I think I could go on and on with this. But my short version is..... I believe He gave us free will so that we can realize how much we need Him. Without Him, without Christ we are nothing. He wants us to be totally devoted to Him. Can we do that, as humans, if we don't have to make a choice to do that? We must completely surrender ourselves to Him.
That is a super hard question...you could take it a lot of different directions. Here's what I think. Because God is all perfect, He is also all-loving. 1 John says God is love so God cannot NOT love us. It would go against his nature. Because God is all-loving, He gives us free will. Without free will, there is no love. Love cannot be forced. I think that God definitely could force us to love him...but then'd we be puppets on a string without having any choice. Kinda the same reason that God doesn't force people to go to heaven. he wants people to chose. He loves us and that's why he gives us free will. Anyways, that's what I think! Definitely not theologically backed up or anything, just my rambled thoughts! Are you doing apologetics this year?
I think that God "wants" all of us to be drawn near to Him. And He loves everyone, but because we have free will, we have to choose Christ. We have to choose Him. We have to die to self to follow Him. Salvation and the gift of grace is a free gift, but it's not something that we just accept, and then ignore. We are accountable and must become Christ-like to live a true Christian life and have a Christian walk.
I hit publish too soon. I must make clear that when we choose to be followers of Christ, God does a work in us. In and of ourselves, we can do nothing. But when we accept the gift of salvation and invite Christ into our hearts, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. It is God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit that makes the change in us.
That question touches on the topic of predestination. I've asked that exact question to my youth pastor before but it still really confuses me!! I personally think that God knows if we will choose him or not but-like I said earlier-I think God gives us free will. After all, if we didn't chose God, I wonder why God would create non-Christians if he knew they weren't going to choose him. But he still created them-maybe so they could have the opportunity to choose him? I think that's part of the reason Jesus came...so we could make the decision if we were going to accept or reject him. There's that one verse in a parable in Matthew that says, "Many are called, but few are chosen." I think that verse would basically sum up my views. God calls all of us and...but few choose him. Still, God knows if we will choose him or not. What do you think?
I think I could go on and on with this. But my short version is..... I believe He gave us free will so that we can realize how much we need Him. Without Him, without Christ we are nothing. He wants us to be totally devoted to Him. Can we do that, as humans, if we don't have to make a choice to do that? We must completely surrender ourselves to Him.
ReplyDeleteThat is a super hard question...you could take it a lot of different directions. Here's what I think. Because God is all perfect, He is also all-loving. 1 John says God is love so God cannot NOT love us. It would go against his nature. Because God is all-loving, He gives us free will. Without free will, there is no love. Love cannot be forced. I think that God definitely could force us to love him...but then'd we be puppets on a string without having any choice. Kinda the same reason that God doesn't force people to go to heaven. he wants people to chose. He loves us and that's why he gives us free will. Anyways, that's what I think! Definitely not theologically backed up or anything, just my rambled thoughts! Are you doing apologetics this year?
ReplyDeleteNo I am not doing apologetics. Do you think, Anna, that we choose God or that God chooses us to be our children?
ReplyDeleteSimon
You can answer that question too Mrs. Hollaway.
ReplyDeleteSimon
I think that God "wants" all of us to be drawn near to Him. And He loves everyone, but because we have free will, we have to choose Christ. We have to choose Him. We have to die to self to follow Him. Salvation and the gift of grace is a free gift, but it's not something that we just accept, and then ignore. We are accountable and must become Christ-like to live a true Christian life and have a Christian walk.
ReplyDeleteI hit publish too soon. I must make clear that when we choose to be followers of Christ, God does a work in us. In and of ourselves, we can do nothing. But when we accept the gift of salvation and invite Christ into our hearts, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. It is God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit that makes the change in us.
ReplyDeleteThat question touches on the topic of predestination. I've asked that exact question to my youth pastor before but it still really confuses me!! I personally think that God knows if we will choose him or not but-like I said earlier-I think God gives us free will. After all, if we didn't chose God, I wonder why God would create non-Christians if he knew they weren't going to choose him. But he still created them-maybe so they could have the opportunity to choose him? I think that's part of the reason Jesus came...so we could make the decision if we were going to accept or reject him. There's that one verse in a parable in Matthew that says, "Many are called, but few are chosen." I think that verse would basically sum up my views. God calls all of us and...but few choose him. Still, God knows if we will choose him or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?