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Why did God give us free will?
GotQuestions.org ^ | Dec. 20, 2025 | GotQuestions

Posted on 12/20/2025 6:35:04 AM PST by ViLaLuz

The question of why God gave humans a free will often comes up in a discussion about the problem of evil. Someone will ask why there is so much evil in the world, and the answer is that human beings have chosen to do evil things. God is not to blame. The follow-up question is, if God knew all the evil things that people would choose to do, why would He give us free will? ...

(Excerpt) Read more at gotquestions.org ...


TOPICS: Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: freewill; nlz; vilaluz
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The “standard” answer seems to be that, for love to be real, it must not be coerced. If we did not have the ability to reject God, then neither would we have the ability to truly love Him. Some theologians even go so far as to say that human freedom is the highest good and that even God will not violate it. Genuine love and genuine good can only exist in a world where there is an opportunity for genuine rejection and genuine evil. ...
1 posted on 12/20/2025 6:35:04 AM PST by ViLaLuz
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To: ViLaLuz

Exactly. Light means nothing without the existence, or at least the possibility of darkness.


2 posted on 12/20/2025 6:38:29 AM PST by Joe 6-pack
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To: Joe 6-pack

He gave His angels free will too, hence the fallen angels of course.


3 posted on 12/20/2025 6:41:09 AM PST by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Well said. Who can know the mind of God? However, free will is what separates us from animals and Angels.


4 posted on 12/20/2025 6:41:27 AM PST by silent majority rising ( United Israel - Judea, Samaria, and Gaza - US get out of the UN-we are not United with them.)
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To: ViLaLuz

Do we truly have free will? Of God is omniscient as stated, then he knows everything. If he knows everything then he knows what decisions we are going to make and what actions we are going to take before we make/take them. If that is accepted as fact, then what we really have is an illusion of free will. Yes, we can change our mind at the last second, but God, by his all-knowing nature knew we were going to make that change before we made it. Is that truly free will? Can we truly fool God?


5 posted on 12/20/2025 6:49:09 AM PST by redangus
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To: silent majority rising

I can’t help but notice that animals generally exercise free will. Free will makes life interesting and somewhat unpredictable.


6 posted on 12/20/2025 6:50:03 AM PST by GingisK
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To: ViLaLuz

Easy — because robots can do only what they are programmed to do.


7 posted on 12/20/2025 6:54:25 AM PST by Socon-Econ (adi)
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To: redangus

This is a supernatural mystery.

People need to be more comfortable, after a time of thought, and then fruitlessly spinning their wheels, simply declaring certain inexplicable things supernatural mysteries, known only to God the Father, and just moving on.


8 posted on 12/20/2025 6:54:29 AM PST by one guy in new jersey
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To: ViLaLuz

All part of the package. I don’t see how we could have consciousness without free will.
However, there are times we all wish the Lord had overruled it in certain moments in our lives.
If we can’t dispense with free will, let’s pray for more wisdom.


9 posted on 12/20/2025 6:54:34 AM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: ViLaLuz

Dr. Michael Egnor has an amazing take on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMnLl6M2Dio

Physical man is born with free will (small babies learn to say “I want” very early), but only the Soul provides the ability to say “I will not”. He then provides physical “proof” that this soul is separate from the physical brain - really interesting video.


10 posted on 12/20/2025 6:54:45 AM PST by impactplayer
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To: ViLaLuz

We need more free will control!


11 posted on 12/20/2025 6:57:27 AM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: redangus

https://www.gty.org/sermons/43-15/twin-truths-gods-sovereignty-and-mans-responsibility


12 posted on 12/20/2025 6:57:44 AM PST by kosciusko51
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To: ViLaLuz

Because when we fail, there is now nobody to blame but ourselves. And because of that, Christ’s sacrifice is the only way out.


13 posted on 12/20/2025 7:02:38 AM PST by 50sDad (A Liberal prevents me from telling you anything here)
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To: ViLaLuz

“free” from what?


14 posted on 12/20/2025 7:11:54 AM PST by Theophilus (covfefe)
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To: ViLaLuz
Possibly more like: My garden, My rules. If that doesn’t work for you, you can find another place to test your own. You can find your way back: Prefer Me, love truth, and be kind. Aim high and have faith.
15 posted on 12/20/2025 7:15:52 AM PST by wasmv80
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To: ViLaLuz

The question of why God gave humans a free will


Lets define that a bit.

Is our free will ABSOLUTE or is it subject to something?

We are not completely free in our thinking. We are subject to decisions of others, our experiences, the indigestion from too much pizza last night, the lying headline you just read on FR, etc.

You cannot make a completely free independent decision. You are subject to original sin. You choose the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil where you decide things just like your famous ancestors did.

We are slaves to sin, we can’t help it. We may think we have free will, but we don’t.

In some ways we can’t escape be slaves. BUT, there is another Master, one who has paid a big price for you to serve him. He calls you a bond servant, or we should consider our selves such.

What is the difference between a bond servant and a slave?

Because we are such slaves to sin, we don’t even have the ability to choose Him.....................so he chooses us at his great pleasure.


16 posted on 12/20/2025 7:16:12 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere)
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To: ViLaLuz

We only have free will within the abilities available to us at our developed frequency of consciousness.

While Jesus states that the “Things that He does and even more we shall do....” and states that the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains, we are restricted in expressing and manifesting our free will.

Shortly after returning from Heaven after my near death experience, my thoughts started manifesting physically. It scared me as that power is so great that I fell to my knees and prayed for God to take it away. I realized that at that level of consciousness, if I got angry at someone, my thoughts could kill them. I was not ready for this ability.

Thankfully, God took the ability away.

All our thoughts manifest. It’s the reason that Jesus stated that if you thought it, you may as well have done it.

I do demonstrations with large groups proving this. I get volunteers to come up and visualize a large object somewhere in the room between them and myself. I do not look at the person as I am explaining the process to the volunteer.

I have them turn away from me so I cannot read their eyes, and I proceed to walk toward them until I physically feel the object they imagined. Consciousness is physical to my perception ever since I returned from Heaven.

In one demonstration I did at Johns Hopkins, a volunteer visualized a solid wooden door in an area about 40 ft across the front of the room where I was doing the demonstration.

It puzzled my as I felt two doors at the same time, about six ft apart. The guy turned to the group and explained that he was trying to trick me and his door was six ft thick.

At the same time, half of the group of about 150 people were also visualizing an imaginary door in the same space at the front of the room. Just as you recognize the frequency of a person’s voice, I recognize the frequency of a person’s consciousness and must isolate the thoughts of the volunteer I am using in the demonstration.

When doing this demonstration, I select very logical intelligent people as their thoughts are more concrete and easier for me to locate. I can usually find the object within three or four inches in a forty to fifty ft area.

Emotional feminine consciousness manifestations are much more fuzzy and do not have the concrete defined edges which make it easier for me to locate.

I then have the person attach emotion to the object they imagined by visualizing a person that they have unresolved conflict with holding the object. With them standing many feet away and their eyes closed, I take hold of their imagined object and move it. Their physical body moves the same direction I move the imagined object.

I use this to teach forgiveness as just as the person is attached to the imaginary object and it controls them, if you are angry at someone you are attaching yourself to that person and giving them control over you. FORGIVENESS IS TO SET YOU FREE.

I explained the above process to help people understand that you can use your free will to manifest your thoughts physically. This is also how many people self punish through auto-immune disorders and psychosomatic illnesses.

When I first prayed and meditated on the question of free will many years ago, I had a vision. A baby has free will within the limitations of a playpen. A child has free will within the fenced in yard. Mankind has limitations on their free will based upon the limitations available to the frequencies of consciousness their soul has developed.


17 posted on 12/20/2025 7:18:24 AM PST by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: redangus

Behold the straw man horse argument of Calvinism.

God’s omniscience does not disable free will.

Next Calvinists strawman faulty argument : predestination.

God predestined those who repent and believe in the atoning of grace to receive salvation

NOT God predetermined who will make their free will choice to believe on Christ and repent and accept the free gift of salvation.


18 posted on 12/20/2025 7:22:32 AM PST by cuz1961
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To: ViLaLuz

If God didn’t give people a “choice” of loving and respecting Him or choosing not to, that would NOT be true love.


19 posted on 12/20/2025 7:35:34 AM PST by high info voter (Delivery )
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To: ViLaLuz

God created the world as He did and gave humans the freedoms they have in order to bring glory to Himself. The glorification of God is the greatest possible good.


article conclusion.

If it makes sense, be encouraged......................


20 posted on 12/20/2025 7:36:35 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere)
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