The Freedom To Choose

"I know, LORD, that a man's way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps."  (Jer. 10:23, HCSB).
"A man's heart determines his way, but the LORD determines his steps" (Prov. 16:9, HCSB).
"A man's steps are determined by the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?" (Prov. 20:24, HCSB).
"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose" (Phil. 2:13, HCSB).  

NB: GOD COULDN'T HAVE GIVEN US FREE WILL WITHOUT HAVNG THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE EVIL AND REBEL AGAINST HIM.  

Life is full of choices.  We've all heard the order by Joshua:  "Choose this day whom you will serve!"  If there were no choice, we'd have no freedom!  Deut. 30:19 says, "...Now choose life...."  Our life is full of choices or decisions if you will:  "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley decision!  For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision," (Joel 3:14, NIV).  Most people balk at making the big decisions in life (career path, marriage, buying a home, college to attend, but especially becoming a member of a religion and more specifically becoming a Christian).  We should be hesitant at such climactic times that could make or break us!

Now, why were we given this faculty of choice in the first place?  Adam had the power not to sin and the power to sin, after the fall, he had the inability not to sin, and after salvation, the ability not to sin and the ability not to sin again.  But Christ has the inability to sin!  He is fully incapable of sinning, while the natural man is fully incapable of not sinning!   As the Bible does reveal, there was a rebellion in heaven and the devil was cast out for his pride and revolt at doing God's will.  The issue is why does evil exist and there is no simple answer.  To say that it just shows who the bad guys are is too simplistic.  If we had no choice (i.e., free or independent will or our own) we'd be automatons or robots or puppets on a divine string pulled by God!

God never created evil; He created its possibility! (No choice to make means no real free will to obey).  If people weren't free to disobey Him, they'd be robots without a free will or faculty of choice.  With the existence of objective good comes the necessary existence of objective evil!  When you have equality, inequality will exist, whether realized or not, at least in concept.  We must see evil as a parasite on good and not its opposite, though.  It couldn't exist apart from good.  For example, we have inequity, injustice, unrighteousness, lawlessness, unfairness, un-sportsmanship, et cetera! But the good news is that good triumphs over evil and there will be a final end to its influence in the world in the Day of the Lord.   But God just chooses to let it run its course--that's His way of defeating it and showing that it cannot win no matter what. 

And so, the freedom of choice or free will cannot exist without a choice to be made or the existence of evil as well as good.  And we did eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and we are all are involved in this battle against evil and its influence on the world. What we lost at the fall was the inclination to do good and inherited the inclination to do evil. And so we haven't ceased to be human, just to be good!   There is no outside force to influence us (that would be coercion or determinism), but God is able to work with our will to accomplish His will (cf. Rom. 9:19; Prov.16:9; Prov. 20:24, Jer. 10:23; Prov. 21:1).

We can only see good in light of evil!  There must be something to compare goodness to!  God is the Supreme Good you might say and we compare all goodness to Him.  Evil is the absence of good, therefore, and that's why we are evil because we lack perfect goodness in God's eyes and are sinners!

But our wills are enslaved to sin and need salvation just like the rest of our evil hearts.  We don't need free will to be saved, but wills made free--we are not born free but the slave of sin and in bondage!  As Augustine said, we are "free but not freed."  That is, we've lost our liberty like being a man in prison who still has a will of his own!

In a sense, everything is determined, even as it was written of Judas to betray our Lord, but God is not deterministic, that is to say, there is no determinism or coercion to do what aren't wont to do, but act fully voluntarily.  You may say that we act according to our nature or upbringing, (nature vs. nurture), but God determines both!  The vulture and dove eat according to their nature in a voluntary manner, because of their nature.   We cannot change who we are, but God can transform us into new creatures in Christ.

"... Now choose life that you and your children may live"  (Deut. 30:19, NIV).  To have no choice to make is inhuman and foreign to freedom and will.    
   Soli Deo Gloria!