“And God saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”[1]
“…except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!” [2]
As we begin, I see two issues arising for me in the title of this teaching:
- As a non-believer, do I have a free will?
- As a believer, do I have a free will in terms of my walk with God?
As a non-believer, do I have a free will?
Yes, of course you do. You have a free will in all things except the ability to say ‘no’ to sin. Before the fall of Adam, he and Eve were sinless and able not to sin. After the fall, Adam and Eve became humans and could not say no to sin; this condition prevailed until the resurrection of Jesus; from the time of Adam’s fall until the Mosaic Law, sin was not recognized by God. From the time of the Mosaic Law to the resurrection of Jesus, sin was recognized by God, but sin was only forgiven by God, subject to certain conditions.
“Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now, everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die. Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept because there was no Law. Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did.”[3]
As a believer, do I have a free will in terms of my walk with God?
Yes, of course you do. As a believer, you have the free will and the power to say no to sin, unlike your forefathers, who could not say no to sin. In addition, sin to a believer is not an act (as in the Old Testament); it is simply ‘missing the mark’ or separating yourself from God.
“So what happens about my sin/s when I come back to God? Do I have to make sacrifices as my forefathers did?” You ask.
No, you don’t because you have returned to your correct mark – walking with God, not away from God.
“Are you serious?” You think. What you’ve just said is too good to be true. “So I get away with my sin scot-free? Are you sure?”
No, you don’t get away with it, not quite.
Let’s say the arrow you aimed at the target missed and killed your neighbor’s chicken. The neighbor is now looking to you for compensation – cough up or else! This process is called cause and effect. When you are a believer empowered to say no to sin, and then you sin (separating yourself from God), you will pay a price – not from God but from the world around you. In a moment of weakness, you tell a lie to your employer. Your employer discovers the truth and fires you. Get the idea? Of course, you do.
Living in a World Outside My Religious Beliefs
I often wonder how many believers live in the ‘real’ world. Read this scripture, which speaks clearly about free will and living the will of God:
“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.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward, he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which 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. 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.”[4]
Many of us believers are content to receive our training from those in our assemblies, but how many of us are being trained by the voice of God inside us? Do we receive God’s counsel and directions every moment of our lives? Do we take personal responsibility for our actions and God’s counsel; do our lives embrace God’s love and affect an otherwise indifferent world surrounding us?
Until next time
Love and blessings
Peter-James.