Free Will

With the latest church shooting, mass murder, we will inevitably hear the question, “Why would God give man free will if He knew that man would sin?” Without going into the specifics of this particular incident, we can address this very insightful question.

A recent call-in program featured an 8 year old boy asking, “Since God knew that man would sin, and the devastation that would be brought onto the world, why would He give man free will? If I were a parent, I would not give my child an alternative that would hurt him.”

The commentator kindly pointed out that we are dealing with two different situations. By refusing to let a child eat candy all the time, we are counting on the fact they he or she will someday understand that it was for his own good, and because the parent loved him. In fact, we all, as parents, have reasoned the same way.

But with God and man, the situation was different. Adam and Eve did not have a conscience nor any concept of love. Just as a pet, and I know I will get into trouble with this, a pet does not experience love for an owner who feeds and cares for it. I will concede that animals can recognize care and kindness. Maybe we should make our “pet” a snake, a turtle, or a spider. They have no concept of care or concern. (I say this assuredly, as I read of a 20' python found in a home with the owner inside. Obviously deceased. No caring response there.) Animals act on instinct.

(Please do not send me the story of a lion cub raised and then turned loose into the wild who had a “loving” reunion years later. I would aver that the care provided by the master had so imprinted on the animal, that he did long to return to the “easy times.” More often we read of a domesticated animal turning on an owner. The experts tell us that this is a wild animal, regardless of the altered circumstances from “in the wild.” But I digress.)

Adam and Eve had no “freedom” to love God until they recognized that it was a choice. Maybe this will be a better example. Your computer does exactly what you “command” it to do. You may not have written the exact code, but someone did. And when I push a key on the keyboard, I am certain that I will always see the associated character appear on the screen. (We will abstain from discussing “random lottery” picks that most states use to reward the few lucky suckers who spend money on this “rigged” game.) (You might be able to guess my position on the topic.)

Adam and Eve were given the choice of whether to love God or not love Him. Without that, they were simply human automatons, incapable of any choice or action outside of their programming.

Jesus even spelled this out for us in John 14:15. (In fact this is an Old Testament concept as well.)
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Without love, there will be no true obedience. And without obedience, we have evidence of no love.

So why did God give us free will? Not so that He could have someone or something to love. It was to give us the unparalleled, in the universe, unparalleled opportunity and blessing of loving Him. My computer does not love me, even though it does what I command. It has no choice. (Absent an electrical surge or some other shock.)

We can love God, because we have the freedom not to love Him. Even like our candy-denying parent, it is for our own good. God loved us so much that He took the risk of us not loving Him. It was not because it would have “cost” Him something. He is totally complete. But it does cost us everything if we do not love Him.

I choose to love Him.