Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 8:27 pm By d2ladmin

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“Free will, though it makes evil possible, also makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” – C.S. Lewis

Free will … wow, what a topic. Do you have the free will to read this article or not to read this article or has God preordained you to read this article or not read this article? Do you have any free will at all? Oh my, the trouble of Calvinism is already upon us because according to John Calvin I have no free will to resist God’s will. According to the Calvinist version of free will, God’s sovereign will has decided whether I will be saved or whether I will not be saved and there is nothing I can do about it. I have no responsibility in the matter of my salvation. In essence, I don’t any free will at all, God is simply a cruel malevolent, manipulator of the cosmos, predetermining that some people will be eternally tormented in the lake of fire and some will live with Jesus, eternally enjoying heaven. If God is love, what kind of love is this? If you interested in a discussion on Predestination read this article Predestination or My Destination.

But don’t worry there is a bipolar opposite camp called Arminianism, which teaches that a person has the free will to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and that same person after believing has the free will to reject his salvation or his sin could cause him to loose his salvation. The teaching that man has the free will to believe in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior is Biblical correct but a person may not have actually believed in the real Jesus Christ if they think they are more powerful that Christ who holds their salvation and they can become “unsaved” by something they do. In both of these camps we have a big problem concerning the meaning of salvation, the all powerful Arminianist thinks that man’s free will is able to undo the work of God’s grace in granting a person a “new life” in Christ while the impotent Calvinists is unable to do anything to prevent or promote the disposition of their salvation. In either camp you are screwed, because if you are in the Arminianist camp you can never really be sure if you thought something that made you lose your salvation and in the Calvinist camp you don’t even have a clue or choice in the matter. Read this article about the assurance and security of our salvation in Jesus Christ can-i-loose-my-salvation.

According to the Bible, the free will of man is somewhere between these two camps. God’s deepest desire is that we repent of our sin and become saved and reconciled to Him ( 2 Peter 3:9). God’s loves each one of us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to demonstrate His love for us (John 3:16). God’s grace woos each one of us like a bridegroom woos his bride in order to establish an intimate loving relationship with Him. But God’s grace is not irresistible like the Calvinist think. God doesn’t knock someone over the head with grace like a cave man with a club and drag that person kicking and screaming into His bridal cave. Each person must respond by his own free will to the marriage proposal of God. It is the most important, all important, irrevocable decision of a person’s life. Because unlike an earthly marriage, once we are married to God we can never be divorced from God. Unlike what the Arminianist believe, the free will of a person that accepts salvation cannot afterwards reject salvation. Once a person is saved, he is always saved. That person is Spiritually “born again” in Jesus Christ and you can not be unborn Spiritually anymore than you can be unborn physically. It is a logical impossibility. God seals the believer with the Holy Spirit and not even physical death can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38). More importantly, after our physical death we will be free of our sin nature and we will finally realize the joy of being the bride of Christ. And if you are a believer and you are not honoring your marriage contract with God (by choosing self over God’s Spirit in you), you will be disciplined on earth. You can read about God’s discipline of the believer here: judgement-vs-discipline.

Frankly, from the perspective of a computer programmer, I am against free will. I spend hours writing code so there aren’t any bugs and no surprises, to think my code could change at random based on it’s own free will would make my job impossible. But God is not threatened or worried about the effects of the free will of his created beings. God sees the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), so He knows that what He creates ultimately works for good, even though part of what He creates is destroyed by the effects of free will. More importantly, even the destroyed parts of creation glorify God because “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” Roman 8:28. The person who repents and is saved from sin gets what they desire, an eternal life with God and the one who doesn’t repent gets what they desire to perish in their sin, it is God who doesn’t get what He desires, that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

It is not the “free will” that destroys us or causes us to sin or causes the evil around us but the problem lies with the one who is exercising their free will. Satan was the first of God’s created beings and the first to decide to exercise his free will in rebellion against God. Satan’s sin caused a giant ripple in the Spiritual realm. It changed Satan’s disposition from one who was “free to choose sin but had not sinned” to one who was “free to choose only to sin, to oppose God’s will and do evil”. God’s Spirit of goodness that was in Satan’s heart that was once used by Satan to praise and worship God and build God’s Kingdom was changed into a Spirit of pride that desired to be worshiped like God. And everything Satan knew about God’s Spiritual power, he now uses to keep man captive to sin, serving him. And this is this same evil disposition that fell upon 1/3 rd of the Angels that chose to sin and follow Satan. Satan and the fallen Angels choose only to do evil all the time. Thank goodness 2/3 rds of the Angels chose not to sin and their disposition was changed from one who was “free to choose sin but had not sinned” to one who was “free to choose only not to sin, to obey God and do good”.

In Adam and Eve’s case they were at first like the Angels “free to choose sin but had not sinned” but they were also different from the Angels in that they were not knowledgeable of God’s goodness, to the degree that Satan and the Angels knew God. It is said that Adam and Eve where innocent like children in adult bodies, they were learning and growing in the knowledge of the Lord. God’s Spirit was communicating His righteous way to Adam and Even as they walked with Jesus in the garden in the cool of the evening. However, after they choose to sin and ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and they became aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). This is one of the most provocative passages in the Bible, because before they ate the fruit they were naked and unashamed and after Adam ate the fruit, their disposition suddenly changed. They were no longer innocent, they were knew how to do evil to harm themselves and God’s creation. Instead of seeing their bodies as something to glorify God, they had thoughts of doing things with their bodies that knew were sexually wrong. They tried to hide their sin by covering up their body with fig leaves. This is the first example of salvation by “man’s works”.

When Adam and Eve sinned they lost their Spiritual connection with God and this is what made them afraid of the Lord when He came to walk with them. They could hear the Lord in the garden but they had guilt and remorse in their heart for what they had done, not the filling and comfort of God’s Spirit in their heart that they use to have. And it’s a good thing they felt ashamed by their sin because God can forgive someone who is ashamed and repentant of their sin. God forgave Adam and Eve for disobeying Him and He killed the first innocent animal right in front of them to show them the cost of their sin. God clothed them with the skin of the animal, covering them and teaching them that a “perfect one” has to die to pay for the transgressions of the imperfect one. This is the message of Christ, the perfect lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

At this point man became “free to choose only self (sin) or free to choose to be saved from self and sin”. Sin is not doing God’s will. Both Satan and man sin but man’s sin is the sin of choosing his own will because he is Spiritually disconnected from God while Satan’s sin is to purposefully do evil and dethrone God. You see man has the knowledge of good and evil and most of the time he chooses to do what is morally right, if for no other reason than to stay out of jail. Man is not totally Spiritually depraved and purposefully committing acts of evil to rebel and dethrone God’s (at least man does not initially start off this way) but man is born into this world Spiritually “void” and unable to know God’s will and therefore unable to do God’s will. Man’s works are like filthy rags to God because without a connection to God, man’s works glorify self, not God.

Another difference between man and Satan’s evil army is that man’s selfish/sinful work is done in the Physical realm, while Satan’s evil works is done in the Spiritual realm. Any action or decision that is not under the authority of God’s will is sin, so man, Satan, the fallen Angels and Demons all sin. But Satan’s sin is done in the Spiritual realm to purposefully dethrone God. Satan has power that is limited by God in the Spiritual realm and he uses that power to influence man in the Physical realm so man will glory in his own achievements “I did it my way”. By keeping man distracted and deceived with man’s own accomplishments, Satan keeps man on the throne of his own heart which dethrones God from His rightful place. Thus, man’s intent to sin is for the most part more like a puppet who dances unaware to the schemes and deception of Satan.

Most men are lost in the sin of self love and don’t realize the full extent of the rebellious action that they are committing against God and the idol worship that they are giving to Satan. Don’t misunderstand me, saying the “devil made me do it” like Eve did in the garden (or Flip Wilson the comedian) is not a valid defense for choosing a selfish agenda and sinning against God. Man is without excuse for not acknowledging God’s authority over his life. Man is accountable to God for ignoring God’s will for his life but most man are not aware of the extent of the Spiritual battle that is being fought in the Heavenly places for their soul. Guardian Angles keep us miraculous alive when we do something stupid and sinful that should normally kill us. It’s not good luck but God’s good providence. On the other side of the battle field, Satan’s army sends us Spiritual messages that we are OK and we don’t need to be concerned about God or sin. However, there are some people who do realize that the power of Spiritual evil does exists and they directly call upon it and directly worship Satan. Many celebrities have admitted that they have sold their soul to the Devil for fame and groups like the Freemasons and the Illuminate are well documented for their Satanic worship and agenda to control global finances and build a New World Order for the Antichrist.

As I said, man is born Spiritually disconnected from God with a Spiritual void in his soul, a restless searching for a Spiritual connection to God. And God reaches out to the empty Spirit of man, warning him with a feeling of “guilt” when man becomes bitter and prideful. The guilt is meant to produce Godly sorry that leads to a repentance from sin and salvation in Jesus Christ. God, the Holy Spirit, is always working to convict His lost children of their sin and bring them into a loving everlasting relationship with Him. And when a person turns from the love of his own way and turns toward God as Lord of His life, he becomes like John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see”.

However, if a person, over a period of time, continues to ignore the warnings from God, this will harden the heart and makes it harder to hear the voice of God. And while God’s Spirit is trying to reach man and bring him to repentance, Satan and his Demons are tempting the person and telling him that he deserves whatever he can get out of life, even if it hurts others. And this is the fundamental message of psychology, that man must first love himself before he can love others. However, the message of “self love” is in direct opposition to what Jesus preached. Matthew 16:35 Then Jesus said His to disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Jesus told a person that he already had enough self love and the way to happiness was in denying the love he had for himself and directing that love toward God and his fellow man. In other words, the concept of self esteem and the principles of physiology are based on the doctrine of Demons and the power of Spiritual darkness, that keep men captive to sin and lost to the God who loves them.

And there are some men who go beyond the sin of self absorbed love and realize that Satan is the god of this world that his evil power is fueling their self absorbed pride and passion. Some men directly worship Satan and serve him so they can have Satan’s power to deceive people and control circumstances in this world. Most people, even Christians, are unaware of the Spiritual battle that is being fought by Satan to keep man serving sin. This is why the closer you get to God and the more you glorify God and expose the lies of Satan, the more the enemy will attack you. This is not mean to scare a Christian but remind him to expect resistance to the truth if you seek to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus. The good news is that trails and troubles give way to victory in Jesus to the one who exercises his faith. Like a tea bag in hot water, we get stronger when we rely more upon God. “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.“ (1 John 4:3-4).

The point I am trying to make is that man is born Spiritually disconnected from God, so he naturally sins. Choosing to sin all the time is not the same as choosing to do what is morally wrong all the time. Men and women have the knowledge of good and evil, both of them ate the forbidden fruit in the garden. On the contrary, man knows what is morally right and wrong and he is able to do right most of the time. As a matter of fact, I have seen atheists who display better morals than some Christians. “Choosing only to sin for man” means choosing to follow my self reasoning, choosing my will over choosing to follow God’s will. Maybe it will help if I spell it out …. SIN is a “Self Indulgent Nature”. Sin means that self is on the throne of a person’s heart, leading them to think; I am in charge, I am in control, I can fix this, I can be satisfied if I have this, I am OK without God, or like old blue eyes sang “I did it my way”. In man’s fallen sin nature everything that he does, even the moral things are tainted by man’s pride, in that he does them for his own glory, not God’s glory. Man’s attempt to live a good life on his own is as filthy rags to God because it glorifies man, the created being, not God, the creator.

For what reason does man deserve glory? What has man truly created? The animals, the plants, the stars … no, not even the dust. What man creates, he does so by using what God has already created. Therefore, if man lives to the age where he understands the marvelous wonders of creation, yet he does not acknowledge the One who created all these good things, then that person is without excuse before his creator for ignoring the evidence of God and for not acknowledging the glory that is due God. (Romans 1:20) And if man lives to the age to understand that he is going to die one day yet he suppresses the truth that he knows he deserves death because he has followed his own free will and has not been concerned about the will of His creator then that he is without excuse before God. (Romans 1:21) Both the visible attributes of nature reveal the glory of God and the invisible attributes of morality and accountability are reveled in the heart of man that God is the One who is worthy of glory. Man is without excuse for not acknowledging that God is the rightful authority of his life. Yet, man can be pardoned by God if he does acknowledge that God has authority over his life.

This is the free will decision of salvation that man has been given by God, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ man can confess that he is a rebel towards God (sinful) and he no longer wants to be that way, but he wants to be Spiritually connected to God, a born again child of God. Man can ask God to dwell in him, change him into the image of Christ and lead him to a life everlasting with God, a life of peace, love and joy with God in charge. Salvation in Jesus Christ is a free gift offered to each and every person. Man can not pay for the gift of salvation or do works to earn the gift. Man has the free will to accept the gift of salvation or the free will to reject the gift. It costs man nothing to be redeemed by God but it costs God the life and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Free will is not free. It cost God to create heaven, it cost God to create Satan and the angels, it cost God to create the world and it cost God to create man and women. Yet, free will destroyed Satan, 1/3 of the angels, the cosmos, the earth, the animals and a great number of men and women. Free will is not free, it cost a great deal in what it destroys but the free will to choose salvation costs God even more, it cost Him the One He loves the most, His only begotten Son. If we use our free will to reject so great a salvation we will not escape God’s wrath that is due us, for causing His Son’s death. Our rebellion towards God (SIN) murdered Christ. Each of us is responsible and accountable to God for this crime and we deserve death, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we can have life!

Hebrews 2:3 “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,”

When you accept the free gift of salvation and become a born again child of God, you are no longer “free to choose only sin” but you have a new Christ nature in you and you can choose to deny self and live for Christ. You are “free to choose to sin (trust self) free to choose not to sin (trust and obey God)”. As for the aborted babies in the world and those with learning disabilities who do not reach an age of accountability where they understand what it means to rebel against God, I can only imagine that God gives them a free will choice after their death to remain with Him (like the faithful 2/3 angels) or to rebel against Him (like the 1/3 of the angels that followed Satan). From David, Psalm, it indicates that his baby with Bathsheba went to heaven where they will one day be united. So perhaps all babies who die choose to stay with Jesus. Like the little girl who was ridicules by her teacher for believing that Jonah was swallowed by a real fish, she said “well, when I get to heaven I will ask him”. And the teacher said, well what if he didn’t go to heaven, she replied “well, then you can ask him”.

The thing to look forward too as a born again Christian is a new life in Christ and a new home in heaven. With Christ on the throne of your heart, you can expect that there will be conflict with the old sin nature. We must die to self and live by the new Christ Spirit that is in you. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus that to trust and obey. The believer on earth has two natures, the new nature of Christ that wants to live under the authority of God and the old sin nature that wants to rebel against God. We have the free will to surrender to our Christ nature or rebel against God and follow our old sin nature. On earth, we are only as holy and happy as our ability by faith to deny self and live for Christ. Die2Live. But in Heaven will be rid of our sin nature that desires to rebel against God, we will still have a free will but it will not want to sin. In Heaven we will be further transformed like the faithful Angels into a person who is “free to only choose not to sin”. We will be free from the presence of sin, the burden that afflicts us now in our mortal body. It is hard to image what it will be like when we are not longer tempted to sin but it will be wonderful. The best example to this feeling now is when you are caught up in praise and worship to God. In Heaven we will be caught up in the love of Jesus all the time and finally realize and enjoy the person God created us to be.