Well, speaking literally, the Bible doesn’t mention the term ‘free will’ at all. But figuratively speaking the Bible has quite a lot to say about man’s freedom to chose right or wrong, to sin or not to sin and to choose between good and evil!
But, firstly let’s take a look at how modern society looks at the term ‘free will’ from the below definitions from three different sources.
“Free will is the capacity for agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen.” Wikipedia.
“Free will, in humans, the power or capacity to choose among alternatives or to act in certain situations independently of natural, social, or divine restraints”. Britannica.com.
“freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention.” Merriam-webster.com.
From the above three definitions, the thing that jumps out at me is that all three quotes contain the word choose or choice! It is abundantly clear that the term ‘fee will’ means that human beings have the freedom to make their own choices in life.
Our will is that part of the mind – the mind resides in our souls - that evaluates things and allows us to make our own choices on things. Our will enables us to chose between good and evil, to obey God our creator or not to obey him. To believe in the God of Christianity or not to believe in Him.
This freedom to make our own life choices was given to us by God. We can choose between doing good or doing evil! This is our free will and God does not violate it in any way in any circumstance – and as we all know, man can create some pretty awful and disgusting life circumstances that not only affects his life but the lives of many others as well. The wars, criminal activities and abuse of each other, that man perpetrates are prime examples of the evil choices that man often makes.
Romans 14:12 (NIV)
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (AMP)
For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].
From the above two verses we can see that for every choice we make, on judgement day we will all have to give an account of why we made these choices, good or bad, did we choose to sin or not to sin? Sin is doing or saying something that is contrary to God's Word and will!
Man has the Freedom to Choose between Good and Evil:
Let’s have a look at what God tells us in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy about our freedom to choose, and yes even though it is from the Old Testament, it still applies to everyone today especially to Christians because:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Let’s examine the below verses from Deuteronomy 30 in segments and I’ll put my thoughts in after each segment in ordinary text – please remember that it is the Word of God that is infallible, not mine!
Dt 30:15-20 (NLT)
15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.
God tells us here that He is giving us the freedom to choose between life and death. Here the Bible is talking about eternal life and eternal death of man’s soul. Life means eternal life in heaven with God (through our acceptance of Christ Jesus) and death means eternal separation from God in Hell for those who have rejected Christ Jesus.
We also have the freedom to choose between prosperity (a rich spiritual life in Jesus) and disaster (a life without Jesus) whilst we are physically alive! Remembering here that the choices we make whilst we are alive on earth will have a bearing on whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell.
16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
If we love God with all our very being and we adhere to and live according to His Word (this includes accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour – being born again), God will bless us in everything we do. This is not a promise of an easy, idyllic life but a promise that we will be able to overcome life’s difficulties through Christ Jesus.
17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
If we chose not to follow God’s ways (including not accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour – not being born again), we willfully remove ourselves from God’s blessings and will ultimately end up in Hell.
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!
20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
God will allow us to choose Him (life) by committing our lives to Him, this means repenting from our sin, turning away from it and living a righteous life by accepting His son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, becoming born again or rejecting Him by refusing to accept His son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour (death) and refusing to live according to the teachings of the Bible. It is God’s desire that we all chose Him and have life, but he doesn’t force us to!
We learn valuable lessons from the Old Testament and its teachings are still valid to us today as born again Christians!
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
How did Jesus handle his ‘free will’?
As born again Christians it is so important for us to follow Christ’s example in all we do, including the choices we make with our freedom to choose! The scriptures urge us to be imitators of Christ and be conformed to his image. There is nothing that we go through that Jesus hasn’t experienced and had victory over!
Romans 8:29 (NIV)
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Ephesians 5:1 (NLT)
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
So, let’s examine the below scriptures and hopefully learn to emulate the way Jesus handled his free will. Let’s have the mind of Christ and let’s always echo his words to the Father: “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Mark 14:36 (NLT)
“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Matthew 7:21 (NIV)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
John 5:30 (NLT)
I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.
John 6:38 (NLT)
For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.
In the four scripture verses directly above Jesus tells us that:
He wants the Father’s will to be done and not his. Only those of us that do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven. That is those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour (are born again) and actively pursue a life of righteousness by being led by the Holy Spirit – living life in the Spirit (Romans 8). He does nothing on his own and judges only as God tells him.
God's will leads to everlasting life!
He came down from Heaven to do God’s will – to be the Saviour of mankind, to everlasting life in Heaven to those that receive him of their own choice.
John 3:16-18 (AMP)
16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].
God loves mankind, His prized creation, and gave up His only son to die for our sins so that in Jesus we may receive forgiveness of our sins and receive eternal life in heaven.
2 Peter 3:9 (AMP)
The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
It is God’s will that no man should perish (be cast into Hell for eternity) but He gives us the freedom to choose between eternity in Heaven or eternity in Hell!
If we chose to submit our human will to His will in everything, out of love for him as Jesus does, we will spend eternity in His glory in Heaven!
Man's will leads to destruction!
It is man’s desire to have his own way and to chose evil (follow the way of Satan) that causes the depravity in the world today.
Genesis 6:5-6 (NIV)
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
God sent the flood to destroy mankind, but he saved Noah (who was the only man found to be righteous) and his family. And through Noah the human race began again but man soon reverted to his old ways of sin and being disobedient to God’s ways and commands.
Jeremiah 7:24 (NLT)
“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.
And this is the position that the world finds itself in today with those outside of salvation in Christ Jesus both knowingly and unknowingly aiding and abetting the Devil in destroying God’s creation.
Those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour will perish (spend eternity in Hell) where there will be eternal spiritual death which is eternal separation from God! Hell is a place of eternal torment for the devil and his fallen angels and for the human soul without Christ Jesus!
Revelation 21:8 (AMP)
But as for the cowards and unbelieving and abominable [who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality], and murderers, and sorcerers [with intoxicating drugs], and idolaters and occultists [who practice and teach false religions], and all the liars [who knowingly deceive and twist truth], their part will be in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 20:13-15 (NIV)
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NIV)
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father
I pray that by your Holy Spirit that with each day that passes you would transform me more and more into Christ’s image. I pray Lord in every moment of my life that my will be submitted to yours and that I would become nothing, and Jesus would become everything in my life. Father let not my will be done, but yours. Let my life bring glory to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus, the Name above all names!
Last updated: 19 November 2022
I love this blog! Yes, God gave us a free will and the option to choose. We need to choose for God (give our life to Him) abd subsequently need to align our daily choices with God's will. God bless you ����
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