Free Will...

[jgrosshe]

"So it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘This is why I have raised you up, to show my power through you that my name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.’ Consequently, he has mercy upon whome he wills, and he hardens whom he wills. You will say to me then, ‘Why [then] does he still find fault? For who can oppose his will?’ But who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is made say to its maker, ‘Why have you created me so?’ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one?"(Romans 9:16-21)

My question is this: God made us who we are. Exactly how we are. Some of us would then be made more likely to sin than others (made for ignoble purpose) and some would not (noble purpose). So how does Free Will fit into all of this? If God new when He was making us which would sin and go to hell, why did he not make us all more capable of good, or at least equal in this area? How could a loving God knowingly make His children more apt to sin? Or am I just reading this all wrong?

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

My question is this: God made us who we are. Exactly how we are. Some of us would then be made more likely to sin than others (made for ignoble purpose) and some would not (noble purpose). So how does Free Will fit into all of this? If God new when He was making us which would sin and go to hell, why did he not make us all more capable of good, or at least equal in this area? How could a loving God knowingly make His children more apt to sin? Or am I just reading this all wrong? *

I believe that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” Firstly, we have to remember that God intended none of us to sin. However, when sin entered the world, some of our personalities make us more prone to different kinds of sin. God made me a musician. This makes me very emotionally sensitive, and therefore I really struggle with sins of emotion: anger, sadness, despair, you get the idea. What God intended for good, satan uses for evil. We are all called to live sinless, but we can’t do it. This is why Christ came and died for us.

 

[crowcounty]

regardless of the levels of sin free will has to do with participation in the covenant and in availability for love. are you willing to be availible to what god would have you do. the sinner boat sailed thats what we are but do i choose to glorify god anyway? or do i use it as an excuse to glorify the world

 

[PAboy57]

the Pharaoh wasn’t a very nice guy to begin with. He held a nation in slavery and was on the way to hell in the first place. God simply used the Pharaoh’s evilness with a little heart hardening added in. We have all the free will we can handle. Our loving God made us in His own image and likeness. We chose sin and the rest is history. He didn’t make us more apt to sin. We did that all on our own via free will.

very good question. God Bless.

 

[Vernula]

An excellent question!

In Deuteronomy 30:19 God instructs Moses to tell the people to choose life (i.e. obey God), and elsewhere in scripture it says that God desires that ALL be saved (1 Tim 2:4). So we know with certainty that it is up to each one of us to choose our own destiny (i.e. eternity with God or eternity without Him).

I think the point Paul is making in Romans is that our salvation is nothing we deserve on account of our own actions. Our Lord’s parable of the workers (Mat 20:1-16) illustrates this. To paraphrase: If I do one minute worth of work and God gives me a million dollars as a reward, I cannot say that I “earned” that million dollars. That was God’s pure generosity.

Of course, in reality, God’s generosity is infintely greater, out of all proportion to our actions: for our grace-aided finite acts in this life, God bestows upon us an infinite reward (eternity in heaven).

From the Haydock commentary to the Douay Rheims:-

haydock1859.tripod.com/id153.html

Ver. 15-16. * I will have mercy, &c. Then it is not of him that willeth, &c*. By these words he again teaches that God’s call and predestination of those whom he has decreed to save, is not upon account of any works or merits in men, but only to be attributed to the mercy and goodness of God. See St. Thomas Aquinas on this chap. lect. iii. See St. Augustine, Encher. chap. xcviii. Epis. 194. in the new Ed. Ep. 105. ad Sixtum de lib. Arbit. chap. xxv. &c. (Witham)

Hope this helps.

In Christ,
Vernula

 

[Bob4BVM]

I think you might be reading it all wrong.

Free will is more than God’s gift to us, it is a necessary part of us.
Without it, we would not be free to choose to love—God or anyone else.
God created us to know, love, and serve Him. As members of His family.
Without a free choice in this we’d be slaves, not family.