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.
Free will
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. As revealed in The Urantia Book, 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 Urantia and as a result of this our planet 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 Earth.
Our defining characteristic
This free will capacity divides us from all other 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 based upon our choices.
The important thing to realize about this free will is 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. 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.[2] He could obliterate evildoers instantaneously but instead he will not hamper their choices. They will rise or fall on the weight of their own decisions. Whatever each of us decides to do there will be consequences. It is our free will choices that define each of us.
Each thinking human being is indwelt by an actual fragment of God. He is with us helping us to make wise decisions; all we need do is to follow His guidance in our decisions.
Our ability to choose between good and evil is a consequence of our God given spiritual free will.[3] 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. As we choose to do God’s will we gradually become more like Him and experience spiritual growth. Everyone is welcome to eventually go to Paradise and meet God in person, but only if that person freely chooses to do so.
Further reading
“Light of Truth: Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness”
