We often hear the expression that we have free will and have a choice in every decision we make. Is that really true? The choices we have and the decisions we make depend not only on the circumstances you find yourself in but also on your cultural background and upbringing. You have no choice about the place you were born, the language you speak, the race you are or the religious environment you found yourself in. These factors are all determined by chance. They influence greatly the decisions you make. It is not only these factors which influence your decisions. You are born with a brain which is wired a certain way. People have different characters . You make different decisions when you are big or small, adventurous or not, bold or fearful, artistic or practical, and higher or lower IQ. There are many factors which were determined by chance and over which you have no control. In Christianity “Free Will” is meant to be willfully chosen disobedience of God’s commandments and if you do so you are condemned for eternity. That begs the question what happens to all the people outside the at most 6000 years old Abrahamic religions who never heard about Jehova, Allah or God.
One wrote: There are 2 kinds of God's will - Direct and permissive. It is His permissive will that ALLOWS us to chose to enter into sin because He gives us free will which is REAL love, however it is NOT His will that we sin. There is a distinct difference. .
Let me put this in more understandable terms. A father is direct and permissive, he allows his children their free will to do bad things and that is REAL love. He doesn't want them to be bad but doesn't stop them because he really loves them. If they do bad things, however the loving father will punish his children severely (for ever). Now of course, if the child confesses and says he/she is sorry, they are forgiven no matter what the bad thing is (even murder) and the child that didn't do anything really bad, but is inherently judged to be bad because a distant forefather did something wrong and does not want to accept that as being guilty and does not ask for forgiveness is automatically and severely punished.
That is the definition of REAL love?
One wrote: There are 2 kinds of God's will - Direct and permissive. It is His permissive will that ALLOWS us to chose to enter into sin because He gives us free will which is REAL love, however it is NOT His will that we sin. There is a distinct difference. .
Let me put this in more understandable terms. A father is direct and permissive, he allows his children their free will to do bad things and that is REAL love. He doesn't want them to be bad but doesn't stop them because he really loves them. If they do bad things, however the loving father will punish his children severely (for ever). Now of course, if the child confesses and says he/she is sorry, they are forgiven no matter what the bad thing is (even murder) and the child that didn't do anything really bad, but is inherently judged to be bad because a distant forefather did something wrong and does not want to accept that as being guilty and does not ask for forgiveness is automatically and severely punished.
That is the definition of REAL love?
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