Have you ever wondered why God put The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil there in the first place? It was there to give man the choice to believe God or reject Him. Believing Him meant they would trust Him when He said that the forbidden fruit would kill them. Obeying His voice meant that they trusted Him. Not believing God is rejecting Him. Rejecting Him is rejecting His love because He is love. Love is a choice.
If God gave them the choice, they obviously had the ability to make the right choice, the choice to believe.
Adam and Eve did not choose the Tree of Life and never ate from the Tree of Life. We know they didn’t eat from it AFTER they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because they were banned from the garden after they ate of that fruit. And we know that they didn’t eat from the Tree of Life BEFORE they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because they would never have died. The Tree of Life gave eternal life.
What does all of this mean? God had truly given Adam and Eve the ability to choose. He did not take their hands and cause them to reach up and take the forbidden fruit. In fact, every human being since Adam and Eve was created with the ability to choose God or reject Him — to believe in Him or not. A person darkened in his understanding and alienated from the life of God has the ability to believe God or reject Him. Eternal life in Christ begins after we believe and receive salvation.
In Him, you also, AFTER listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also BELIEVED, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. (Ephesians 1:13, NASB, emphasis mine)1
There are those who say that man has no ability to choose. They say this because they believe they are glorifying God. However, God is not glorified by something that’s not true. This line of thinking implies a twisted image of God. In that doctrinal framework, God gives faith to some and withholds faith from others. God is the only one with the choice, and if He chooses you, He forces you choose Him. This makes God look like the captain of the Titanic who purposefully didn’t provide enough life boats. We would lock that man up and throw away the key! The truth is God has provided enough life boats for everyone on the earth.
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for THE WHOLE WORLD. (1 John 2:2, emphasis mine)2
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4, NASB)
On the other hand, in the same camp as those who adhere to this idea that man has no choice except the choice that God imposes on him are those who find it too distasteful that God would not provide enough life boats. So their solution to that dilemma is that God eventually causes everyone to choose Christ. This is the doctrine called Christian Universalism. Once again, no choice for man. If no one has a choice and everyone is eventually saved, then why did Jesus need to die? Think about it.
The result of the false idea that man has no choice has colossal implications when carried into the Christian life because it produces passivity in the body of Christ with a “whatever will be will be” attitude. With the mindset that our faith is inconsequential and man has no choice, God gets blamed for every evil in the world.
I believe the number one reason that so many have bought into the lie that man has no choice is because of pride. To believe that our faith matters would mean that God has given us responsibility, and we can’t stay the victim. The bottom line is this: if we have choice, we can’t remain as victims.
(from pages 91-93 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
2Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.”
