The way I see it, Steve, is that the father's discipline does not diminish the free will of the child. It influences the child to make choices which differ from those he otherwise might make. Even with the discipline, the child has the free will to still make the wrong choices. I have seen this in operation among my own children. Some of them were influenced by my discipline and made better choices as a consequent. Others continued to make bad choices in spite of the discipline.
The difference wasn't that those who made better choices lost some of their free will and those who didn't kept all of the free will they had. Rather, the difference was that the former, influenced by the discipline, chose the better, while the latter, willingly and intentionally chose to reject the influence of the discipline, and continued to choose the bad. In both cases, the free will of my children was not diminished by the discipline. Rather in both cases, they all exercised their free will, choosing one way or the other.
Thus it is with the discipline, as well as the enabling grace of the Lord. We can accept or reject His discipline. We can coöperate with the enabling grace of the Lord and so overcome, or we can choose our own way, and His grace will be of no effect.
Why did the serpent tempt Eve instead of Adam?
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Paidion
Avatar --- Age 45
"Not one soul will ever be redeemed from hell but by being saved from his sins, from the evil in him." --- George MacDonald
Avatar --- Age 45
"Not one soul will ever be redeemed from hell but by being saved from his sins, from the evil in him." --- George MacDonald