The question of free will is probably a debate we will have until Jesus comes again. While you can find arguments on both sides of this question, this should not be our main mission or focus. We have a responsibility to preach the gospel and give people the opportunity to hear it and respond.
We are tested and proven.
Mind you!
Man in The likeness of God has free will.
One of the marks of being human is that God has given us the ability to choose. Some may refer to this as the power of choice, but no matter how you define it, we all have a free will.
When you look at what the Bible says about free will, you discover that we have the right and the ability to choose the direction we will go and what we will do. This power to choose is not something that should be considered lightly, because what comes along with the power to choose is the reality there are consequences for your choices. While many love the freedom that comes with free will and the power of choice, sometimes people don’t always want to own the ramifications that come with it.
What Is Free Will?
Here is one definition of free will from a Scriptural sense: Free will is the power to decide what you will do in a certain situation. However, don’t forget your choices have consequences. Here is an example from Scripture of the free will we have.
“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23).
This verse is making an implication that while it is true you have the right to do anything you want, the truth is everything you do is not beneficial for you or for those around you. While you have the right to make your own choices, you must also remember the responsibility that comes with it. To take it a step further, as Christians you must not just think about how your choices affect you, but how your choices affect others. There is something else the Bible says about free will that we sometimes want to overlook. Look at the very next verse in 1 Corinthians 10:24
What Does the Bible Say about Free Will?
Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about free will. Here are three examples of free will for you to chew on.
1. We have free will to decide who we will serve.
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
2. We have free will to decide if we will obey or disobey.
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
“However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you” (Deuteronomy 28:15).
3. We have free will to decide between life or death.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Choice is a major part of life! The do’s and don’ts of life. A typical question we have all faced: “Should I? or Should I not?” Answer??? LIFE! But, is that not the essence of “free will”? Yet, our path is Known before we take it…
This brings so very much to bear in our lives…
Are you truly listening?
God is the source of all wisdom
The Book of James invites us to make a request to God for the wisdom we need. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5, NIV). God wants us to ask for his wisdom and will generously give it to us.
In Psalm 100, the psalmist reminds us that the Lord himself is our shepherd and that we are his people, the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3). In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).