One of the most mind-boggling questions of Christianity is this: if God is in control of everything, do we really have free will? It’s such a difficult question, in fact, that theologians have divided themselves into two camps. Calvinists, who believe that only the elect are “predestined” for salvation, and Arminians, who believe that we choose whether or not to accept Christ. While there is a lot to be said about both sides, the most simple answer to this question is yes. We can all agree that we are not robots, forced to serve God mindlessly. After all, God created us to love and enjoy Him, and in order for that to happen, choice must be involved. We can either choose Him or sin – that is free will.

The very first instance of free will happens in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:16-17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” God is giving Adam and Eve a choice, here. They can obey God’s command and continue to live in perfect harmony with Him. Or they can disobey and face the consequences. Now, God already knows what the outcome will be. God, by nature, is all-knowing and yet, He gives them the choice anyway. How can that be?

Although God certainly knew which option they would pick, he did not force them to choose one way or another. Many skeptics will ask, “If God is perfect and good, then why did He create the possibility for evil?” In God’s perfect plan, His people love Him out of the desire of their own hearts, not out of compulsion. Compulsion, after all, is the opposite of love. In order for man to choose God, there had to be another option, and now, because of Adam and Eve’s choice, we are all now bent toward the option of sin.

Just like Adam and Eve, we still have free will today, but by the grace of God, we have an option that they didn’t – faith in Jesus Christ. Because of His work on the cross, our wrong choices don’t have to separate us from God forever. He washes away our mistakes and gives us His spirit to guide us in the right way. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus Himself says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Here, Christ makes it clear that though He offers salvation freely to everyone, it is up to us to accept that invitation, and the more we grow to love Him, the easier it will be to serve Him – not out of slavery, but out of freedom. It is because of free will that we can learn to love God’s will.

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