“A big question is... can we, on our own, decide to reject God?”
Well, I think the answer is yes. Why?
“6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” - Gen 4
“46And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” - Acts 13
” 28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” - Matt 21
There again, Jesus presents us as having a choice: “And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went...And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.” There is no hint that God forced one son to go, and held the other back. Instead, it is obvious the sons are exercising their own choice - and Jesus then compares that to the salvation of the religious leaders vs the scum: “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
Again, no hint of compulsion, or that God had made the choice for these folks before time.
And yet, it is also obvious it is God reaching to us: “A man had two sons. And he went to the first and...John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him”.
God innitiates it all. We make a choice - we believe what God presents to us (faith) or reject it (unbelief). And that response to God is what brings us into his grace, or leaves us outside: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
***“A big question is... can we, on our own, decide to reject God?”
Well, I think the answer is yes. Why?***
That, in my book, would make us superior to God. It is OUR choice that determines our destination. This I do not believe. I believe that God chose from the beginning of creation who would be his children, and then works to make it so.
Can anyone surprise God, either way? Will God be walking through Heaven and suddenly stop and say “How the heck did YOU get in?” Or will he ever say, “Gee I sure wish Bob would have made a better choice.”