How can free will exist in Heaven?

Question

Speaking to religious leaders and devout Christians they will tell you Heaven is the only place that is perfect, sin free, peaceful, etc. If Heaven is a sin free domain of god's then that must mean I no longer have the free will to sin?

While I appreciate the depth and thought in all of your answers, I must say all of you are failing to answer the question. The question isn't whether or not we'll want to sin, but rather can we sin? Is it possible? And in the sense of it not being possible, have we not then lost our sense of free will? In this world I may not want to commit a certain sin, but that doesn't mean I can't. Is entering Heaven equivalent to entering a new realm of rules, and maybe even of less possibility?

So Rev. Kip

You're pretty much saying all our welcome in Heaven until the sin/reject god?

Erick,

Are you suggesting we'll become ignorant of sin and "lose knowledge" of it?

Answer 1

There is no Heaven, so you need not worry.

If there is a Heaven, you definitely don't need to worry about it.

What does pursuing this line of reasoning tell you you have if you end up in Hell? That free will exists there?

You are assuming the truth of something that you cannot prove.

Answer 2

It means that both the people and the angels in Heaven have been or will have been tested for their loyalty.
The angels, who have free will also, were tested at the time that Lucifer fell from Heaven. He created a mutiny and led 1/3 of the angels to revolt. 2/3 of the angels chose to obey God and stay with Him.
Likewise, humans on this planet are being tested for their loyalty to God. When Christ returns, those who are loyal to God will be taken to Heaven, and those who are not will be destroyed. Therefore, only those who have free will and have consciously chosen to stay with God and obey Him will be in Heaven. Temptation will no longer exist, because Satan, the Tempter, will be destroyed also. If there is no more temptation to sin, then there will be no more sin.

Answer 3

Because we have two natures that are at odds with each other, there is an inner struggle that exists in every believer. Romans 7 is dedicated to showing this struggle. However, upon death, the old man will pass away leaving only the new, divine nature. One of the most important passages to understanding this is found in Romans 6:4-7:

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

The last verse is key - "he who has died is free from sin." When we're saved and choose to be baptized, we die to ourselves and receive a new nature. This nature is in conflict with our old fleshly nature. When our bodies die, that old nature perishes completely as well, leaving the divine nature alone.

Answer 4

great question- if you can only do good, then you necessarily can't have free will. But that would make us like automotons and take away our ability to produce justice.

Perhaps Heaven is a place where every being choses to do good. If they don't, they are expelled? It all seems very cartoonish, but it's the only explanation I can think of given the criteria.

Answer 5

you know that's very a good question! but i will tell you what i think, i think that we will be pretty much like we were in the beginning and while we will have free will we won't have the knowledge of sin nor the need to commit it

Answer 6

I think the idea of heaven is almost as distasteful as the idea of hell.

The descriptions believers give it sounds like the Stepford wife's.

Answer 7

The heavenly angels gladly and completely do the bidding of God. Psalm 103:20-21 states, "Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure." Their purpose is to do His commandments, hearken to His voice, and do His pleasure.

However, no scripture declares that angels have no free will. From the fact of the fall of so many of them, they obviously have some form of self- etermination. That is, they have the freedom to remain in that holy estate into which they were placed by creation or to leave their first estate for a lower one. "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 1:6). Clearly, they are not robots unable to do anything but obey God.

However, their condition is not like that of man. Man can be redeemed from his fallen state by the applied blood of Jesus Christ. The fallen angels have no means by which they can return to their first estate after they leave it. They will all be cast into the "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Also, there is no mix of obedience with disobedience in the angels as there often is in regenerate man. The angels in heaven perform the commandments of God with full obedience (Psalm 103:20-21). The fallen angels are simply "the angels that sinned" (2Peter 2:4). No good is seen in them.

We will probably never be able to grasp with fullness the reason for the angels to rebel against God and leave their heavenly estate. They saw God in His absolute glory and holiness. They saw the greatness of His power. What could they hope to gain by a rebellion against such a God? However, scripture does reveal the initial motivation of their rebellion. From a study of Satan and his part in leading the rebellion, we know that their rebellion was fueled by willful pride. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives important insight into this matter. In this passage, Satan (as Lucifer) states five times, "I will." Especially revealing is his fifth declaration: "I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:14). He did not desire to submit to the will and glory of God, but rather wanted to be like God himself.

This was pride. The bishop, or pastor, is not to be "a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1Timothy 3:6). The devil fell into condemnation because he was lifted up with pride. He refused to submit to the will of the Father, lost his first estate, and has taken many of the angels with him. His "tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth" (Revelation 12:4).

The angels do not have a sin nature. We have one because of our descent from Adam. All angels have been directly created by God and must have been created with a holy nature. Therefore, they never have the mix of good and bad often found in men. However, they were created with the ability and responsibility of self-determination. They can choose to leave the estate of heaven by an act of will. Or, they can choose to stay with God. Those who leave, do so in order to be gods. Satan is the "the god of this world" (2Corinthians 4:4). Satan's motivation is further revealed in his temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. He told them, "and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). That is what moved him to rebel and that is what he used on Eve.

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Answer 8

You will no longer have any desire to sin. All your desires will be fulfilled in God.

Answer 9

"Sin" is judgement from the ego, which is not found in "Heaven."