His Command; Your Responsibility

When God created man He made man unique. Man was made different from any other being that had been created. Man had a spirit like the angels but at the same time had a soul like the the animals. But what really set man apart was that God allowed man to make decisions with complete independence from His will. It is this freedom from God’s will that set us apart from any of the other animals and which ultimately puts us in charge of our spiritual lives.

This is made clear from the very beginning of scripture where we see God giving Adam His fist commands:

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

As you can see God placed responsibility and the choice of obedience or disobedience, life or death before the man. This is always how it has been even from the very beginning.

We Are Sovereign

We were given this perfect freedom from the beginning. Man has always been sovereign over his own life and the choices he makes.

It is the same thing in our spiritual lives! God does not take away our sovereignty.

God will give us the commands, He will give us the tools, He will give us the grace but ultimately the decision is ours.

It is only when we actively cooperate with God’s plan that we grow spiritually. God will not force us to grow and He will not do anything without our consent.

It Works Both Ways

The nice thing about our freedom is that no being can violate it.

Our free will can hinder our spiritual growth because we cannot give over the responsibility to God. This means we must grow and learn how to obey God and His commands.

Fortunately, it also means that the enemy cannot do anything to destroy us without our consent. He can lie to us and tell us it’s ok to eat the forbidden fruit but until we choose to eat it, he has no power over us.

That is the beauty of man’s free will.

The Rules Don’t Change

Nothing has changed to this day. We know what God’s commands are. They are clear and simple to understand.

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

There are many these days who do theological gymnastics to convince people to disobey God’s commands for any and every reason under the sun.

If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. –Adolf Hitler

The serpent is still telling his lies trying to convince you there is no need to follow God’s commands. It’s the biggest lie ever told and the one repeated more often than any other.

You have been given free will; the choice is yours. The question you must ask yourself is, “Who will I listen to? God or the serpent?”

[reminder]