Free will

[PastorJason]

Ah, you see, flautist has pointed directly at the elephant in the vestibule when you talk about free will vs. determinism - the problem of evil and suffering. Now the fun can really begin, as the struggle over this one depends greatly on the free will question.

Nice point, by the way, flautist. Well done.

 

[elman]

I do not believe we have free will. We can make choices, but circumstances that are beyond our control (and that we have not created) cause what choices we make.

Did you decide:

Your nationality?
Your parents?
Whether you are male or female?

The list could go on and on. Everything we do is influenced by something not in our control.

Your decision to believe or not believe in God wasn't your free choice. You made that decision based upon circumstances that influenced or caused you to make that choice.

There are many many scriptures that explain that God is in control of all. That's why He knows what our choices will be. He is the creator of all circumstances. He is the Master Potter, he molded each of us as it pleased Him.

Hell is the grave/death. Jesus' sacrifice was God's way of redeeming all of us from this final destiny. But God, decides when Jesus will draw us into Himself.

As God's children (future Gods?), we need to learn the difference between good and evil so that we can appreciate good. If we had nothing to compare it to, we would not understand what a wonderful thing it is. Our life is a journey back to God. The only way we will be able to be in His presence is to be cleansed of all our evil. Jesus is the "way" we must walk in order to realize this "truth" and ultimately have "life" so that God, Who is our life, can be all in all.

Our earthy bodies are temporary, eventually this outer shell begins to crumble and in death returns to the dust it was created from. Our spirit (life) returns to God and our soul sleeps until God reawakens us. He will raise us in new incorruptible bodies. We are all judged and corrected in either this life or at judgment. The Lake of Fire is symbolic of the final purification process. It will purge us of all impurities (evil). Hell/Grave and Death, which have no good in them will be eradicated in the purification process. Then those who will have their "part" in the lake will be purified or "salted" with God's Holy Fire.

I guess I wandered a bit from the topic, so sorry. I was just trying to also respond with my opinion to Waiting's compound question that if God created evil what was the purpose of Jesus' sacrifice.

Chris

While it is correct that we do not have free will independent of outside influence, that does not mean we do not have the ability to effect things by the choices we make. The outside influences while influencial does not force our choices. It is like a parent raising a child. You can have an influence but you cannot control completely and that ability of the child to make choices can make a lot of difference in the child's life. I think the lake of fire is the second death, not a purification process. Evil is to be unloving and we had to be given the ability to chose unloving if our choice to be loving was to have any value.