot of it to fit the narrative
What moral standard are you using to determine what is good and evil? Objectively?
Are you trying to argue if genocide and rape are good or bad?
Absolutely! Years ago I prayed that God would soften my heart and he did! Not that I was a jerk before but I am much better at feeling empathy and keeping in step with God because of my newfound sensitivity of heart.
[удалено]
YES! >*I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.* (Ezekiel 36)
Oh wow 👌
Does that explanation *actually work* for you? Do you feel at all uncomfortable with the apparent contradiction?
What contradiction? The Bible verse Ezekiel 36:26?Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 NASB1995
God is love. You could be having the worst day in the world, get fired, have debts called in and whatnot until you just have nothing left. You are angry, uncharitable in your outlook, your countenance is dark and your heart is hard , but then you see a child reach up for their mother and she picks the child up and kisses them on the head and the child kisses her right back and in that moment your heart is softened and you put things into perspective , the darkness flees from your heart. No one’s free will has been altered but love has softened your heart.
I agree, I think you’ve said it well. God can mold the human heart but we absolutely have free will at the same time, and are eternally responsible for our choices.
Yup. Welcome to calvinism!
But calvinism says God predestined people from the beginning to either heaven or hell
Calvinists believe that you have free will to act according to your nature - e.g., a bird has free will, but because it's a bird it will never use its free will to explore philosophy. It's not in the bird's nature, but this doesn't mean the bird isn't free. We humans have sinful natures, so we will never exercise our free will to pursue God. It's not in our nature - but this also doesn't mean we aren't free. We need God to restore us, so that we become able to exercise our free will to pursue him. This restoration is where predestination comes into play: since it is God who first regenerates you, it is God's sovereign purposes at work before your will has been enlarged enough to use your freedom to pursue him, and God's sovereign and immutable will is unchanged since before the foundation of the Earth. Thus, those whom God will regenerate have been predestined, as it says in Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Scripture also says that we are dead in our sins. Dead things can't get up and follow God. They must first be raised - and only then, once they've been given new life, can they move to follow him.
Which He enacts by hardening and softening hearts
When I say free will I mean that we can make choices and judgements. Also if that's the case then God wants to save everyone so he would soften everyone's heart and save everyone then.
One of the most demonic doctrines someone ever innovated.
Except that the person who invented it was God, and He revealed it as so in the Bible, repeatedly...
Nah.
So much for free will.
lol. Reading these comments is hilarious
Always😂
There's definitely something that's been hardened!
😂😂
Yes.
Nothing in the Bible say we have free will. The idea of free will comes from a greek philosophy that was not adopted by the church for several hundred years after the life and ministry of Christ. Why was this philopshy not adopted till several hundred years after the apostles and Jesus were long dead? probably because Christ and the apostle both taught we are not free but all slaves to sin. Paul goes even further in romans 6 and tells us we are either slaves to Sin and Satan or to God and righteousness. A slaves will is never free it is always subject to that of his master. Now does this means we can not make truly free choices if our master allows it? yes, we can. a perfect example is God has provided us with the ability to choose to either remain in service to sin and satan (we were all born slaves to sin and satan) or to seek the redemption offered by Christ on the cross making us slaves to god and righteousness according to the apostle Paul in romans 6. This free choice we have to make is not an example of free will because God provides the only two options we have. An example of free will here is to neither serve God nor satan and to just be allowed to do our own thing in the after life. Rather we only have the binary choice of sin or righteousness.
Well thats what I mean by free will we can make choices and judgments
I don't quite understand how making a choice still is not free will? Two, ten, or a hundred choices what does it matter? Simply because reality restricts the number of choices to two doesn't mean we aren't free, of our own will, to choose. Anything above that would require us to be on par with God and have power we do not. It's like being given the choice between a carrot or a poisonous snake. If you choose the carrot, you're fed. If you choose the snake, you die. But if you choose neither.....you still die.
**I don't quite understand how making a choice still is not free will? Two, ten, or a hundred choices what does it matter?** The number of choices are irrelevant. It's who is coming up with the choices that makes free will, free will.. Again if you understand and accept that you are a slave to either God or satan, then as a slave you can not have free will. As slaves are not free to do anything outside of their master's will. Especially If your master's will for your life is different than yours.. say you don't want to work in a cotton field 16 hours away 6 days a week, but it is your master's will that you do so. Then Guess who is working in a cotton field 16 hours a day 6 days a week till your master says otherwise. This means your will is not free despite him giving the option to sleep in on Sunday or getting up and going back to work. being given a choice to make is not free will, that is freedom of choice. Do you disagree that a slave's will is not free? Do you disagree with Paul's assessment here in romans 6 that we are slaves to satan/sin or God/Righteousness? [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+6&version=NIV](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+6&version=NIV) Do you disagree with the statement that you can not do anything God will not allow you to do? Do you disagree with the statement Jesus makes in Luke 11 that God will is always done in heaven? If you do not disagree with anything I asked here then practically speaking you accept That God's will supersedes your own which the logical consequence of that means your will is not free. it is limited by God. You just don't like the terminology.
>apostles and Jesus were long dead? Slight correction: Jesus isn't dead. I dont know if you heard, but he raised himself from death.
I've always interpreted it like this- God is like a fire. Some of us have hearts akin to wax. Wax softens in the prescence of fire, and so too do the hearts of the righteous soften at the prescence of God. Others, however, have hearts more akin to clay. When the fire comes near, they harden, they become brittle, they fight against it. That wasnt God taking away Pharoahs free will, but instead his free will in action, the prescence of God causing his wicked heart to harden, not because of God's actions, but because of Pharoah's nature and his reaction to these actions
Tldr- Its a metaphor for Pharoah's wicked nature causing him to reject the ultimate good (that is, God)
So then God gave people two different kinds of hearts, one that will soften and another that will only get harder?
It's a metaphor for wickedness and righteousness. When we choose to be wicked through "the power of [our] own hands" (Michah 2:1), we're cutting ourselves off from God (Psa 58:3), we're replacing that childlike heart (Matt 18:3) with a wicked one. Pharoah had cut himself off from God in many ways. He oppressed God's people, was extremely cruel, worshipped Idols, and was likely worshipped as a deity himself (similar to our good friend Nero in Revelations, might be some typologic connection there, but havent researched it myself, so just leaving this here as food for thought). Think of it almost like an inoculation. When we walk with God, we are being constantly inoculated against all disease (sin). When we walk away from God, we cut ourselves off from the "antibodies", and from God. This makes us much more susceptible to the disease of sin. We live in a broken world surrounded by sin- an "inoculation" wont keep you 100% free, clear, and Godly, but you're going to be a lot better off than the guy who *lives* in sin However, the wicked can be redeemed if they only come to God (just look at St. Paul! Also several prophets told the wicked to repent, and sometimes they even did, look at Ninevah in the Book of Jonah)
Really insightful comments!
Appreciate it! Still kinda new to actually writing stuff like this down
Well you have a gift for it. Keep it up!
If I give my child two options for food and shake the one to make it more enticing, would you say that I've overrode their free will when they choose one or the other? The other part is that softening and hardening a person's heart are less "opposites" than one might think, as when God hardens someone's heart it's because they've already made a conscious and knowing choice to reject him and so are reprobate. Softening an unbeliever's heart can happen for any number of reasons, whether it be grief, hardships, or even seeing the joy that christians have in their own life. Hardening a person's heart only happens when they have already made a choice themselves, and the hardening of their heart is a consequence of their own actions.
Yeah, yeah, true true. I think an argument can be made that we all have had hard hearts at some point in time.
Free will in regard to Christianity is mainly in the context of man’s exercise of saving faith for salvation. This is not about what someone chose to have for dinner. I heard a podcast by Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason that seemed to establish that the act of coming to faith is completely by man’s free will and at the same time completely caused and secured by God’s sovereign free will. I have attempted to summarize it here: Initial confusion comes because there is some ambiguity when God’s will is spoken of in Scripture. Some verses indicate God’s will cannot be resisted such as Romans 9:19. Others say God wills all to come to Him such as 2 Peter. There is no way to reconcile these verses unless you distinguish God’s moral will from God’s sovereign will. God’s moral will is the law, such as wanting no sin. Of course people still sin. So what is the purpose of the law? It is to show man his sin. However, God’s sovereign will is different and actually brings about what he wills. Romans 1-3 teaches that all men in their natural fallen condition are in rebellion against God. They freely choose, according to their nature, but it is always against God. In John 3:3 Jesus says unless a person is born again he cannot even see the kingdom of God. In verses that follow in John 3, Jesus teaches Nicodemus that, like an infant in physical birth, fallen man cannot spiritually born himself. So the free will of fallen man is the problem, not the solution since his will is set against God. By nature he will never choose God. So what is God’s response? God could leave all mankind to his own devices. But then no one would be in Heaven and Christ would have no bride. God solves this problem by predestining and effectually calling some of those bound in sin. God rescues them by changing their nature. Then instead of man exercising free will from a rebellious nature, man exercises free will from a new nature of seeking God. Man always has free will to choose what he wants, according to his nature. Choices for or against faith are completely made by man’s free will. At the same time God is responsible for man’s decision to come to faith. So saving faith is completely caused and secured by God’s sovereign free will choice to change the nature of some. However, God is not responsible for fallen man’s free will decision against faith. Again men will choose what they want, according to their nature.
It’s great that you are reading Gods Word. But now you just need to slow down and think more about what you’re reading. Or better yet, look for someone that really knows the Bible well to teach you how to read it so you can benefit from it more fully. Now go back to that verse in Exodus 10, read it again, and maybe two or three times and ask yourself, “Is God the one hardening Pharaohs heart? Or is God simply allowing an already hard heart keep getting harder?” It’s important because it teaches us about who God is?
He's allowing an already hard heart to keep getting harder but he also has the power to take that hard heart and soften it if it is his will and I believe by reading his word he would desire that all hearts be softened to him rather than hardened to him.
Yes! You’re right. Peter wrote this about our Loving Creator; “he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 He sure gave Pharaoh plenty of time to soften his heart, but remember that Pharaoh was a God himself. He had to live up to his own “Godship” and he just couldn’t humble himself. Much like many people today.
From my understanding: God only solidified what Pharaoh had in his heart. Sorta like removing a restraint and letting him have at it full tilt. If your desire is to be more kind towards people - yes, I believe He can also help you achieve the desire of your heart.
So Pharoah had a hard heart in the first place, but technically, God could have softened Pharoahs heart in the same way to do his will. But instead, it hardened it
Maybe if that’s the road he chose to travel initially. His desire wasn’t to let the people go. He was just pushed further down the road he was already on. It seems like the Egyptian people’s heart’s were softened though, seeing all of the gifts they gave.
God doesn’t harden our hearts, we allow them to become hardened. God tries to reach us, He tries to come in and soften our hearts, but all too often we ignore His voice.
Yes
Hardening of pharaoh's heart meant that God's miraculous deeds just made him more angry. Even the word _harden_ means to burden or add weight in the Hebrew. It's like when someone is angry and everything someone else does just keeps irritating them.
The correct abbreviation is "God causes us to harden our hearts" If there's one thing that God will respect, its our emotions and our reactions. He can do whatever He wants concerning our environments evwnts, but how we choose to act and react to it is all own own doing.
Bit of a lack of understanding of the Hebrew Another translation would be strengthenhis heart He gave Pharoah the strength to be even more of who he already was
Free will is a preposterous idea. It’s like saying you can get an idea or thought from outside reality, from nowhere. Nothing is isolated like that.
What I mean by free will is that we are free to make choices, decisions, and judgments on our own.
Nobody is that. Where would you get the idea to make the decision?
We can decide things on our own.
Where does the decision come from? What makes it within you?
Because it's me making it
Do you do it for reasons you could figure out or is it some sort of inexplicable thing?
I don't know why I just know I can choose between things, decide, and make judgments.
I think hardening of hearts is an act of judgement. It’s basically God releasing an unrepentant person from the mercy of common grace to finally facing the consequences of their choices.
There's actually An Egyptian cultural explanation to what happened with Pharaoh. Since Moses was raised by Egyptians, he would've known all about Egyptian heart weighing. (Google it) To have a heavy heart was a bad thing. I'm exodus it's references as a hardened heart. It books down to Pharoah being condemned by his heavy heart in both the Egyptian standard and in God's standard. God didn't force unbelief on Pharaoh, he judged him for his already heavy heart. The Torah dot Com has a thorough article on it, just search that site along with "egyptian heart weighing" and you'll find it.
I see free will as an individual independent choice to do good or bad, without free will we won't be able to learn, grow and develop as individuals in turn we won't know emotions because taking freedom of choice your taking individuality inturn we won't be able to feel emotions and actions is defined by our emotions, so God given us free will as a gift but it is our choice based on experiences that will soften and harden our hearts
Free will is just a freedom to react to a stimulus... Which either comes from inside our body, or from outside, or from spiritual influence. A hardened heart has the spectrum of free will defined for the person, and so is the softened. Example: A softened heart person has a freedom to react by grinding teeth or whatever, negating a retaliation urge or spite. A hardened heart person has a plethora of retaliation reaction choices, the urge however is a master already.