Hi Mark, My nephew is struggling with his spirituality. His dad, (my brother) is dying of cancer. My nephew isn't a Christian (yet). He said he is starting to read the Bible, and this great question keeps popping up and he finds it hard to grasp. "God gave us free will. But God knows everything we are going to do before we do it. How can we disappoint God if he knows we are going to do it before we know we are going to do it?!" I told him that sometimes we just need to just trust in God. I don't know what to tell him on this. Can you help?
One point, which may seem like quibbling, but I think that it's important. We really don't have a free will, at least not at our births.
In Psalm 51, David confesses to having been born a sinner. He doesn't mean that he'd already committed a sin in his mother's womb. There really are two ways in which the term, "sin" is used in the Bible. The first is the condition of alienation from God into which we're born, inherited from Adam and Eve. It's a condition that sees us turned in on ourselves, away from God and from others. The second Biblical use of the word "sin" describes the acts we commit because of that condition.
A confession that we commonly use in Lutheran churches has us telling God, "We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves." Luther called the condition of sin into which we're born, "the bondage of the will."
Under this condition, we may be free to say, "Yes" or "No" to God, but without help from God--the Higher Power in AA, about which you and I have written before over the years, I think--we will always say, "No." The bondage of sin will always force us to say, "No." Like a runaway train on the wrong track, our sin condition forces us to say, "No" to love of God and love of neighbor, "No" even to what is best for us.
Jesus Christ came into the world to arrest that runaway train, to free us from the bondage of our wills, and so, make it possible for us to say, "Yes" to God. It's only those in relationship with the God we meet in Christ who are truly free to say, "Yes" or "No."
Having said all of that, I must confess that your nephew's question is probably unanswerable. But I don't think that God is toying with us the way a cat toys with a mouse. I believe, for example, that had Judas embraced Christ, allowing Christ to set his will free, he could have said, "Yes" to Christ's grace. Clearly, Christ expended every effort to reach Judas, just as He expends every effort on each of us.
And maybe that's all we can know at this point: God will spare no effort to save us. In fact, God has spared no effort to save us. "Those who call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved."
I would urge your nephew to call on the Lord, then help us tell the world about Christ, and leave the future to God. In Christ, we know that God is good and loving. Eternity will bring many new chapters in our stories with God. Who knows what good things God may have up His sleeves?
3 comments:
Hi Mark,
My nephew is struggling with his spirituality. His dad, (my brother) is dying of cancer. My nephew isn't a Christian (yet). He said he is starting to read the Bible, and this great question keeps popping up and he finds it hard to grasp.
"God gave us free will. But God knows everything we are going to do before we do it. How can we disappoint God if he knows we are going to do it before we know we are going to do it?!"
I told him that sometimes we just need to just trust in God. I don't know what to tell him on this. Can you help?
Phyllis:
This is a tough question.
One point, which may seem like quibbling, but I think that it's important. We really don't have a free will, at least not at our births.
In Psalm 51, David confesses to having been born a sinner. He doesn't mean that he'd already committed a sin in his mother's womb. There really are two ways in which the term, "sin" is used in the Bible. The first is the condition of alienation from God into which we're born, inherited from Adam and Eve. It's a condition that sees us turned in on ourselves, away from God and from others. The second Biblical use of the word "sin" describes the acts we commit because of that condition.
A confession that we commonly use in Lutheran churches has us telling God, "We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves." Luther called the condition of sin into which we're born, "the bondage of the will."
Under this condition, we may be free to say, "Yes" or "No" to God, but without help from God--the Higher Power in AA, about which you and I have written before over the years, I think--we will always say, "No." The bondage of sin will always force us to say, "No." Like a runaway train on the wrong track, our sin condition forces us to say, "No" to love of God and love of neighbor, "No" even to what is best for us.
Jesus Christ came into the world to arrest that runaway train, to free us from the bondage of our wills, and so, make it possible for us to say, "Yes" to God. It's only those in relationship with the God we meet in Christ who are truly free to say, "Yes" or "No."
Having said all of that, I must confess that your nephew's question is probably unanswerable. But I don't think that God is toying with us the way a cat toys with a mouse. I believe, for example, that had Judas embraced Christ, allowing Christ to set his will free, he could have said, "Yes" to Christ's grace. Clearly, Christ expended every effort to reach Judas, just as He expends every effort on each of us.
And maybe that's all we can know at this point: God will spare no effort to save us. In fact, God has spared no effort to save us. "Those who call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved."
I would urge your nephew to call on the Lord, then help us tell the world about Christ, and leave the future to God. In Christ, we know that God is good and loving. Eternity will bring many new chapters in our stories with God. Who knows what good things God may have up His sleeves?
By the way, Phyllis, God bless you, your nephew, your brother, and your family as you go through this time.
Mark
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