Free Will
God gave man a great and wonderful gift: free will, within the context of our lives. It is the very image of God, whose core attribute can be described as Choice, who is Himself outside of, and prior to, and master of, every context.
Free will is one of the three greatest gifts God has given to humanity. The other two are existence and salvation, and they too are great gifts; and yet, both only make sense with free will. Without free will, existence is meaningless. Without free will, salvation is unnecessary.
We exist in the realm of the moral, a realm that has been tainted by sin. Sin is the full form of entropy, the cause of decay and pain, the cause of loss. All life on Earth has been touched by Adam's Wrong Decision.
There are three types of salvation.
The first is Justification; upon our request to God that He apply Jesus' historical execution to our penalty, we are declared legally free from all punishment (though not consequences) for all our wrong choices.
The second is Sanctification; after we realize the harm we've done to ourselves, the world, and those we care about, we accept the need to be changed. The Holy Spirit starts cleansing us from the inside out, reminding us that everyone needs to be loved by us, just as God loved us all, and treated with the respect due to those whom God loves.
The third is Translation; we are taken out of the tainted context, our bodies are renewed to glorious forms, and we are given access to places and things we could never imagine with our current minds; whether by death or by the second coming, we will be saved (finally!) from the consequences of Adam's Wrong Choice.
And from then on, the possibilities (and choices) are literally endless.
Free will is one of the three greatest gifts God has given to humanity. The other two are existence and salvation, and they too are great gifts; and yet, both only make sense with free will. Without free will, existence is meaningless. Without free will, salvation is unnecessary.
We exist in the realm of the moral, a realm that has been tainted by sin. Sin is the full form of entropy, the cause of decay and pain, the cause of loss. All life on Earth has been touched by Adam's Wrong Decision.
There are three types of salvation.
The first is Justification; upon our request to God that He apply Jesus' historical execution to our penalty, we are declared legally free from all punishment (though not consequences) for all our wrong choices.
The second is Sanctification; after we realize the harm we've done to ourselves, the world, and those we care about, we accept the need to be changed. The Holy Spirit starts cleansing us from the inside out, reminding us that everyone needs to be loved by us, just as God loved us all, and treated with the respect due to those whom God loves.
The third is Translation; we are taken out of the tainted context, our bodies are renewed to glorious forms, and we are given access to places and things we could never imagine with our current minds; whether by death or by the second coming, we will be saved (finally!) from the consequences of Adam's Wrong Choice.
And from then on, the possibilities (and choices) are literally endless.
posted by BlueNight at
9:50 PM
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