Man has complete free will. God doesn’t restrict man’s free will. If the Lord suspended or controlled man’s free will at any point, mankind would no longer be fully responsible for their sins. In this case God would have had an active role in conditioning our choices. It would also eliminate the punishment and existence of Hell because mankind could say to God that they weren’t totally responsible for their choices.
In Christ man submits their will to the will of the Creator, and obeys and follows the will of God through the Holy Spirit’s help. At any time, a man in Christ can take up their free will again and choose not to follow the will of God. This is why Heaven is a reward for the souls in Christ, who surrendered their will to the Saviour right until the end.
In Heaven the sinner’s will is actualized or ratified where they can no longer take up their free will ever again to choose to follow Satan. In the same way the Angels choice to follow God was actualized after the fall of Satan. In other words, there are no restraining limits on man’s free will to choose. God is sovereign without interfering with man’s free will.
Man is less morally culpable when Satan aggressively conditions the will of man to sin against their natural inclination to choose the good. Through willful disobedience man is more morally culpable for their sins. Through the misuse of free will man chooses unbelief, and becomes fully culpable. Free will was given to man to understand the revelation of Jesus Christ to propel him to make the choice of belief.
When man rejects his right to understand the revelation of Christ, he forfeits his freedom to experience and actualize the gospel in their lives now, and consequently in eternity later. Faith must be substantive.
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