On Free Will

"Free will" is man's ability to make choices without being impeded by physical constraints. We may "will" that we stuff a basketball into the goal, but physical limitations prohibit us from making that decision, unless we either are tall enough or strong enough to jump that high. In the physical world there are many things which can impede free will. However, in the spiritual world, not even God impedes us!

Of course the "goal" in Christianity is much more than a basketball hoop!  Do you know the "goal" of being a Christian? Is your goal to avoid hell? Is it to live a righteous life? Is it joy? Is it peace? Just what is your goal? This is the goal every Christian should have:

Philippians 3:14  (KJV) "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

This passage may be a little hard to understand so for clarity let's look at another version:

 Philippians 3:14 (NIV) "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Here we know that "the goal" is "to win the prize" and like the basketball goal; it's "toward heaven", but it's not in our own abilities, but through Jesus Christ. But what is "the prize"?

 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"

The prize is "keeping the faith". And what does "faith" get you?

 Ephesians 2:8a "For by grace are ye saved through faith..."

Now we're getting closer! "To win the prize" is our goal. That prize is "faith" and the "faith" we have is  what we must maintain to be saved!  This leads to the question: "Saved from what? We are saved from eternal damnation!

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is (eternal) death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Wouldn't you know it?   The "goal" of the Christian is "to avoid eternal death" by having eternal life! Hence, the "free will" we have is to choose our "goal" without coercion even from God!  Actually, wise men choose eternal life, but by default, if they don't, the justice they get is eternal death. Hence, "free will" is important and a wise decision is imperative to each of our "eternal well-beings". My choice is "eternal life"! It would seem that all sane men (and women) would choose to live forever if given the conditions of eternal life: that being eternal well-being and joy!

The unwise either make the wrong decision or fail to make a decision. He is free to do that too! God presents his plan. Man can either accept it, reject it or fail to consider it! The ultimate in stupidity is failing to consider eternity! The next most stupid decision, and even smart people do this, is to reject eternal life! The reason God doesn't force the positive decision on anyone, is because he created mankind in his own image! We are God's friends and friends don't force people to be friends! Why mankind is even here is to befriend God. Our job description is "to tend the garden" and in the midst of that garden is Jesus! We were made to tend to Jesus!

That leads to the second part of the "goal". The "goal" (salvation) is won by running the race, so to speak. We maintain our faith from the time it's incubated until we die! There is a reward for lifelong faith;  God gives us a gift! We forfeit our just deserves (eternal death) and are awarded our goal: eternal life! All our life we have the "hope of salvation" and in the end we "shall be saved"! Our free will, if we believe and trust in Jesus, does us well. The goal is achieved!

Let's look for a few moments on what man would be without free will! Look around you. What comes to mind? Computers are intelligent and can even make decisions. However, when they do anything, it's because we force them to do it by programming or by learning algorithms.  In effect without "free will" man would be no more than this computer; an automaton. God doesn't want us to love him because we're programmed that way. He wants love of our own volition!

There is a cause and effect scenario in Christianity. The cause is our "goal". We've just learned that our "free will" is to save our own hide from eternal damnation. We now know that the only way to do that is through Jesus because his word tells us that (John 14:6;  "Jesus is the Way").  The "effect" is a result of the "cause". Because we had the "free will" endowed to us by God, we choose eternal life. God grants the Christian eternal life at their physical death. Because we have the "hope of salvation" at the end, the effect is that we love Jesus because he is the one who propitiated his own blood to save us in the end! "Loving Jesus" is not the goal of our "free will", but as a result of the reward we get that for free!

Let's take an example. Mr. Wealthy tells us if we are patient he will give us $1,000,000 when we become of age. We have faith that Mr. Wealthy is trustworthy and has the ability to do that. We don't have to work for Mr. Wealthy, just persevere with him in patience because he is known to be a man of his word. We don't love Mr. Wealthy until he gives us hope in a future!. We do honor and respect him before that because he's a powerful kind-hearted man!

When we get of age, Mr. Wealthy, true to his word, gives us the reward. His only motive was that he loved us and wanted our love in return. However, he never made "love" a criteria for the award. He was willing to reward us whether we loved him or not. He did want to communicate and talk with us occasionally, and that's understandable. He also wanted our respect for who he was, but none of those things were conditions for his gift. He merely wanted us to trust him.

Then we finally get the $1,000,000! Oh, joyful day! What is our emotional response? Our hope is fulfilled. We didn't love Mr. Wealthy in vain. We love  and praise Mr. Wealthy now! He merits our love because he can be trusted. We knew that he would follow through with his gift! Yes, we love the gift too,but we love Mr. Wealthy as well because he was prepared to give of himself!

Mr. Wealthy and his gift is analogous to God to demonstrate that we love God, not because he makes us, but because he is gracious and loving himself. It just takes faith for each of us to discover our relationships!

Mr. Wealthy didn't force us to take his money. He gave us a choice in the matter. We could have said "I don't want anything you have. Leave me alone!" and Mr. Wealthy would have honored that! Our ability to decide is our "free will" and that too is a gift from God! We were made that way.

Many people don't want to love Mr. Wealthy. They only want the prize. Most people don't want to love God. They only want heaven!