Articles
Does God have a special plan for everyone or is the course of our lives determined by free will?
God’s plan for all men is that they serve Him. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read- “the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God is pulling for all of us to come to a knowledge of His will and truth and be obedient to His eternal plan of salvation. He wants us all to live with Him forever in heaven. However, He will not make us do that. Serving God and pleasing Him has always been by the free-will choices we make. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “secret things belong to God but revealed things belong to us.” We can only know about God what He has chosen to reveal to us in His word. In Rom. 11:33 God reveals to us that “His ways are past finding out.” What Paul is saying to us is that it is impossible for man to think as God does and to fully fathom and reason as God does. The prophet Isaiah said in chapter 55:8- “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My ways your ways, saith the Lord.”
God has given us directions through His Word, on how to please Him and how to live our lives. We could never devise a way to do that on our own. Our God so loved us that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for our sins (Jn. 3:16). Jeremiah 10:23 tells us that no one has the capacity to make a plan on his own, on how to please and serve God and dwell with Him in heaven. Only God can do that and He has done that for all of us. He wants us all to come to the cross for redemption. Jesus left us a path to walk and rules to follow, in order to please Him. He said “if you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15).
Since God has loved us enough to provide a plan for us to be saved, it would only be reasonable for all of us to avail ourselves of that plan. Come to Him in humility and faith upon hearing His plan. That plan calls for all of us to repent of our sins (Acts 2:38) Confess His name (Rom. 10:10) and be baptized (immersed in water for remission of sins) and live faithfully in adherence to His will until we die (Rev. 2:10). When we do this, He has promised us an eternal home in heaven forever. Submit your will to His and make the right choices in your life according to His Word. He will not make you obey Him; you are the only one that can make that choice.
Send all questions and comments to What Does The Bible Say, c/o Maple St. Church of Christ, PO Box 3086, Liberty, Tx 77575.
