Free Will and God’s Purpose, How Can We Have One and The Other?
Free will is central to the biblical understanding of humanity. God created humans with the capacity to make choices, including the ability to follow or reject Him. Free will allows us to genuinely love, trust, and obey God, as well as to learn and grow in our faith. Imagine if God made you Love him?Would remove the entire purpose of Trust. We would be slaves not followers.
Deuteronomy 30:19: God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” This verse reflects the importance of choosing to follow God willingly.
Free will means that we are responsible for our actions and that our choices have real consequences. God doesn’t force anyone to follow Him but gives us the freedom to choose how we live and respond to Him.
2. Why Does God Test Us?
Testing, trials, and challenges are part of life, and they serve several purposes from a biblical perspective. It’s important to note that God’s tests are not about making us fail but about refining, strengthening, and maturing our faith. Here are some reasons why God might test us:a. To Strengthen Our Faith
- James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
- Trials and tests develop perseverance and maturity. Just as physical muscles grow through resistance and training, spiritual growth often comes through facing challenges.
- 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
- Tests refine our faith, much like gold is refined by fire. The difficulties we face can lead to a stronger, deeper trust in God, even when we don’t fully understand His plan.
b. To Reveal What’s in Our Hearts
- Deuteronomy 8:2: “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”
- Testing reveals our true character and the condition of our hearts. In difficult situations, we see whether we genuinely trust God or rely on our own strength. These moments of testing provide clarity about where we stand in our relationship with God.
c. To Teach Us Dependence on God
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: Paul, after pleading with God to remove a "thorn in the flesh," received this answer from the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concludes, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
- Trials remind us of our dependence on God’s strength, rather than our own. Tests and difficulties often bring us to the point where we realize we can’t do everything by ourselves, and we need God’s grace to sustain us.
d. To Prepare Us for Greater Purpose
- Genesis 22: God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Though God stopped him at the last moment, this test revealed Abraham’s deep faith and trust in God’s promises. Through this, God reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and used the test to prepare him for greater things.
- Tests sometimes prepare us for a greater purpose or mission in life. By going through challenges, we are shaped into the people God calls us to be.
3. Free Will and Testing: How Do They Work Together Because The Often Feel The Opposite?
- Free Will Doesn’t Mean a Life Free of Challenges: Having free will doesn’t mean we are exempt from hardship. Instead, it means we have the ability to choose how we respond to life’s difficulties. Will we trust God and grow in faith, or will we turn away from Him and do our own thing?
- Choices in the Face of Testing: In every test or trial, we are given the opportunity to exercise our free will. Will we continue to believe in God’s goodness, even when life is hard, or will we become bitter and give up? These are the moments when our faith is refined.
- God’s Sovereignty and Our Free Will: Even though we have free will, God is sovereign and works through our choices and circumstances. In Romans 8:28, we are reminded that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God can use even the hardest tests for our ultimate good and His glory. This is why hardships we will see used in out at later times in life.
4. God’s Testing Is Not the Same as Temptation
It’s also important to note that God tests us, but He does not tempt us to sin.- James 1:13: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”
- Temptation comes from our own desires or from external forces, but God’s tests are meant to refine us, not lead us into sin. There’s a difference between testing (to strengthen) and tempting (to lead into sin).
5. Hope in Testing: God’s Faithfulness Is Sometimes Hard To See.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
- God promises that He will not allow us to be tested or tempted beyond what we can bear. In every challenge, He provides strength, wisdom, and a way to endure. It often feels beyond what we can do so. But we live and prosper if we trust in God.
- Hebrews 12:6: “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
- God’s testing is also an expression of His love. Just as a loving parent disciplines and teaches their child to grow and mature, so God uses tests to guide us into spiritual maturity and a closer relationship with Him.
Conclusion: Why Does God Test Us?
God’s testing is not about taking away our free will or punishing us. Rather, it’s about helping us grow, refine our faith, reveal the depth of our trust in Him, and prepare us for greater things. Just as a loving parent helps their child grow through life’s challenges, God uses tests to strengthen our relationship with Him and shape us into the people He created us to be. But as we know tests are much harder to endure if we fail to study and be ready for them.The tests we face in life are opportunities to exercise our free will in a way that honors God, deepens our faith, and leads us toward spiritual maturity. Even in difficult moments, we can trust that God is with us, guiding us, and using our trials for our good and His glory.
We have to look at the bigger picture of how God brings us closer, and by our actions people see this closeness. A person in Faith growing closer in hardship, is the greatest Gift you can honor God with. And others in our lives can see this. And then helps them become closer with the Lord.
