If you like it or not, people are created with free will: Free will – Wikipedia . As you can read on this Wikipedia we even have free will to agree or disagree if we have free will. If that’s not free will, I wouldn’t know what else.
Let us read in the bible how people dealt with free will.
Why did God give mankind free will?
Why, would a God create mankind with free will? You don’t have to read very far the bible to find out that Mankind has free will.
Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
Before Cain kills his brother, God encourages and warns him to do good. After he killed his brother he explains that his behaviour does have consequences, but he still cares for him. As Lamech is the first man mentioned to kill 2 persons, Cain didn’t kill a man again. Later on in Genesis chapter 4, we read about the offspring of Cain.
What about Abel?
Before continuing the discussion about free will, what about Abel? Why did God allow mankind to allow sin to be part of this world, knowing that we have free will, and some might not choose the right way? If this life on earth would be all that matters it would not be very just. But, it is not, and Abel wouldn’t be the last who suffered from evil people:
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Jesus is discussing with the Pharisees in this chapter. Peter explains that keeping your soul pure is more important than this earthly life, taking eternity into account.
1Pe 4:12-19 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
As we understand free will has its consequences…
Why would an almighty God create mankind, with free will, so they can even kill each other? Well, if He would not give us free will, how could we have a relationship with Him? We wouldn’t have a choice, isn’t it? Would there be real love in this world if there would be no free will?
Created with a free will: Erasmus’s point of view
Now we are getting to some really good questions, which of course have been debated before us. Erasmus, the Dutch theologican, wrote a book (De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collation) about it in 1524. He came to the following conclusion (taken from the wiki page):
If humans had no free will, Erasmus argued, then God’s commandments and warnings would be vain; and if sinful acts (and the calamities which followed them) were in fact the result of God’s predestination, then that would make God a cruel tyrant who punished his creations for sins he had forced them to commit. Rather, Erasmus insisted, God had endowed humanity with free will, valued that trait in humans, and rewarded or punished them according to their own choices between good and evil. He argued that the vast majority of the biblical texts either implicitly or explicitly supported this view and that divine grace was the means by which humans became aware of God, as well as the force which sustained and motivated humans as they sought their own free will to follow God’s laws.
What about you?
What about you? Do you realise you have free will? Did you do ever a thing that you regret that you did it? Did you try to do things better? Did you find a God who can not only forgive but also help you to do better next time? There is more than just life on Earth.