Christians, how do you know you have free will? What does free will feel like?

Question

What does lack of free will feel like?

Answer 1

You should know because you have free will. After all you have chosen to reject God of your own free will.

Answer 2

These statements will sound contradictory but they are not. Part of the problem is that the English language is not analytical, and the term "free will" encompasses several different concepts.

All conscious creatures have free will to varying degrees. In this sense, free will is the ability to choose to cooperate with instincts or to do something contrary to them.
Not only do humans have free will, but most life forms, and even some non-living (as we define it) things do as well.
Many people would call it a soul, but again that term is in-exact and carries untrue connotations.

The potential for free will is inherent (nature), but it is exercised and strengthened by society and upbringing (nurture). That is why animals that have lived their lives with humans are more conscious then (most) wild animals.

Secondly, since (semi) omniscient creatures exist, free will actually only exists as a potential singularity.
When an all-seeing-eye is gazing in my direction every minute detail of my existence and the environment around me is known right down to the subtlest movement and every subatomic particle. Though I have the potential to do something of my own free will, as soon as I have made my decision and even before I can carry it through the being knows what I have chosen and what I am doing. Only at the briefest of moments while I made my decision do I really have free will.

You could kind of call them "macro" and "micro" free will (in that order).

Answer 3

I suppose the problem is that at the moment without God taking action and you seeing for yourself in real time, the validity of this scripture cannot be seen by you people as truth. But if we do investigate and judge for ourselves the evidence, I do believe without doubt that God or the Bible cannot be denied. For people like yourself, I would never use this scripture as a way of convincing you, but some would and I think maybe rightly so. I would prefer to put it in my own words because of this type of reply that you make right now. I do not disrespect your belief but with all atheists ridicule it does become a bit over the top. You people should get a life. If you have no interest in becoming a spiritual person then you do not need to be here. As far as I knew, Atheism has nothing to do with a belief. It may be a way of life and there is some reasoning behind it, but really it is like a blank space. There is no other being or spiritual existence of any kind. I do not mind people trying to find out things, but I prefer a genuine audience who are doing it to actually find out. I know what you think; you because you think you find something to contradict, it makes it all right to forget about any initial motivation of inquiry and go to town in ridicule. Well I have got news for you; if you want to understand something in full it does not come straight away, you will not find satisfying answers in one hit. For whatever its actual value of me saying it, I say give it a rest and get a life away from here unless you are interested in finding God.

Answer 4

All animals are instinctive, except for Man. The beaver builds his dam, no matter how advanced we are. The birds fly south every year. Man, however, has choices he can make. He can decide to get up in the morning, or stay in bed. He can have unprotected sex, or not. He is not instinctive. He can accept God, or he can choose not to. This is free will, and God gave us a free because he wants us to love Him, because He loved us first. Love that is not free is not real; so we have a choice to either accept Him, or not.

Answer 5

Everyone has free will. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. That's why people can kill each other or destroy things or even help old ladies cross the street. We are not robots being forced to the will of some other being.
So how do you feel?

free-exempt from external authority, interference, restriction, etc., as a person or one's will, thought, choice, action, etc.; independent; unrestricted.

will-1. the faculty of conscious and especially of deliberate action; the power of control the mind has over its own actions: the freedom of the will.
2. power of choosing one's own actions: to have a strong or a weak will.

Answer 6

This is a loaded question, are you serious?

Free will is the ability to choose your path, all paths are already created before us, but the possibilities are infinite, so the way we choose is our own free will.

Lack of free will is the feeling of domination. Domination is evil. Some people who are spiritually ill can't control their feelings, thoughts, and some can't even controle their movements. Emotional reality is spiritual reality, labels and words can confuse us into thinking we understand something totally beyond us, I think the crucial thing is to always be questioning one's own motives.

Peace.

Answer 7

Free will has to do with the ability to look to God for salvation. Those that believe we have this ability, have to, by definition, raise themselves to the level of the Almighty in order to be able to make that "choice." Not so, that prerogative belongs to God alone in my opinion.

Both free will and the lack thereof, have long-ranging effects of how one views the sovereignty of God. Free will theology results in a God that hopes, wants, and longs for, the salvation of everyone. "The lack thereof" results in God NOT hoping, wanting, and longing for, anything, as His decrees are not up for man's approval.

Answer 8

Christians don't hold the license on free-will you have it to.
It feels like choice. You have choices in life and you use free-will everyday. You can choose to believe something or deny it. That is what it feels like.

Answer 9

You want to know what lack of free is like? Live in america.

Answer 10

I tried this a few times and got nothing useful out of them. The truth is they would not know the difference. Both would feel the same. We have no free will, it's an illusion.

I'm interested to see the answers...

Answer 11

Free will is the ability to make your own decisions.
Lots of people like the idea of free will, but they hate that it is accompagnied by the consequences of our choices.