How can man have free will while God knows you?

Answer 1

Man can have free will because God allows it. Because God is Omniscient (all knowing), does not mean he forces someone to choose a direction in life. He wills (desires) for man to follow Christ, but most will not. In John 1:48 The Bible says "Nathanael saith unto him Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." Jesus saw Nathanael under the tree before they ever met, and Jesus told this to Nathanael to show that Jesus is all knowing, but Jesus did not cause Nathanel to sit under the tree. He just knew his actions. Jesus knew Peter would deny him three times. But Jesus did not cause Peter to deny him. He simply knew he would. Jesus (God) did not cause Peter to deny him. Jesus knew Judas would betray him. Jesus already simply knew what Judas was going to do. We know Judas chose to sin from Judas himself; Matthew 27:3-4 says "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, (4) Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that." Judas said, "I have sinned..." Think of it as a recorded football game. When the game was live, after the clock ran out, the score was settled, your team lost. But because you didn't get a chance to see the game, and had to record it, and the outcome is already complete. Of course you don't know the outcome yet, so you watch to see if your team will win. But again, the game is already final. Before you even watch the game, the score is settled because it was recorded and played earlier. No matter how you may hope the outcome will happen, the players fumbled, thrown an interception and your team lost. Of course, as you sit down to watch this, you don't know those things are going to happen. When you are watching the recorded game, you see 1:00 left and you team is ahead by two. You don't see yet that they score a 3 point field goal to win on the last 3 seconds of the game. Sure enough, even though your team was ahead the whole game, the last 3 seconds they lost. Before you even watched the recorded game, your team lost. The game was already final. Before you even watched the recorded game, there was nothing you could have done to change the outcome. Your team lost. My point here is, God already sees your life complete. He knows who will accept and who will reject the "gift". He did not cause their choices and actions. He just has the ability to pre-view our lives to see the outcomes and the decisions WE MAKE. Knowing in advance does not mean causing. God allows us to choose how we are going to live. I have the right to do good today, or do bad, so do you. You can choose to rob a bank today, or "serve God". It is a choice you make. Poeple choose to rape, murder, lie, cheat, steal. And they chose to confess, admit, help a neigbhor, work hard. God will not cause you to reject or follow him. Surely He knows what you will do. "IF a man love me, he WILL keep my words". Notice the action is on the person, IF, he WILL (DO). John 14:23 says "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Deuteronmy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore CHOOSE life, that both thou and thy seed may live:" Finally, 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 clearly states we have to give an account for the choices we have made. In fact, Paul (the author of the letter to the Corinthians) says that they "persuade men". Persuading someone is obviously trying to convince them to do something. You don't persuade people who don't have a choice. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 says "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." I trust you have CHOSEN to follow Christ. For it is your free will. Titus 1:16 "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." There are many commands in the Bible. If God gives us a command, that means we have the choice to obey it or not. "If ye love me, will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Obeying God shows we love him and have faith (believe) Him. Love is a choice. "Husbands love your wives." "Love your enemies". Is a command and a choice. I may not "feel" like loving my enemy, but I should, because Jesus said we should. This is our FREE WILL. When we disobey, we will give an account as mentioned earlier in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11. Mat 10:32-33 Jesus says "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."

In the Bible God talks about the free will. There are two possibilities: * Not having free will * Having free will Here's the just one passage from the John 8: 31-36:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Jesus tells us the diabolic nature of sin: the power to take control and to enslave a person. You cannot do what you want, but you are a slave and will sin even if you don't want to. You have no longer the power to do good. Sure, you can do some good things from time to time but cannot live a life like God want's you to live: a perfect life, were you are loved and fulfilled.

Romans 7:14,18-19 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.(...) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." However the will of God, like the John passage shows, is for mankind to be free. This is also showed in the Eden garden. God let the man choose who to listen to, which means free will, but sin doesn't let you have the free will.

The fact that God know everything does not change the free will of the man at all. He created persons in His image, who can reason and choose for themselves.

If God main purpose was to get all to heaven at any cost, then He would take our free will and make all of have faith in Jesus to walk the right way and get to heaven.

Make no mistake: God want's all to go to heaven. Here are only a few passages: * 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." * Ezekiel 33:11 "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways;" But God's mainpurpose is not to get all to heaven, at any cost, but to have sons like His own Son. He wants persons that choose Him when they see His deep love for them and love Him back.

Very important: Even if we become servants of God, He still doesn't take our free will from us because he loves us. He want's us to be like Him, and He has free will, so He let's us have free will as well.

This is shown many times in the life of His disciples. Here are two examples: * Peter said he didn't know Jesus tree times * Judas betrayed Him There are many examples in the Bible, and even today we see that followers of Christ don't just become saints over the night. They begin to walk the right way and grow in their spiritual life becoming more like Jesus, while leaving behind the wrong things.

Let us take the Peter example:

Luke 22:34 "And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."

Luke 22:60-62 "And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."

Jesus knew that Peter will say he doesn't know Him, and He told him that. Still Peter had the free will to do it. We can see that from the fact that Peter cryed. He cryed because he was guilty, because he said what he said while having free will. He chose to say he doesn't know Jesus. So there you have it : God lets us have free will because He loves us ! Even if he knows what we'll do in the future, He still loves us and gives freedom !