Choose You this day

"Choose You This Day Whom You Will Serve!" Free Will? Part 2 of Arminian Proof Texts.
God was not looking for His people to make a free will choice when He spoke through Moses and Joshua in Deuteronomy 30:19 and Joshua 24:15, He was pointing up the impossibility of serving Him as Joshua was inspired to follow up in Joshua 24:15-19:
"15 ¶ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
19 And Joshua said unto the people, YE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins."
At every point God commanded Israel to obey His law perfectly He also spoke the truth of how a man is justified to them in a mystery:
Deuteronomy 30:10-15,
"10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 ¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 ¶ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;" etc.
These passages are parallel passages, in context, and both relate a law and Gospel distinction.
Both instances which seem to be commandments to keep God's covenant perfectly by 'choosing to' were impossible commandments, and so God was not wishing for the people to make an imaginary 'free will choice' to do so since He told them they would not (De 31:16.)
The other commandment allude to in both passages was to be apprehended by faith; a faith which is the gift of God, and an obedience which is a result of God writing His law within the hearts and minds of His elect; the only way any commandment can be obeyed.
Jesus speaks directly to the impossibility of doing 'good things' in accordance with the law of God to obtain anything more than the law already promises:
Matthew 19:16-26,
"16 ¶ And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, WITH MEN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE; BUT WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE."
The apostle Paul was inspired to draw from Deuteronomy to reveal the Lord's true intent when He asked the people to 'choose life,' and what 'life' the law of God promises by strictly adhering to it:
Romans 10:5-11,
"5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
Moses described the righteousness obtained by strict adherence to the law by reiterating how men would 'live by them.' That is, each member of the covenanted community of Israel, if they strictly adhered to the law, would live a longer life and not die as a consequence of law breaking.
This is the ONLY life promised to men by strictly adhering to the law of God (which is impossible, as the scriptures, and the experience of the saints both prove.)
The promise of keeping the law; keeping God's covenant; was temporal and not eternal.
But the righteousness which is of faith (Romans 10:5-11) says the same thing Moses and Joshua were inspired to say to the Israelites, which could be said like this:
"You cannot serve the Lord even if He was to bring a rule book down from above for you to follow it and do it; so don't ask Him for that! Believe that He can justify a man without the deeds of the law as He preached before to Abraham. If you ask Him for some rule to follow, you are asking the God who created all things for the worst possible thing you could ever ask; a thing impossible to obtain by your strictest adherence to it!
It is a request made in self righteousness!"
'Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed' and the essence of Romans 10:5-11 could rightly be stated, 'But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise,
Whosoever *simply* believeth on him shall not be ashamed.'
In other words, those who have been justified without the deeds of the law preach the Gospel.
This is the meaning of the above verses applied in context, there is no other, and this is why the free will proponents corrupt the word of God and cannot prove their imaginary free will from these passages.
This is why they need to repent and believe the Good News.
Man does not have free will, and both the Deuteronomy and Joshua passages in their immediate and greater contexts prove this beyond any shadow of a doubt; far beyond making a simplistic case for free will by merely grabbing proof texts from the Bible.
Man is justified by faith in Christ without the deeds of the law.
2nd Corinthians 2:14-17,
"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."
~David Hobson.
SDG
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