In article <153.21.08.05.422694000@srcbs.org>, Bob Felts says...
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>
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>Matthew Johnson wrote:
>
>> In article <151.00.15.05.309505000@srcbs.org>, Bob Felts says...
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Gary McNees wrote:
>> >[...]
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Thus, as I have repeatedly stated before, God gave the GOOD gift
>> >> of free will, and man by misusing it sins.
>> >>
>> >
>> >Knowing full well what will happen, I give a gun to one man which he
>> >uses to shoot game to provide food for his family. He takes a good gift
>> >and uses it wisely.
>> >
>> >Again, knowing full well what will happen, I give a gun to another man
>> >who uses it to shoot his wife and children.
>> >
>> >Does "free will" absolve me in the second case?
>>
>> Does it absolve YOU? No. But you are not God. So the argument is QUITE
>> irrelevant.
>>
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>So how does "free will" not absolve me, but allegedly absolves God?

It does not absolve you, because you did not create the sinner. Nor do you have
the ability to arrange whatever happens in the world to create a good outcome
even out of our evil. But God has this ability, and really does this. So He has
the right, and you do not.

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Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
quidquid boni habet, tribuat illi a quo factus est.
(St. Augustine, Ser. 96)

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According to the footnotes in the Ryrie Study Bible,

"6:4-6 This much-debated passage has been understood in several ways.
(1) Arminians hold that the people described in these verses are
Christians who actually lose their salvation. If this be so, notice
that the passage also teaches that it is impossible to be saved a
second time.
(2) Some hold that the passage refers not to genuine believers but to
those who only profess to be believers. Thus the phrases in verses 4-5
are understood to refer to experiences short of salvation (cf. v. 9).
The "falling away" is from the knowledge of the truth, not personal
possession of it.
(3) Others understand the passage to be a warning to genuine believers
to urge them on in Christian growth and maturity. To "fall away" is
impossible (since, according to this view, true believers are eternally
secure), but the phrase is placed in the sentence to strengthen the
warning. It is similar to saying something like this to a class of
students: "It is impossible for a student, once enrolled in this
course, if he turns the clock back which cannot be