[QUOTE="Yusuke420"]I'm sorry I don't understand that at all, explain this "freed will". Not picking a fight, but I'm curious to hear this arguement as it is very rare to have people of faith actually have a conversation that might confict with their beliefs. mindstorm
Different Christians have different beliefs on this topic. I essentially believe the same thing St. Augustine and people like Martin Luther believed on the topic though the entire Catholic church and many Protestants would disagree with my own perspective. Essentially, Christians debate fate vs. free will. How are we to understand the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility especially in light of us following God? Rather than there being a chicken or the egg question within Christianity, there is the question of whether we seek after God first or whether God seeks after us first.
I personally put a heavy emphasis on the idea that God is sovereign. The idea goes as this. We, all of humanity, are from conception tainted with sin. Sin is not simply bad things that we do but it is a part of our very essence. Sin is a curse that causes us to seek after a selfish will that seeks to make a name for ourselves rather than showing the greatness of God himself. We therefore seek after our pleasures and happiness in created things rather than the Creator himself. We therefore have confined wills, wills that are corrupted and not as powerful as we would like to believe. Ever wonder why you do the things that you do not want to do? This is why. We have wills and are responsible for our actions. However, our wills are burdened by the weight of sin.
God lifts that sin. Through this burden being lifted we can then finally seek after God. This is the "freed will" that I speak of. Through through power of God within us we are freed from the bondage of sin and are then capable of seeking after the good will of God our Father. This freedom is only partial in this life but is made complete at the return of Christ. In that day we will be given new bodies, new natures, and we will be able to freely do the will of God.
I Amen what Mindstorm said. I consider myself a Calvinist and a follower of Augustinianism and agree with what has been said.
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