Let us first ask ourselves the following questions:

 

Can the love that is not freely given be a true love? What pleasure would one take in coerced love?

 

ELOHIM is free and because we are the reflection of his image we are also called to freedom.

• 2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

 

The Bible teaches that the essence of a man is spirit, soul and body.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "May the God of peace himself make you holy in every way. And may your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—remain blameless when our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, appears ! "

 

The Bible also teaches that man is a dichotomy: outer part on one side and inner part on the other, and both parts are in conflict. 

• 2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day."

• Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want."

• Romans 8:6-7 " The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so."

 

The "outer" man is described as "flesh and blood".

• 1 Corinthians 15:50 "Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable."

 

The "inner" man is described as spirit, soul, heart and mind. The spirit is the immaterial part of our being that connects to God. It is through the spirit that we have life.

• Ecclesiastes 12:7 "before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it."

 

Whereas the soul is the immaterial part of our being which contains our heart, that is to say our will, thoughts and feelings. Our soul enables us to exercise our free will and makes us individuals with sovereign will and choices. In the physical world, the image of the soul is mirrored in people' characters and personalities.

• Luke 2:35 "Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.""

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When the sinner dies he preserves his soul. The spirit returns to ELOHIM and the soul is handed over to Sheol. 

• Psalms 16:10 "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay."

• Acts 2:27 "because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay."

• Luke 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated ?"

• Job 27:8 "For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life ? "

• Job 33:18 "To preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword."

• Psalms 30:3 "O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit."

 

If you genuinely have a wicked heart, the image of your soul is also wicked; and death will not change you. 

• Isaiah 26:10 "Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD."

• Proverb 21:10 "The soul of the wicked man craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes."

 

Free Will that resides in the soul is bestowed upon man so that ELOHIM may experience true love from His creation for the fulfillment of His plan.

 

Indeed ELOHIM is logical, He wanted man to love him not by constraint or by instinct, but rather by exercising his very own will, for true love is freely given both sides. Free will has three implications: intelligence, reason and choice.

​► Intelligence gives the ability to understand things.

►Reason gives the ability to transform that understanding into behavior.

►Choice gives the freedom to determine the behavior.

 

Whether angels or humans, the principle is the same: "With what they knew and with the capacity to process this information, they would be led to make a choice." Not granting man freedom would go against reason because we would all be like robots programmed in advance to behave and react in a precise manner. 

• Galatians 5:13 "For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love."

 

If YAHWEH is omniscient and He knows that man will commit sins leading him to hell, why then is He angered by what He already knows?

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It is a known fact that ELOHIM is omniscient, He knows the beginning and the end. He had the choice to abandon his plan to have beings created in his image who would love him by choice, or establish a plan that would give humans the opportunity to return of their own free will to the Creator. He continued with his plan to have a creation that reflected his image, his goodness, and his love. Strangely enough, you will also notice some verses that seem to indicate that God did not expect certain behaviors.

• Genesis 6: 6 "And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart"

• Isaiah 59:56-17 "Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him."

• Jeremiah 32:35 "They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin."

• Psalms 7:11 "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day"

 

But wait... if He is omniscient and knows in advance the sins of man, why then is He grieved and outraged by what He already knew? Because ELOHIM's omniscience is much more complex than we realize.

 

The Bible helps us understand that ELOHIM's omniscience also means that He has established a path leading to Him in everyone's life, but He has put obstacles in that path to prompt us to make choices. He has the ability to simultaneously see all the choices available to us and all the outcomes resulting from each of our choices, all while preserving our free will.

• Proverbs 16: 4 "The LORD has made everything for His purpose"

• Acts 17:27 "God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."

• Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live"

• Deuteronomy 30:15 "See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster."

• Act 14:22 "Strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."

 

And because man is created in the image of ELOHIM with the same type of sovereign will as his Creator, He did not grant Himself the right to transgress or influence man's free will. In his letter to Philemon concerning his son Onesimus, the apostle Paul illustrates this particularity of ELOHIM very well.

• Philemon 1:14 "But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will."

 

Our existence in the land of the living is essentially a series of tests of faith to examine the dispositions of our heart and soul. 

• Proverbs 17:3 "A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts."

• Job 7:17-18 "What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment ?"

• Jeremiah 9: 7 "Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people."

• Jeremiah 17:10 "I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve."

• Psalms 11:4 "The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men."

 

Here is a scripture from the Second Book of Ezra that clearly explains it. 

"Because for their sakes I made the world: and when Adam transgressed MY statutes, then was decreed that now is done. And so the entrances of this world were made narrow, full of sorrow, toilsome and travail: they are but few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships and very painful. But the entrances of the future world are broad and safe, and really yield the fruit of immortality. Therefore unless the living labor not to enter this strait and narrow way to pass through the difficult and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been laid up for them." |Second Book of Ezra Chap 7:11-14|

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Even YESHUA was tested beyond what any of us will ever know. 

• Luke 22:42-44 "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground."

• 2 Chronicles 32:31 "And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart."

 

YAHWEH knows that trials have two outcomes: they either strengthen our faith or shake it. And since none of us have the inner strength to exercise our own faith, He subjects us to trials for the very purpose of growing our faith, for He is mightily glorified when we have faith in Him even when things go wrong, make no sense and seem contradictory.

• 1 Peter 1: 6-7 "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

• James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

• Romans 5:3 "Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope."

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We need not to fear the trials that YAHWEH brings upon us; for the minute we trust Him and put our faith in Him, He removes the obstacles and guides us to the best opportunities that will lead us back to the right path He had laid out. Our free will shapes our lives. YAHWEH's indignation is related to His disappointment at how humans rather pervert this blessing without consulting Him or taking His recommendations into account.

• Proverbs 3:5-6 "Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

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