Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 2:9 And [in that garden] the LORD God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil. [Rev 2:7; 22:14, 19] |
Subject: Freewill before the fall? |
Bible Note: I believe the answer to this question is yes. Before the fall, our original parents were endowed with the ability to choose and pursue the will of God. I think it is obvious that they had the power to choose to sin. Therefore, they had the power of freewill. After that event, it gets a bit more complicated. No one ever does anything outside of their own nature. For example, I have the nature of a man. I cannot choose to breathe water like a fish. My nature is man, not fish. What I do, like all men, is choose only those things that seem good to me. In fact, you cannot force me to do anything. If you hold a gun to my head, and order me to do something, this will result in an evaluation. I will see that disobedience might get me killed, a course of action I deem bad. Compliance might spare my life, a course of action I deem good. So I comply. You have not forced me, you have only adjusted the conditions from which I determine my course. Lost people are dead per the fall. They are completely without God and, in fact, see God as one who has usurped their throne. They will never see obedience to God as a good thing, therefore they will never choose it. So, in this sense a lost person does not have free will. The saved person is a new creature. He has been recreated/restored to life by God. His desire to please God has also been restored. Thus he is now able to choose obedience. He is freed from the slavery of sin. So, in this sense, a saved person can be thought of as one who has free will. By the way, Johnathan Edwards explains all this much better than I have in "Bondage of the Human Will." Its a good read for any Christian! |