Evangelism Part 5: Free Will Series
Evangelism Part 5: Free Will is Freedom
When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He gave him ONE commandment to follow; he was told, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:16-17) In this only commandment, the disobedience of the first man displayed that God did not deny humans to have free will, which was only revealed in Genesis 11.
Adam had choices; to follow God and obey his commandment or follow Eve and let sin enter the world; Follow the Spirit of God or follow the natural desire of the flesh.
If Eve did not listen to the lies from the prince of the air, we can imagine how peaceful the living humans could have enjoyed. Love and respect for one another could have been the norm, and we could have maintained life and fellowship with the LORD. Adam didn’t die physically at that moment but was separated from God in spirit as their fellowship and companionship ended. (Ephesians 2:1–3).
Sin separated humans from God, which is why God is so angry most of the time, as written in the Old Testament. God regretted that he had made man on earth. During the time of Noah, the corruption of humanity became uncontrollable: the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. All the people on earth had corrupted their ways (Genesis 6:11–12), and it grieved Him to his heart.
God gave them the warning to change for 120 years, and GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every imagination of their thoughts was continually evil, and the heart suffered because of the wickedness of their mind. However, God’s warning was ignored, which forced Him to send a deluge that wiped out the human race and every living thing on the ground except those that were in the ark.
God loves to have companionship with His creations, and when we disobey His will, it shows a lack of love and trust in Him, which would lead to sin, and the wage of sin, is death. Death has a twofold concept: separation of the spirit from the body or from God. Free will involves a decision that will generate a reaction. When Adam decided to submit to Eve and her lies, man’s sinless nature ended, and humanity’s perfect imperfection began.
When free will is wrongfully used, it weakens the purpose of living righteously and when we let wickedness triumph over our godly choices. It will bring us down to a situation we cannot think right that will lead us to give up our free will, become a puppet of the dark, and continually offend God. We know that an offense against Him is a sin, and sin’s consequence is death. Death comes twofold; separation from life and separation from God. When we lose our free will, we also lose the true meaning of love.
When sin entered the world through the work of the first human couple, separation from life was clearly defined as physical death, a separation of the spirit from the body. Death comes with many causes: illnesses, natural death due to all ages, and life are taken by another human being, just like what Cain did to Abel. God’s wrath was shown in the Big Flood during Noah’s time; during the time of Jonah when the people of Nineveh drawback to God after hearing the word of God from Jonah, but after forty years, they returned to their wicked ways but they were also wiped out.
Corruptions are the intentional evil act of humanity, acts that can cause humanity to vanish on this earth and act that can quickly be passed down from generation to generation. This started with the fall of man, but it is an act that humans can control with willpower. God allows sins to plague humanity through continuous disobedience and rebellion against God. Sin is a rebellion against God, and God hates these seven things as written in Proverbs 6:16-19: There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: “haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
God gave The Ten Commandments to Moses for the Israelites to follow. These commandments serve as the law of God. Without the law, there are no transgressions of the law. Paul’s letter to Romans 5:13 — “People from Adam to Moses were not charged with breaking God’s Law. They cannot be changed because there was no law to break during that time! Sin is not imputed, or sin is not charged where there is no law.”
The Bible describes humanity as corrupt: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt; their deeds are vile, and no one does well. So the LORD looks down from heaven on all humanity to see if there is any who understand or seek God. But, instead, all have turned away and become corrupt; no one does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:1–3).
With all this being said, God gives humanity a choice – accept and believe in the Son Jesus (John 3:16) and his work of reconciliation with Father and have eternal life or perish and be condemned when judgments come.
God is all in all.