THE CENTRAL ISSUE
The central issue in God’s design of man is that He gave us a will. The ability to choose is what sets us above all else in creation.
However, as we said last time, we have no choice about being a slave to a god, we only get to decide which god we will be in servitude to.
“Free-will” then, means that after hearing the Gospel we can choose between having God or Satan as our spirit-god. We were enslaved to Satan by default, resulting in death, but we can choose to be enslaved to God, resulting in Life. This is a glorious truth!
FOR HIS GLORY
God created man for His glory, and He is glorified when we choose Him over Satan by accepting His gift of eternal life. He is glorified countless times thereafter as we face temptations and choose righteousness. In both cases we choose to accept the offer of one god over the other, thus glorifying the one we choose! It’s not complicated!
Father God is not an insecure being who needs to prove His sovereignty by arbitrarily saving some and condemning others to hell. He proves it by freeing us to choose Him as our god, and then empowering us to live in a way that displays the superiority of the Life He offers.
THE CHOSEN
“Choosing” started in the Garden and has always been a key to man being blessed by God. Hear Moses in Deut. 30:15-20 and Joshua in Josh. 24:15. Jesus was very serious about it too.
God’s “chosen” or “choice” ones of I Peter 2:9 are those who have become one with Him and His purpose for mankind, by letting Him possess them in the fullest sense of that word.
Embracing free-will helps us to best understand God, man, and the God-man relationship. It is an indescribable opportunity, but it comes with a heavy responsibility. We’ll get into that next time, along with looking at another belief system that is not nearly as life-giving.
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, OH USA
April 28, 2021
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