If God did not want us to make our own choices or have "free will" why would he command us to obey him?

Question

Would it make since for God to condemn us to hell if we do not obey him, yet tell us that condemning is one of his most frowned upon sins. Thats hypocritical. Im sure this is not the will of God to tell us "do as I say and not as I do". Opinions?

Answer 1

God did give us a free will and the ability to make choices. As you see on this forum, people choose to believe many many things, it is their right to do so.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, obey my commands" and later in the same chapter, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching"

According to Jesus in Matthew 22, the greatest commandment is "to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and the second is "to love your neighbor as yourself"

In my opinion, everything else is wrapped up in those two things.

As far as your question about the hypocricy, worded as you have put it, yes it would look hypocritical. But, God does not condemn us to hell for not obeying Him.

He allows us to choose that path if we so desire. It's basically reaping and sowing.

If you choose to turn your back on God, and to not believe the Bible and to not accept His Son, then you are free to do so, and you will in return reap the consequences of those actions.

It's not a condemnation. It's a choice.

Answer 2

God is not a hypocrite, but fair in His judgment.



He gave us commandments that we should obey and follow in order to achieve all that He has to offer us as "believers."



For those that do not He lets them make their own choices and that will be to follow their own thinking and ways which are those of the enemy.



Those that oppose God and His will are then considered enemies. They made their choice so be it. They were clearly told if they bothered to read it or had ears to hear it , that there are only two places for the spirit after death, to go.



A dead persons spirit doesn't roam aimlessly around houses and places on earth as man thinks. Those are merely demonic spirits misleading those into thinking that there is no Heaven or Hell and creating havoc in peoples lives that are not True Christians.



This being said, those that believe are given the gift of eternal life in heaven with the Father. His wish is for all to be with Him and not lose any of us. How ever the Law is the Law. And as a perfect Judge He must uphold that Law.

Would you expect a Judge in a courtroom to let you go if you robbed a bank and was proven guilty?

No..of course not ..then He would not be a good Judge, because, He did not uphold the Laws He was sworn to uphold.



Those that oppose and only by their own accord are sent to Hell with the enemy. So you see God does not send them to Hell, they willing allowed themselves to go by not seeking the truth and learning what God has to say in His Word(The Bible)



It takes an open heart and mind to listen and not one that is rebellious and hateful not seeking to learn, but seeking to destroy ones faith in God.

Answer 3

It does not make sense that any "good" god would leave most of the world's population in the dark (and under the sway of the devil) and then condemn them to hell for eternity. It also does not make sense that the entire human race was punished for Adam and Eve's sin, they messed up but everyone else never had that chance.



As to freewill, wouldn't it make more sense to give people a reasonable choice, such as "worship me, and we'll have a good fellowship or have a nice life and enjoy yourself". Then the choice would be about God and not avoiding punishment.

Answer 4

Free will, as defined by the Christian faith, is more than just making your own choices. It is also dealing with the results of those choices. For example, if a person chooses to become a drunk or a druggie, then they will have to deal with the results of those choices.



Because God is smarter then us, he knows what choices will help us and what choices will harm us. So he has laid out rules to guide us in the right direction. He knows us better then we know ourselves, so he can show us a perfect plan for our lives. But it is still our choices whether we do those things.



Can you imagine what the world would be like if "free will" - our choices - had no consequences? You could go out and rape/murder a dozen kids, and you would never go to jail or be punished or stopped. You could work to get a good education with a 4.0 GPS, and get rewarded for acheiving it.



So even God has to impose consequences for our actions. Those who live and serve him earn rewards for our serivce. Those who reject him, walk in sin, harm others, etc. will receive the just punishment for their actions.



Otherwise, there would be no such things as right and wrong, good or bad, love and hate, etc.

Answer 5

God is no tyrant. He has given us free will so that we can make our own choices. But, remember, those choices will also have its own consequences, be it the right or the wrong ones. 'What goes around, comes around'. Because the lord is our creator, ie, our parent, he has set rules so that we would not be mislead into the wrong direction & incur bad karma. He is just like our mundane parents who would prescribe certain rules that are strictly to be followed, whose objective are nothing but the best interest their minds for their children, so that they would grow up to be a better human being. But ultimately it is the choice of each & every individual which path they follow, good or bad. Afterall, there can be a black sheep in a flock :).

In short, it is because the lord wants us to be a good person in word, thoughts & deeds, he wants us to obey him but not through coercion.

Answer 6

In my view God dosen't condem us to do anything. Its our own choice to get away from him and go our own way. Particularly i think thats what hell is all about: Absence of God, and it must be pretty umbearable. As i see it, he wants us to obey him for 2 reasons:

1)Its whats best for us. He always knows whats best for us and thats what he wants us to do

2)He want us to do it out of love. Thats the point of free will. He could have created us like the angels, they have nochoice but to worship and love God, still what kind of love is that? He gave us the choice to do what we want so that when we do things out of love (towards your friends, towards other people, towards God etc) we really really mean it.



Ah thats it, i know many people wont like this awnser, and it might get a lot of thumbs down, still it is a pretty accurate awnser and my honest opinion



Paz de Cristo

Answer 7

He wanted you to love him and honor his word so much that you would want to obey his commandments. Using your free will to do so. He doesn't condemn you to hell for disobedience, the unbeliever condemns himself for not believing in the son. Disobedience to Gods word can be redeemed by 1John 1:9 and Jesus did die on the cross for all of our sins, so if sin could condemn you to hell there would be no need for a savior. It's rejecting the son that gets you a one way ticket

Answer 8

Your question strikes me like this: "Why would the government make poisons if they didn't want me to drink it?"

We have Free will so we can choose to love God. God tells us to obey Him because like most parents they are really trying to stop their kids getting into trouble. Sin is like poison, it's also really addictive. God neither wants you addicted to sin not drinking from the poisons it contains.

If we choose not to spend eternity with God then He offers us a place to go instead. This place is called Hell. It is a place without God and without the qualities of God (no healing, peace, love, food, water, rest, ect). God loves you and offers you the choice of where you want to go when you die. With Him or away from Him. It’s that simple.

Answer 9

personaly i struggle with this question to...and suprisingly im a Pastors Kid well any way this is how i see it...i hope it helps



ok God controls everything?? so he has the power to do anything he wants...he gave us free will and he decided that he wanted us to have the right to choose Heaven or Hell, eternal life or eternal death, now he thinks condemnation is wrong here on Earth is because we all have free will and basicly if we condem someone we are taking away their free will...and God wants us to do right but there is some bounderies he has to have a way to punish us and condemning us is it... God is so big and so powerful he cant take sinners in. so he has to send them somewhere



i hope that made sence to you

it made sence to me...but i wrote it...

anyway

*Libbie*

Answer 10

ethical evil is opposite to each thing God is/ and directions. It actually skill the disobedience of God. In (Isaiah 40 5:7) “I variety the sunshine, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do a majority of those issues.” How does Isaiah 40 5:7 accept as true with the view that God did no longer create evil? There are 2 key info that would desire to be seen. (a million) The observe translated “evil” is from a Hebrew observe which skill “adversity, affliction, calamity, misery, misery.” word how the different significant English Bible translations render the observe: “catastrophe” , “calamity” , and “woe” . The Hebrew observe can consult with ethical evil, and generally does have this which skill interior the Hebrew Scriptures. even if, because of the variety of available definitions, it relatively is unwise to assume that “I create evil” in Isaiah 40 5:7 refers to God bringing ethical evil into life. (2) The context of Isaiah 40 5:7 makes it sparkling that some thing different than “bringing ethical evil into life” is in strategies. The context of Isaiah 40 5:7 is God precious Israel for obedience and punishing Israel for disobedience. God pours out salvation and reward on those whom He favors. God brings judgment on people who proceed to insurrection against Him. it relatively is the guy to whom God brings “evil” and “catastrophe.” So, somewhat than asserting that God created “ethical evil,” Isaiah 40 5:7 is proposing a basic topic of Scripture – that God brings catastrophe on people who proceed in stressful-hearted insurrection against Him. - God made mankind in His own image, which skill we are volitional brokers/ or in different words have a "will " of our own, to choose for to obey/disobey God, settle for/reject Him. If this weren't the case, then we does not have the skill to have a significant dating with God, and can be no greater effective than puppets,

Answer 11

The Word of God, the bible, teaches us plainly that God did create us with a 'free will',...'free to choose'. (His Word also teaches us to 'choose' only according to His Word, His Will and His Ways).



He commands us to obey Him, not only, 'for our own good', but, as well, to honor and respect Him and to honor the 'Family of God'.



(P.S. - God, our Father, does nothing and institutes nothing that is hypocritical; that is only a 'figment of ones' imagination').



God bless you and teach you real good!

Answer 12

There's the choice...to listen to God, or do as you please. It's free will, because you have the choice. God isn't going to make you listen to what He has to say. I am not sure what you mean or examples of God to tell us "do as I say and not as I do". God has not done anything wrong. (If your referring to killing people etc, that is His choice. He made us, and He can take us as He pleases! For humans to kill each other-it's not our job. We didn't create each other!)

Answer 13

It's like trying to go across a river. God is one one side and we are on the other. We cannot go across the river without dying, so what do we do? Jesus Christ is like the bridge. We can take it, or we can try go across the by ourselves across the river. You see, drowning in the river is like Hell. We are given a choice between using the bridge, or trying to cross the river ourselves.

Answer 14

I had a teacher once tell me that God could of created robots to worship him if he wanted. So why free will? You go figure this one out on your own.

Answer 15

How is that hypocritical he gives you the choice to follow him or not, But see God asks us to be like him.

Answer 16

very good question. the truth of the matter is that the bible is a plethora of contradictions, hypocracy, and nonsense. die hard christians are aware of these contradictions, but they only pick and choose which verses and teachings to preach to promote a socio-political agenda that, unfortunately, teaches intolerance, hatred, and comtempt toward anyone who is non christian, homosexual, female, free thinker, and atheist. Before they go around shoving their Bible down everyone's throats, they themselves should set the almighty moral example they preach. But they don't and they use the inaccuracies of the Bible to justify their hypocritical actions.

Answer 17

To keep you away from the wrong choice, as He loves You.

Answer 18

Hello God gave us a brain, now use it.

Answer 19

Why would he command us to obey him if we didn't have free will?

Answer 20

Ask God when you are being judged before him!

Answer 21

Ahh, so you're finally seeing through the lie and scare tactic of the bible.

Answer 22

if it is a freewill, it shouldn't have any punishment or reward for making a decision.

if there is punishment or reward, that is force