Choices and Consequences

Philosophical
Written By Edward Wolfe

Choices

Some people believe that “free will” is an important philosophical and theological concept. Do people have free will or are they merely the product of their environment or God’s sovereign will?

To tell the truth, I don’t know that the Bible teaches that humans have free will. Yes, there is such a thing as a “freewill offering” (for example, Exodus 35.29), although a better translation might be “voluntary offering” (the way it’s translated by the Amplified Bible).

I am certain, though, that the Bible teaches “choice.” Our wills might not be completely “free,” because there are all kinds of influences on us humans. Nonetheless, we see that we are commanded to “choose.” Adam and Eve had a choice to obey or disobey God in the Garden of Eden, and they submitted to the influence of the serpent, suffering the consequences of their poor choice (Genesis 3:6-19).

When Moses delivered the Torah law to the Israelite people, he said, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

When John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, he said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). He clearly wanted his listeners to choose the Holy Spirit, not fire.

The theme of human choice runs through the entire Bible, from beginning to end. It closes with an invitation: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17)

God offers us a choice, blessings or curses, life or death, the Holy Spirit or destruction. Let us choose wisely. The consequences are huge.

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Edward Wolfe

Edward Wolfe has been a fan of Christian apologetics since his teenage years, when he began seriously to question the truth of the Bible and the reality of Jesus. About twenty years ago, he started noticing that Christian evidences roughly fell into five categories, the five featured on this website.
Although much of his professional life has been in Christian circles (12 years on the faculties of Pacific Christian College, now a part of Hope International University, and Manhattan Christian College and also 12 years at First Christian Church of Tempe), much of his professional life has been in public institutions (4 years at the University of Colorado and 19 years at Tempe Preparatory Academy).
His formal academic preparation has been in the field of music. His bachelor degree was in Church Music with a minor in Bible where he studied with Roger Koerner, Sue Magnusson, Russel Squire, and John Rowe; his master’s was in Choral Conducting where he studied with Howard Swan, Gordon Paine, and Roger Ardrey; and his doctorate was in Piano Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature, where he also studied group dynamics, humanistic psychology, and Gestalt theory with Guy Duckworth.
He and his wife Louise have four grown children and six grandchildren.

https://WolfeMusicEd.com
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