Free Will But in Who's Realm?

We are not born God-seekers.  We are born self-indulgers and flesh-pleasers.  The only freedom one has who is dead in their trespasses and sins is found in Satan's realm.

Ephesians 2:1-3 - "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind..." 


Our drive towards sinfulness and self-indulgence takes an intervention by the Holy Spirit and God's Word to breath God's eternal life into us, transferring us from Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom.

Someone illustrated spiritual rebirth for me like this one time.  God takes our lifeless, dead hands in His.  He wraps our hands around His gift of faith and salvation, and breaths eternal life into our souls.

The death-grip of sin over us is then broken.  Our wills are free from complete bondage to the prince of the power of the air and are now under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  We go from choosing how far we desire to delve into sin to choosing how much we will bring pleasure to our Creator.  Spiritual rebirth gives us the ability to choose to live for God's glory.

I have a question for you regarding free will to choose God for salvation.  Does it make any sense that God gives us just enough spiritual life to give us the ability to choose Him and then if we don't want Him, we fall back into spiritual death?

To say we have free will to choose God for salvation makes as much sense as to say a dead body can reach out for a defibrillator and shock one's own heart into beating.

^"In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth" - James 1:18.

"Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1.

Our salvation is according to God's will, we then have the choice to excel in our pleasing Him.  Let's be all about that, for His glory!