What is freedom of choice? We choose blindly

Following the discussions
Free will,
a brief summary of the discussion of the same name

I. DEFINITION OF THE TERM

What is free will? Free will is, in other words, free choice, the right to choose.

What does the term “free will” include?

Free will implies freedom of choice, that is: - there is something to choose from and - there is the right to choose and the ability to choose.

In Hebrew and Greek, the word "to choose" implies the idea of ​​comparing two or more objects or subjects with each other, choosing one (or more) of them for a certain purpose or to perform a certain function.

1. The word most often used in the Old Testament is bachar.”

:

• when a man chose his wife ( Genesis 6:2
  );
• when Lot chose a land to live in ( Genesis 13:11
  );
• when kings and military leaders chose soldiers ( Exodus 17:9; Joshua 8:3; 1 Samuel 13:1-2; 2 Samuel 10:9, 17:1
  ).
• The same word is used to describe Israel's choice of king ( 1 Samuel 8:18, 12:13
  );
• when choosing Yahweh as his God ( Joshua 24:15,22
  ),
• when choosing other gods ( Judges 5:8; 10:14
  );
• when choosing the right path ( Psalm 119:30
  );
• when abandoning evil for the sake of good ( Isaiah 7:15-16
  );
• in David's choice of punishment for his sin ( 2 Samuel 24:12
  ).

2. There are several words in the New Testament that mean “to choose.” A. The Greek word
"Eklego" is used to describe: - The general idea of ​​choosing one from many (
Luke 14:7
);
— Choosing ministers ( Acts 6:5
);
— The choice of believers ( Acts 15:22,25; 2 Corinthians 8:19
);

B. The Greek word "procheirotoneo"

used to describe: - moral choice (
Mark 13:20; Luke 10:42
);
— Christ’s choice of 12 disciples ( Luke 6:13; John 6:70; 13:18; 15:16,19; Acts 1:2,24
);
- election of Paul ( Acts 9:15
),

B. The Greek word "procheirizomai"

—Paul chose Silas (
Acts 15:40
)

D. The Greek word "epilego"

- used to describe: - God's choice of Israel (
Acts 13:17; Romans 9:11
), - to describe believers as a chosen race (
1 Peter 2:9
), - the election of believers from among the poor (
James 2:5
), - not the most smart and strong (
1 Corinthians 1:27-28
), - in the phrase “
Many are called, but few are chosen
” (
Matthew 20:16
);
— as well as when describing believers as “elect” ( Mark 13:20
).

II. FREE WILL AND CHOICE IN THE BIBLE.

1. God and His Free Will If we trace the history of free choice in the Bible, we must begin with the personality of God, who, according to His will, decided and created the universe and everything that fills it.

2. Man, being created in the image of God, is endowed with free will.

The Bible says that man is created in the image and likeness of God:
Genesis 1:26-27
“
And God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth.
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them ."

This means that man - like God - is a person endowed with consciousness, feelings and will. God did not create man as a robot, but created him with the ability to think, feel and make decisions. The first time we encounter the fact that man is endowed with free will is in the second chapter of the book of Genesis, when man decides what names to call all the living creatures that God created: Genesis 2:19-20

«
The Lord God formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought it to man to see what he would call them, and that whatever man called every living soul, that would be its name. And the man named the names of all the livestock and the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field
«.

3. Man's choice in the Garden of Eden.

• Choice conditions: Life or death? Genesis 2:16-17
  “
  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt die.
  ” .
• Decision made: Genesis 3:6
  “
  …and she took of its fruit and ate;
  And she gave it also to her husband, and he ate ."
• Consequences of Adam and Eve's choice: death and damnation - Genesis 3:16-24
  .

4. Abraham's choice.
Several times Abraham had to make a choice: - When the Lord called him to go to the Promised Land (
Genesis 12:1-4
) - When the Lord promised Abraham offspring (
Genesis 15:1-6
) - When the Lord ordered Isaac to be sacrificed (
Genesis 22: 1-18
).

5. God’s call to His people before crossing the Jordan:
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
“
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.
Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and cleave to Him; For this is your life and the length of your days, that you may abide in the land which the Lord promised with an oath to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them
.” God not only gives man choice and the ability to make a choice, but He also tells which choice is better and explains why this is so: Choice:
“Death or life;
blessing or curse." Hint for what to choose:
“Choose life.”
Reason:
“
For this is your life and the length of your days.
”

6. Joshua's call to choose God and serve only Him.
Joshua 24:14-28
“
Therefore fear the Lord and serve Him with purity and sincerity;
put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it does not please you to serve the Lord, then choose for yourself now whom to serve, whether the gods that your fathers served who were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live; but I and my house will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said: No, it will not happen that we leave the Lord and begin to serve other gods! For the Lord is our God, He brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and did great signs before our eyes and kept us along all the way that we walked, and among all the nations through which we passed. The Lord drove out from us all the nations and the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we will serve the Lord, for He is our God. Jesus said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God, a jealous God, who will not tolerate your iniquity and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, He will bring evil upon you and destroy you, after He has done you good. And the people said to Jesus: No, we will serve the Lord. Jesus said to the people: Are you witnesses about yourselves, that you have chosen the Lord for yourself to serve Him? They answered: witnesses. Therefore put away the strange gods that are among you, and turn your heart to the Lord God of Israel. The people said to Jesus: Let us serve the Lord our God and listen to His voice. And Jesus made a covenant with the people that day, and gave them statutes and law in Shechem. And Jesus wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a large stone and laid it there under the oak tree, which was near the sanctuary of the Lord. And Jesus said to all the people, Behold, this stone will be our witness, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that He spoke to us; let him be a witness against you, so that you do not lie before your God. And Jesus sent the people away, each to his own portion ."

7. Elijah's call to choose God.

The story is described in
1 Kings 18:17-39
.
The key words are the words of Elijah: “ And Elijah came to all the people and said: How long will you limp on both knees?
if the Lord is God, then follow Him; and if Baal, then follow him ” -
1 Kings 18:21
.

III. A CHOICE THAT EACH OF US MUST MAKE.

Each of us today faces the same choice that people before us had to make. And God defined it this way: “life or death, blessing or curse.” If you want to have eternal life and spend your eternity in close fellowship with God, knowing your Great Creator, then you need to choose God. But the most incredible thing is that He chose us first:

1. We did not choose God, but He chose us:
John 15:16
“
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he has given you
."
Romans 5:8
“
But God demonstrates his love toward us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
.”

So what was God's choice? It is that He chose death so that we could choose life. If the Lord had not come to earth in the form of a man and died on the cross for our sins, then we would never have been able to choose life. He died so that we could live! What other God can love his creation so much that he is willing to die a terrible, painful death for it?

2. What is our choice?

• We decide whether to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior or not. John 1:11-13
  “
  He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.
  And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God .”
• We choose eternal life or eternal death: John 3:16-18
  “
  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
  For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God .”
• We choose salvation or damnation: Mark 16:16
  “
  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
  and whoever does not believe will be condemned ."
• We choose whether or not to obey God's commandments: 1 John 3:23-24
  “
  And this is his commandment, that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he commanded us.
  And whoever keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know that He abides in us by the spirit that He gave us .”
• We choose to "do God's will" or not
  (
  John 7:17
  ):
  1 John 2:17
  "
  And the world, and the lust thereof, passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever
  ."
  It is the will of God that all should be saved: 1 Timothy 2:3-4
  “
  …for this is good and pleasing to God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth
  .”

IV.
FREE WILL AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES In Old Testament times, people had choices and often God gave people choices to test them. And their subsequent life and fate depended on their decision and choice.

• Adam and Eve had a choice, and they made the wrong choice, the consequences of which affect each of us.
• Abraham had many situations where he had to make his choice.
• The people of Israel were constantly in a position of choice.
• Even Jesus made the choice to give His life for us: John 10:18
  “
  For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again.
  No one takes it away from Me, but I myself give it. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to receive it again. I have received this commandment from My Father .”

We, too, are constantly faced with some kind of choice.
We constantly have to make decisions, choose between something and something. And what's most interesting is that the decisions we make indicate our true beliefs. God tests us and our faith by giving us a choice. The Bible is full of examples of the wise and foolish decisions a person makes throughout his life. The chart below will help you use Scripture to see how our choices affect the rest of our lives. The left column contains decisions, the choices that a person makes, and the right column contains the consequences of this choice. The table is not completely filled. Based on the passages of Scripture offered to your attention, fill out the table to the end:

Today you learned that God created man with free will and gave him the right to choose. You, dear friend, also have free will. How do you manage it? God today invites you to choose life or death, blessings or curses. What choice did you make? What did you choose?

If you want to choose life, then this is the place

.

We also recommend reading the articles:

* “Does God have the right to choose?”
* “Freedom through the eyes of God”
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Isn't God in complete control of everything?

The Bible does teach that God is Almighty and that no one can limit his power except himself (“We have not comprehended the Almighty, He is great in power, He will not diminish justice and the abundance of righteousness” - Job 37:23;

“Lift your eyes up and look. Who created all this? The one who brings out the army of stars by counting and calls them all by name. Because of the abundance of his might and his great strength, they are all in their places" - Isaiah 40:26).

However, he does not use his power to control everything. For example, the Bible says that God “exercised self-control” against ancient Babylon, which was the enemy of his people (“I kept silent for a long time, remained silent, exercised self-control” - Isaiah 42:14). Likewise, in modern times, he chose to be patient with those who abuse their free will and harm others.