I can make many choices in a lot of things in my life but there is one thing I cannot choose and that is whether I want to believe or not. Nor do I think anyone can stop to believe by a free choice.
If nobody has a choice to believe in a god, how can anyone then be held responsible, i.e. be punished by this god which they don't believe in, for something which their will cannot control?
A belief cannot simply be a choice of the will, but something must trigger it. What is that trigger and why do not unbeliever get that trigger? (I guess I am saying you need evidence for you beliefs?)
Jesus, who is the Son of the Living God wills that we seek him, and reaches out to us. (He Knocks)
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
The Church and individuals pray for all to hear and answer that knock.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. 3 This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.
Having said this, we are responsible, via free will, being as we are in the image and likeness of God, to recognize Jesus as the only normative way to the Father, and therefore to salvation:
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Salvation is easiest to obtain for the childlike in faith, and the most open :
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; 26 yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. *
But ultimately, it is Jesus who decides who to reveal the Father to:
Matt. 11 (cont) 27* All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And Jesus encourages us to come to Him, offering rest from our strife, if we but believe:
Matt (cont) 29* Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
If you do answer His call, you are not only welcomed, but you are His family!:
Matthew 12:46* * While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood outside, asking to speak to him. * 48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brethren! 50* For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
He will continue to pursue us out of His love for us, but eventually, if on seeks salvation, one must acknowledge one's transgressions, and repent of them, (turn away from them).
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, * not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1998 This vocation to eternal life is
supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.47
1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the
sanctifying or
deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:48
.....
2001 The
preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, "since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it:"50
Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing.51
2002 God's free initiative demands
man's free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. The promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:
Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.49
