Joshua 24:15
Joshua 24:15 (see also John 6:37)
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. [KJV]
Dave Hunt: “What is the point of, ‘Choose you this day whom ye will serve’ (Joshua 24:15) if there is no free will?” (Debating Calvinism, p.140)
Adrian Rogers: “Jesus came to deliver you. Jesus came to set you free. He came to give you peace and power, forgiveness of sin and a home in heaven, but He will not force it upon you. The same God that gave to Lucifer the power of choice, gives to you the power of choice. ‘Choose you this day whom you will serve.’” (From the Palace to the Pit: Ezekiel 28:8, emphasis mine)
Deuteronomy 30:19-20: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Isaiah 1:15-21: “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.” [KJV]
Adrian Rogers: “God is a God who gives us the choice. Now I want to give you some Choice Principles. You are free to choose God. God says, ‘I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.’ Here you’re in the Valley of Decision. There’s a mountain of misery and a mountain of mercy. You can choose. You are free to choose. Now, I am a Calvinist to the degree that I believe that God is sovereign. But I am not a Calvinist to the degree that I believe that God does not enable anybody to choose, or that God chooses for anybody. God gives you the choice. You must choose. And God says to all of us, ‘Choose you this day.’” (Choices Made in the Valley of Decision: Joshua 8:1, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers: “Your responsibility is your response to His ability. … Now you must choose. Listen, you can’t do it without Him; He will not do it without you. You must yield. … When temptation comes, you must yield, and you will yield. That much is settled. The only question is, which way you will yield? Will you yield to Satan, or will you yield to Christ?” (Abounding Victory Thru Amazing Grace: Romans 6:6-7, emphasis mine)
Calvinists do not deny that men are given a choice. Calvinism teaches that due to the fallen nature of man, he has no moral ability to make the godly choice. Therefore, Calvinism teaches that certain men among mankind, preselected from eternity past, are given a special grace, that is, saving mercy, that none else receives, and that this saving mercy is irresistible, in that it stems from full regeneration, in these being made Born Again in order to repent, believe and become saved. Calvinism teaches that such Regenerative Grace is predetermined by Elective Grace. Ultimately, Calvinism does admit to the teaching that God unilaterally chooses on others behalf:
Calvinist, John MacArthur: “We didn’t choose Him; He chose us. We didn’t decide for Christ, in the truest sense. He decided for us.” (Understanding Election, emphasis mine)
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer: “The revealed will was that all men be saved, but the hidden will was that the greater part of mankind be damned.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.195, emphasis mine)
To the Calvinist, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” is merely the revealed will, in that God reveals that He calls all to serve Him, though by a secret will, He enables only a few to choose Him, without fail.
Arminianism does not dispute man’s fallen nature, or his moral inabilities, but rather highlights God’s saving grace that enables anyone to receive Him, though denying that it is any way irresistible, insisting that regeneration in being made Born Again is alone reserved for believers in Christ. (Ephesians 1:13)
Calvinism denies that God desires to save all men (1st Timothy 2:4; 2nd Peter 3:9), denies that Jesus died for all, and denies that Christ’s free gift of grace abounds to all men. (Romans 5:15)
