"Yes -- We Do Have Freedom of Choice"

Deut 6:6 ...the place which the LORD thy God shall choose [977] to place his
name...

Deoteronomy has many more verses referring to "the place where the LORD God shall
choose to place his name".

Joshua 24:15 ...choose [977] you this day whom ye will serve...

Joshua clearly tells the people of Israel to make a "choice". Either God is
giving them a choice to make, or the scriptures do not mean what they clearly
(obviously no allegory here) say.

1Samuel 2:28 And did I (God) choose [977] him out of all the tribes of Israel to
be my priest...

God chooses Samuel

2Samuel 24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three
things; choose [977] thee (David) one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

God tells David to choose one of 3 choices. This is where some would fall back on
the old "God already knew what David would choose" stand-by. I believe God means
what he says -- David had to choose.

Neh 9:7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose[977] Abram

God chose Abram and found Abram to be faithful, in that he obeyed God by leaving
Ur when God told him to. Abram could have chosen to disobey and God would have
chosen someone else......Remember King Saul; God chose him but he became
disobedient, so God raised up [chose] another in his place, King David.

Proverb 1:29 For that, they hated knowledge, and did not choose [977] the fear of
the LORD...

In verses 7 (fools despise wisdom) and 10 (sinners entice thee) and 19 (everyone
that is greedy of gain) and 22 (simple ones, scorners, fools) we find who "they"
are. These were given a choice: verse 24 says "...I have called, and ye
refused..." The fact that God "called" them and they "refused" his call shows that
they made a choice. God did not force them to refuse. Here again some would say
"God knew they would refuse before he called them so that is why he called them".
Can't you see the fallacy in this reasoning?
God gave man choices to make from the very beginning. Adam chose Eve over all
the animals to have as an helpmate!

Isaiah 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he (boy Jesus) may know to
refuse the evil, and choose [977] the good.

I believe this refers to Yeshua growing up in a righteous, God-fearing family

instead of an unrighteous, sin-loving family. This scripture tells us that
children must be taught the difference between good and evil in order to make the
right "choices".

Isaiah 66:4 I (God) also will choose [977] their delusions... because they
(whosoever)... chose [977] that in which I delighted not.
This verse shows both man choosing to disregard God's laws and God choosing to
recompense them with delusions, fears, etc.

Philemon 1:22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet
what I (Paul) shall choose I wot not.
(This is the only verse in the New Testament that mentions the word "choose".)

In truth, there are only 2 choices in every situation: right or wrong, good or
evil, obey or disobey, heaven or this world, life or death, God or satan. These
same 2 choices have been ours to make from the time that God put man in the Garden
of Eden.

Not only are we allowed to choose, we must choose. To not choose is to be

"lukewarm" and is like disregarding God's instruction in all the previous verses I
quoted.

Of course "God works things after the counsel of his own will"; the creator
does not ask what he made to advise him on what to do with it. God speaks with
himself, and advises himself. However, it pleased God to give man a choice to
choose His (God's) ways or to not choose His (God's) ways.

There are many instances in scripture where God intervenes and directs men and
events. This is to bring about his divine plan for mankind (after the counsel of
his own will).

The only way that God knows that we love him is because we choose him over the
things of this world. In this world we know if someone loves us if they choose us
instead of someone else. If God allowed us no choice, he would never know whether
or not we truly love him.

*977 is the Strong�s dictionary number for the Hebrew word for choose.