The very fact individuals can choose to do evil proves we have free will. When people decide on their own initiative to go against their better nature and do something violent or perform some act of evil, they are exercising their free will prerogative; they are using their God given right to free choice. This free will means we truly can choose for ourselves; furthermore God totally respects our free will choices and will not interfere with them. There may be consequences for our decisions after the fact, but the choice to act is ours.
Having free will means we can choose whatever we might want to do. Since we operate in both spiritual and physical reality we have the ability to choose in each of these realms. Physical free will choices include natural everyday decisions to carry out our lives and may be constrained by the nature of physical reality. Spiritual free will operates in spiritual reality and is more subtle.
Our spiritual free will is the defining characteristic that declares we are human. Just under a million years ago a pair of primates decided to move away from their tribe and live by themselves. This they did on their own, of their own free will. This was the first free will decision on our native planet and as a result of this Urantia was declared an inhabited world.[1] The full account of their bravery is a thrilling tale of the resilience of the human spirit in these two human beings, the first true humans on our world.
This free will capacity divides us from all other physical creatures on Earth; we have the ability to decide for ourselves what we wish to do. It is called spiritual free will because it is in the spiritual realm that we truly have free will. Physically I cannot choose to become a football lineman or a ballet dancer, but spiritually I have the free will to choose to do whatever I wish. Whatever I may be doing in my physical life, I can choose to do it according to God’s will or instead do whatever I may wish to do. It is our spiritual free will that makes us human beings and imparts to us spiritual dignity.
The important thing to realize about this free will is that God totally respects our free will decisions. No matter what we might choose to do, our Heavenly Father will not interfere and will not make any move against our choices. God absolutely respects our free will decisions. The Creator refuses to coerce or compel the submission of the spiritual free wills of his material creatures.[2] This refusal of God to coerce any free will creature may result in short term hardships for those victimized by evildoers but it forever declares the sanctity of our choices; he could obliterate evildoers instantaneously but instead he will not hamper their choices. They will rise or fall on the weight of their own choices; whatever each of us decides to do there will be consequences; it is our free will choices that define each of us.
This brings up the question many have asked after unfortunate acts of evil: “How could God permit such a thing to happen?” God permits the free will choices of our sisters and brothers, indeed God will not interfere with any creature’s free will decisions. It is they who choose to do the evil thing, they create the evil and they will reap the consequences of their actions. While we may seem to be handicapped by their choice of evil, this provides us with a stark opportunity to accept or reject their actions; it gives us a chance to rise above their evil, to affirm our conviction to do God’s will and to show forth His love and mercy to those around us. We can choose to become victims or we can choose to manifest His presence in our lives to our brothers and sisters. We can choose between temporary pleasures and eternity, evil and good, hate and love, the narrow viewpoint and an increasing understanding of all creation.
The revelation does state whatever the calamity may be; all these difficult and more or less mysterious situations always work out for the welfare and progress of the universes.[3] The experience may be quite painful and uncomfortable at the time, but the wisdom gained by those who went through it will be with them throughout eternity.
It cannot be stated more forcefully than what is declared in the revelation. No other being, force, creator, or agency in all the wide universe of universes can interfere to any degree with the absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as it operates within the realms of choice, regarding the eternal destiny of the personality of the choosing mortal. As pertains to eternal survival, God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will, and that decree is absolute.[4] We truly choose our eternal destiny by our everyday choices.
Even though Caligastia and his rebels have been defeated they remain free and will continue to be free until the case against them has been resolved; creature free will is a factor in this final adjudication.[5] This means that at least the majority of our citizens must choose between good and evil before the rebellion is settled on our planet.
Our ability to choose between good and evil is a consequence of our God given spiritual free will.[6] This is what makes us spiritually free, but it also can result in individuals choosing to do evil. It is individuals who have free will that choose to create evil; allowing anything other than this would result in our loss of spiritual freedom. Everyone is welcome to eventually go to Paradise and meet God in person, but only if that person freely chooses to do so.