Sabbath: Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 15th of February 2025
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 13:34; Jeremiah 32:17-20; Hebrews 1:3; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Ephesians 1:9-11; John 16:33.
Memory Text:
“ ‘These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’ ” (John 16:33, NKJV).
Providence is the term used to describe God’s action in the world. How we think about God’s providence makes a huge difference in how we relate to God, how we relate to others, and how we think about the problem of evil.
Christians hold various understandings of divine providence. Some believe that God exercises His power in a way that determines all events to happen just as they do. He even chooses who will be saved and who will be lost! In this view, people are not free to choose other than what God decrees. In fact, people who believe this way argue that even human desires are determined by God.
In contrast, strong biblical evidence shows that God does not determine everything that happens. Instead, He grants humans free will, even to the point where they (and angels) can choose to act directly against His will. The history of the Fall, of sin, and of evil is a dramatic and tragic expression of the results of abusing this free will. The plan of salvation was instituted in order to remedy the tragedy caused by the misuse of free will.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 22.
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At Steavenson's Falls in Marysville, Victoria there is a little plaque memorialising the death of four teenagers who were visiting the falls in 1968. They were tragically killed by a falling tree. The plaque began with "It was an act of God ...". I took an exception to this wording and since I had a piece of chalk in my pocket (I was a high school teacher at the time) I added the correction "^not" in the appropriate place. It probably washed off within an hour - the high country of Victoria is very wet.
Insurance companies used to use the expression "Acts of God" to describe random natural events - I think they have now dropped that terminology in our secular society. However in Christian conversations, we often hear attributions to God for both good and bad things that happen to us.
Most of us have to admit that our explanations of the providence of God sound good when we talk about them in theory but become riddled with exceptions and "maybes" in practice.
This is an area where we will generate a lot of words and it reminds me of a conversation I had with a theological friend. We were discussing some theological issues when I asked him a question and he replied. with a wry grin, "I have written a book on this because I don't know the answer!"
We are often in danger of verbal obscuration when we talk about the providence of God!
I hope you don't mind, yet some of us need explanation of obscuration.
This week I am looking forward to the lesson explaining Devine Providence as we believe so that we will avoid obscuration(by trying to explain Devine Providence we may be unintentionally pulling a dark vail over the true meaning). Last week we were up against the same problem of obscuration being precipitated trying to explain why evil continues to exist. I see obscuration existing when we are talking to those who are not open to our belief inspite of our explicatory(ability to explain clearly and thoroughly)
capabilities. The fear of mudding the waters should not let us hold back though, from giving our explanation of our beliefs, even if we suffer from giving the truth.
1 Peter 3:17.
Peter recognized the problem of obscuration.
2 Peter 3:16 ESV
[16] (Paul) "as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
God died for every human being and it's up to everyone to choose for, and he accepts every decision a person made,so let's choose wisely
John 16:33 reassures us that, despite the tribulations of the world, Christ has already overcome, offering peace to those who trust in Him. This victory does not mean God controls every detail of human action but rather that He works within human freedom to bring about His ultimate purpose.
The contrast between determinism and free will is crucial. A God who dictates every action, including sin, would contradict His just and loving nature. Instead, Scripture overwhelmingly supports the idea that God grants free will, allowing both humans and angels to choose—even when those choices lead to suffering. The Fall, sin, and evil result from this freedom, yet God's providence ensures redemption through Christ.
This understanding shapes how we relate to God: not as robots executing a predetermined script, but as free moral agents who can choose to love and follow Him. It also influences how we see suffering—not as God's will, but as the consequence of a world where free will exists. Ultimately, divine providence is not about control, but about God's unwavering presence and His redemptive plan unfolding despite human rebellion.
Only within the context of a great controversey, or cosmic conflict between God and Satan can we human beings understand the real battle that wages for our allegiance. God uses truth, transparency, trust, and freedom of choice, to lead us to abundant life both physical, and spiritual leading to an eternal existence of life and bliss. Meanwhile, Satan uses lies, deception, distrust, and distortion of choice leading to eternal death, both physical and spiritual.
At the core of the question is who are we going to believe. Are we going to believe the lies of the serpent that insinuates that God cannot be trusted, that he must manipulate his subjects to accomplish his goals and ideals, or is that merely projection of the devil's tactics and devices, which the Bible refers to as schemes? (Ephesians 6:11)
For God to truly be "love," then he must give his creation freedom to choose which side of the "great controversy" they will be on. To say that God manipulates or distorts free will is to agree with the accusations of the serpent to Eve in Eden, "God cannot be trusted, he's holding something back from you!" An illusionary freewill, is no freewill at all.
Romans 6:16 encapsulates the free will issue to both choosing sin, leading to death, or obedience leading to righteousness. If there were no free will we wouldn't have a choice in the matter.
God's character is on trial here. Can he be trusted or not? Can he win humanity over through love rather than force? If God is truly love then he must surely give humans and non humans (angels), the right and freedom to say no to his love. Anything less is a manifestation of the evil one masquerading as an "angel of light." God is hoping that we will choose his side in this cosmic conflict. (Deut. 30:19)
"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will (freely choose to) serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
Free will: what if Eve and Adam had chosen differently? Has this happened in any other world before ours? The Bible mentions the Earth only and how a simple decision led to an avalanche of mistakes. Do we have to follow our first parents? No, we also have a choice to make now.
We say God gave us a “free will” not just a simple “will”. What’s the specific difference between a “will” and a “free will” in biblical terms.
OK Kenny; I'm going to attempt an answer. "Will" is not something that stands by itself, it must belong to someone because it is essential useful in describing someone.
Matthew 6:9-10: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." God's will is something that God wants for us now.
• Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Once again, God's will is do do something good for us.
Romans 7:15-18: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out...
1 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." Yhis passage shows we have a conflict between our will and God's will in our sinful state
Deuteronomy 30:19: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." We have the abiity to choose; it is not predestined/
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
It is God's will/desire/longing for us to choose him. In our sinful state there is a battle between our minds and God about what we really long for ourselves. ULtimately it is up to us to make that choice. God does not coerce. The Holy Spirit does not act where it is not wanted.
The Holy Spirit does not act where it is not wanted.
I So much love the above sentence, it's our choice whether or not to invite Him or make the atmosphere conducive for Him.
Why do you use 'it' as the Spirit's pronoun?🤔
I didn’t really think about that at the time I wrote it but probably in the back of my mind I had the idea we do not have a genderless personal pronoun. "It" is rather impersonal and is not really a good fit either. If I had the luxury of more time I would have constructed the sentence differently.
Re: Maurice Ashton
Isaiah 45:7 says:
"I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am the LORD, who does all these things".
Maybe at times we go too far trying to justify God's actions and make Him appear fair according to our standards. If He says He creates calamities, we should take it as it is, knowing that our understanding is beyond limited. When, why, and how is probably best left to Him.
Having said this, Maurice, I always greatly appreciate your comments and would like to know if you could shed a different light on this.
I'm not Maurice, but I have heard people say that in the Old Testament God often took responsibility for evil because the concept of Satan was not well-developed and if God put the blame on Satan there was a risk that the people would start sacrificing to Satan in hopes of appeasing him. (Which is exactly how the pagan nations behaved) The references to Satan in the OT are all in either later written books (Chronicles, Zechariah) or a book that entered the canon later (Job).
Most bad things are either caused by Satan or the result of the world being ruled by sin. I believe God does sometimes cause bad things for His purpose, but I think those are the exception (ie. the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah etc.). He is not really responsible for evil, but Satan is subject to him (as Job clearly shows). So in a round about way He has oversight over evil, but not in the sense He's responsible for it.
Sorry I did not see this comment earlier - it’s been a hectic week. I essentially agree with Christine’s response given here.