Sin and Free Will

Sin –

Sin, or Evil, is a violation of God’s law. Transgression, or sin, is violating the will of God.
How did people begin to sin, and who was the first to violate the will of God?

Before the creation of the visible world and man, God created angels. Angels are bodiless spirits, invisible and immortal. All the angels were created good and God gave them complete freedom to love God or not, and to live with God or without God.

One of the most radiant and powerful angels did not wish to love God, to depend on Him, and fulfill the will of God, but desired to become like God Himself, to live independently. This angel ceased to obey God and began to resist God in everything. Thus he became the enemy of God, and many other angels went with him.

For such a rebellion against God these angels were all deprived of the light and blessedness that had been given to them, and they became evil, dark spirits.

All these dark, evil spirits are now called demons or devils. The main devil who was once the most radiant of the angels is called Satan, the enemy of God.

The Devil inspires people not to obey God, but to sin. The Devil deceives. By cleverness and deceit he taught the first people created by God, Adam and Eve, to violate the will of God.

All people come from Adam and Eve, who first fell into sin, and therefore we are born with an inclination to sin. Being constantly committed from generation to generation, sin has taken power over all men and has submitted everyone to itself. All men — to a greater or lesser degree — are sinners.

It is sin that constantly separates man from God and leads to suffering, illness, and death — temporal and eternal. It is for this reason that mankind began to suffer and die. Men alone, by their own efforts, could not overcome the evil that had spread throughout the world, or destroy death. God in His compassion gave help to men, sending to earth His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The above passage was taken from http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/LGOT/sin.shtml and I thank them for a very touching summary of the Lord's compassion toward man.

My comments on this passage –

One of the main points the summary above makes is the fact that all of God’s creations (including angels) were given a power called “Free Will”. I call it a power because a single decision can change the course of your life, your family’s life, or someone else’s life forever. Free will is the ability to make a choice. As human beings we make thousands of choices every single day. Most are minor such as what color socks or belt to wear. Others examples might be…do I sleep in for another 15 minutes and skip breakfast or get up and eat? Do I get gas before or after going to work, etc. You get the picture.

The struggle for most human beings surrounds the reality of free will. I heard self-help guru Anthony Robbins once say that people do things for either one of two reasons: Either for Pain or Pleasure. In other words – if a certain action will give them more pain than pleasure, they likely will resist doing it. This can be something as trivial as taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn. Ultimately, human beings resist pain and struggle…it’s just inherent in our nature. Is it a survival mechanism? Or simply laziness? (Sloth – one of the 7 deadly sins). However, one thing we should keep in mind is the word “Selfless”, which is synonymous to unselfishness. This is the act of giving of yourself for the good of others. It’s the act of putting other people first. In recent history, the first person that comes to mind when I think of the world selfless is the late Mother Theresa. She devoted her life to helping and caring for the poor in a 3rd world country.

My personal belief is that God did not intend to create robots. He blessed, yes blessed man with free will. What would humanity be like if we were simply a predictable, robotic, God loving race? I don’t believe that this was His intent. His intent was belief through FAITH. What is faith? Quite simply, faith is the ability to believe (both in your mind and heart) that God exists without being an eye-witness. Remember the story of Thomas? What if I asked - do you remember the story of ‘doubting’ Thomas? Would that ring a bell? Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles chose not to believe that the Lord had risen from the dead without seeing it for himself.

From the Gospel of John –

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

“Blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe.”

In Conclusion –

Each and every one of us has the power of free will. How we chose to use it – is up to us. I plan to apply my power of free will to glorify God each and every day. I have faith that through the Lord’s blessings that he will teach me the lessons that I need to learn to lead my family down the right path with the ultimate goal of getting through the Gates of Heaven. I sincerely hope you can do the same.

God bless you and remember…God will never abandon you. Have FAITH and you will be rewarded. Amen.