Joshua is not warning the nation to choose their faith! He is warning those who already say they have faith, and that they believe God. The warning Joshua gives is for those who profess faith because they already know God, not to serve the gods of their fathers from old, and instead as he and his house they must choose to serve the true God Who has led them into the promised land. For if they choose the gods of their fathers before them, God will reject them just as He rejected their fathers before the flood who died in unbelief.
Before quoting a verse out of context trying to prove an unbiblical doctrine, you should consider the whole context for which it is written. Like you, others have tried to use the words from Joshua to prove fallen man has some natural ability to choose faith in Christ. Like you, they don't understand the context for which Joshua gave the chosen nation this warning. The Israelites were not warned to choose faith, they were warned to choose the One True God, and turn away from the many gods their fathers before the flood served. It's clear by their response to Joshua that they already knew and professed faith in God, yet by their spiritual adultery in turning to false gods they would soon be driven from the land they could have possessed forever IF they had simply heeded the words of God and Joshua His servant.
Joshua 24:14 (KJV) Now therefore
fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and
put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Joshua 24:15-27 (KJV) 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. And the people answered and said,
God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 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: 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. 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. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua,
Nay; but we will serve the LORD. And Joshua said unto the people,
Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said,
We are witnesses.
Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua,
The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people,
Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
Yes, through the Holy Spirit in us we are free to choose to serve God or serve gods of our own making. Much like
Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the International Bible Students Association, forerunner of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
He was an American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement.
After his death, Jehovah's Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups developed from this base.
Without the Holy Spirit in man, they will always choose to serve that which is natural to them. And natural man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, and until he/she has been born again of His Spirit in us, natural mankind has no desire to choose to serve God.
Once again you use a verse out of context trying to prove unbiblical doctrine you have been taught to believe. When the words of Moses are discerned in context it becomes apparent that Moses is telling them to choose physical life by serving the LORD thy God. And if they choose not to obey Him, they will surely physically die! You really should attempt to be more honorable with the Word of God by quoting in context.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (KJV) See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Man cannot serve the One true God if you do not believe He alone gives man eternal life!
