Christians: Do people ALWAYS have free will, or is it sometimes gone?

Question

If you say it's restricted or partial in some cases, can you explain what you mean by that?

Note: I don't think we have it at all.

C.L. Richardson: How can you give up your free will?

If people always have free will, what does it mean to be posessed - or do you agree that it doesn't happen?

Answer 1

God never violates our free will. Without free will we are not His children -- we would only be puppets or robots.

It is never restricted or partial. Unless you're mentally ill, every choice you made you have made freely.

Answer 2

We do have free will, otherwise God would be responsible for all the evil we perpetrate. If we had no choice in anything, then even the toilet paper we choose would be what, written in a divine script? The Bible doesn't present man as some kind of puppet without a will or choice. In fact, the Bible says we are made in the image of God, and that must be speaking to our ability to reason, choose, and be moral. However, and here's the debate among Christians, since we are living in the time after the fall of Adam, how free are we to live righteously? We are not very free in that regard, not because God is determining our every move, but because we have inherited a sin nature. We now sin as naturally as breathe, and when we do what is right, it is an example of that divine image coming through for a moment. Since we now sin first, we cannot save ourselves and so our destiny is what we deserve; hell. God doesn't want us there, he wants us with him, so he came in the person of Jesus Christ to be the merciful, sinless payer of our penalty, which was the right thing to do if God is also just. Now, we turn to Christ and we are saved from our current direction.

The question is, does God "enable" us to believe and thus be saved, or does God "cause" us to believe and thus be saved? If He is causal, then He let's most people go to hell without any chance of salvation. If He is enabling, then He let's most people go to hell who still refuse salvation. People freely choose hell either way. It is what they will. God's will is that they get their will, and it doesn't thwart His plan in the least.

Answer 3

Free will is the one gift that proves man is made in God's image. No more than God could lie or Sin, could he take a way a person's free will.

The reason God would not do this is because a fundemental nature of love. Only wih free will can one love in a manner consistant with the way God loves, unconditionally. Without free will, we might as well be a dog chasing every female in heat. I know some people are this way, but I chose not to be like this anymore. Even though the urge is there, i refuse to give into the urge or my flesh.

I think Paul says it best:

18-20What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a thoughtful addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original promise is the direct blessing of God, received by faith.

21-22If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God's will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.

23-24Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.

Answer 4

We have the free will to reject sin and choose the good even threat of death and torture cannot change this if the person is faithful to God, however there may be times when unjust regimes or dictorial governments enforce unjust laws on people that leave them without a free will choice, and in a case like this free will can be heavily restricted.

Answer 5

Well if we are in prison we might not be able to do exactly everything we wanted. But then again I might want to go to Africa. It is not about being able to do what you want it is deciding what you do in given circumstances. You cannot choose where you will be born but you can choose how you honor them etc..

Possessed?? Yes people can certainly be possessed by Satan or his coherts. In that instance Satan has a lot of control over the mind, he throws things into confusion and therefore possessed people often express a lot of fear and unexplainable behaviors, sometimes even supernatural strength. How much they can control I am not sure. I really think that if they are not in control of there mind than they have very limited control of their emotions, actions and even thoughts.

Answer 6

Free will is a hallmark of the Christian religion - there really is no point to judgment if you weren't calling the shots to your actions in the first place.

Without free will, no personal accountability, no accountability - impossibility to rationally judge.

Answer 7

People have free will, but it has nothing to do with a god or gods. I would argue that it is restricted or nonexistent in cases of mental illness and reflex actions.

Answer 8

I don't believe free will (in a genuine philosophical sense) exists. So, I would take the side of never having free will.

(Or, if we do have it, it's in such restricted cases that it's irrelevant anyway).

Answer 9

when you make covenant with the other side. It's gone. Your spririt guide takes over and you are just a puppet he is using...although he will make you think you are in control. Try to get out of it ..you will know what I am talking about.

Answer 10

restricted? partial? i don't know about that, but i love your "free will" questions...maybe someone who is brain dead or brain damaged may not have the ability to use their free will, but the brain damaged person probably uses it to the best of their ability.