by Ray Baker<\/p>\n
One of the many things the Scriptures teach with all surety is the free moral agency of men. The Lord did not create robots when He made us, nor did He fashion \u2018puppets on a string.\u2019 He made us creatures of choice, and His desire is that our hearts will choose to love and serve Him — but He will not force us into that choice.<\/p>\n
If we want to believe spiritual error, God will let us. The apostle Paul wrote of some who \u201cmight be saved,\u201d but wouldn\u2019t be, because they did not have\u00a0\u201cthe love of the truth.\u201d They simply didn\u2019t want to believe God\u2019s revelation (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). Would the Lord allow this? Yes. In fact, God would even \u201csend\u201d such people \u201cstrong delusion, that they should believe the lie\u201d (v. 11). If we want to believe that there is no God, He\u2019ll allow us to manipulate some archaeological or geological findings to the \u2018proving\u2019 of our belief — if that\u2019s what we desire. If we want to believe that a doctrine is taught in God\u2019s word (which isn\u2019t), He\u2019ll allow us to \u201ctwist\u201d the Scriptures to our \u201cown destruction\u201d — if that\u2018s what we desire (II Peter 3:16).<\/p>\n
If we want to live lives full of immorality, God will let us. Three times in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans Paul spoke of God \u201cgiving\u201d men \u201cup\u201d or \u201cover\u201d to such — \u201cto uncleanness\u201c (Romans 1:24), \u201cto vile passions\u201d (Romans 1:26) — \u201cto a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting\u201d (Romans 1:28). Yes, God will allow men, even \u201cgive them over,\u201d to idolatry, homosexuality, lesbianism, murder, covetousness, envy, or a host of other sins — if that is their desire. Sadly, today\u2019s culture seems to be \u2018given over\u2019 to much of this. What a mess we\u2019re in! Even organized religion has to some degree been swept up in this, at least to the acceptance of some of these. If men wanted to believe the truth they would know \u201cthat those who practice such things are worthy of death\u201d (Romans 1:32).<\/p>\nIf we want to find truth and righteousness, God will let us. \u201cBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 5:6). Praise God for this! And Jesus said, \u201cYou shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free<\/em>\u201d (John 8:32). How happy we ought to be that, if we so desire, we can know the truth and stand righteous before God. Jesus said, \u201cAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will<\/em> What will we receive at this life\u2019s end? It all depends on what we have desired and sought for. If we have aspired to the \u2018spiritual\u2019 lies of men or the morals of this age, these lead to nothing but condemnation and death, no matter how sincerely we believed them to be the right course. If we have truly sought for eternal life, we will find it.<\/p>\n What will you find? It all depends upon that for which you are asking, seeking, and knocking. It really is that simple.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine…<\/em>\u201d (John 7:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ray Baker One of the many things the Scriptures teach with all surety is the free moral agency of men. The Lord did not create robots when He made us, nor did He fashion \u2018puppets on a string.\u2019 He made us creatures of choice, and His desire is that our hearts will choose to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[426,90,38],"class_list":["post-1698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-free-will","tag-god","tag-morality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/free-will-and-the-power-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":1698,"position":0},"title":"Free Will and the Power of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A gentleman called me recently to discuss the idea of men having free will. He believed that if a person can choose his own destiny, then he is working against God's will. Therefore he believes that a concept of free will is at odds with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/rock-n-roll-monkey-FTfjMijq-Ws-unsplash-263x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-chose-whom\/","url_meta":{"origin":1698,"position":1},"title":"Who Chose Whom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Calvinist asks, \"Who chose whom? Did you choose God? Or did God choose you?\" He says delightfully, \"God chose us!\" While that is true, it is not true that God chose us against our will. There is room for God's choice to be conditional according\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-believe-in-god-if-god-loves-us-all-why-doesnt-he-let-us-all-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":1698,"position":2},"title":"Why do you believe in God? If God loves us all, why doesn’t He let us all in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do you\u00a0believe in God? If God loves us all, why doesn't He let us all in heaven? Answer: Why do you believe there is a Sydney, Australia? 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From a religious point of view and I'm from an area\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92970,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sovereignty-of-god-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1698,"position":4},"title":"The Sovereignty of God (Benton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I recently saw someone suggest that Calvinists would change John 3:19 to read: \"And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but I sovereignly chose not to regenerate them, so they had no choice but to love darkness instead.\" This would need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-god-allow-me-to-be-born-a-homosexual\/","url_meta":{"origin":1698,"position":5},"title":"Why would God allow me to be born a homosexual?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Man of God, My question is this: if being gay is a sin, why would our God allow me to be born like that? 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\nfind; knock, and it will be opened for you<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 7:7).\n