The gift of free will?

Question

A gift that is forced is no gift at all

Answer 1

Choose the alternative then


And let me know how that works out for you in about 200 years

Answer 2

My children had no sayso in being born. At times they wished they hadn't. Most of the time they are having so much fun that they don't even think about it.
Free will does not mean you have continual free will. I'm sure it was not an act of free will that an individual is kill in a tsunami or a rock slide. It is also not my will that my children get hurt from an unforeseen event.
Free will comes in to play when I tell my children to not put a knife in the toaster to get the toast up, or clean up their room, or even go outside and play. No, they did not have any say even when they were born. That was a choice between mom and dad in regard to desiring a child to share their love and home.
We, as parents, teach them what we can. Show the advantages of obedience, and futility and destruction of rebellion. As they grow, they become a light and benefit to others in various ways.
So no, free will is not absolute. You have no choice in your birth (that was your parents) nor any choice in unforeseen events. Free will is a gift that separates you from the robot. The times you are given to exercise it, you have a choice. To do so in the spirit, or to do so in the flesh. How you respond determines character and reward. (See 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). And as a child, you need to understand the reward and consequences of choice. - Schneb

Answer 3

Either God is omniscient and there is no such thing as free will. Or God is not omniscient and there is. If there is free will however, then that would mean that his test is flawed in many ways... including the fact that if free will exists the only people he will be able to admit into heaven are people that he knows will do good things despite not having to fear hell anymore... because once in heaven people could start to sin. Therefore only non-theists that have led good lives without worrying about constant threats of hell, would be admitted into heaven.

Answer 4

Very few people actually have free will. Most people are captives of societial pressure, passions, obsessions or addictions. One must acheive a level of self-awareness before they can really acheive free will. It is not a gift, it is a hard-won commodity.

Answer 5

But the gift of free will is your to reject, so not forced.

Answer 6

It seems to me that there is no true mention of free will in the bible or God being completely omnipotent(i could be wrong), yes hes powerful and yes he gives us decisions to make, life or death, but it seems hes really totally in control. I think he lets us go through darkness to shape us, if we have never been through it maybe we wouldn't understand it so much. And being forced I am sure your talking about Hell. Read genesis and what happened to adam and eve. He gave them life or death and they disobeyed so they got death, and he sent them to the dust, not hell. But enjoy this life and do whats right.

Answer 7

Ephesians 1:11, says it is God that works ALL THINGS
after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL. Romans 9:20-23,
says, "Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter POWER OVER the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God,
willing to shew his wrath, and to make HIS POWER
KNOWN, endured with much longsuffering the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make
known the riches of HIS GLORY on the vessels of mercy,
which he had AFORE PREPARED unto glory, EVEN US,
whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the
Gentiles". "EVEN US" lets us know that He is the same
today, as He was yesterday.

Notice the "longsuffering", God has on the vessels fitted
for destruction; is that hoping they will change into a
vessel of honor?

Romans 9:17, "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even
FOR THIS SAME PURPOSE have I raised thee up, THAT
I MIGHT SHEW MY POWER IN THEE, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth". How did God
show HIS POWER in Pharaoh? By causing the mightiest
ruler of that time, to act like a puppet on a string, that's how.
Under "free will", Pharaoh would have let Israel go long
before he did, except the Lord kept "hardening his heart"
against letting them go. God was showing that He has
POWER OVER the clay's "free will"!!!

God was "longsuffering" with Pharaoh, but inorder to show
who has the power and who is just weak man. We think,
we have control over what God hopes will come to pass,
but we are so deceived in such proud thoughts.

When our Lord returns to claim HIS REWARD for what He
suffered, there is going to be a lot of shame felt by those
he bought.

Answer 8

"Love me or else you will be tormented in hell."

Certainly you have CHOICE. But you do not have FREE WILL to make that choice.

By definition, freewill is free from fate and coercion.

Now what would TRULY be freewill is if there was NO punishment and NO reward and you were simply told,

"Love me or not, its up to you."

Then you would be making the choice unfettered from ANY fear of threat or anticaption of reward.

As a parent, I want my kids to love me because THEY CHOOSE to. What kind of parent would I be if I had to bribe my kids or threaten them with punishment to get their love and respect?

Is that TRUE love?

Answer 9

Since this isn't a question, I'm not sure how to answer. So, I'll just say that free will is an illusion.

Answer 10

There is only "The" Will. What seems to be free-will is whether we choose to know The Will or not.