. . . And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Revelation 22:17
It is inherent in the nature of man that his will must be
free. Made in the image of God who is completely free, man must enjoy a
measure of freedom. This enables him to select his companions for this
world and the next; it enables him to yield his soul to whom he will, to give
allegiance to God or the devil, to remain a sinner or become a saint.
And God respects this freedom. God once saw everything
that He had made, and behold, it was very good. To find fault with the
smallest thing God has made is to find fault with its Maker. It is a
false humility that would lament that God wrought but imperfectly when He made
man in His own image. Sin excepted, there is nothing in human nature to
apologize for. This was confirmed forever when the Eternal Son became
permanently incarnated in human flesh!
So highly does God regard His handiwork that He will not for any
reason violate it. He will take nine steps toward us but He will not take
the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but He cannot do our repenting
for us. It is of the essence of repentance that it can only be done by
the one who committed the act to be repented of. God can wait on the
sinning man, He can withhold judgment, He can exercise long suffering to the point
where He appears lax in His judicial administration - but He cannot force a man
to repent. To do this would be to violate the man's freedom and void the
gift of God originally bestowed upon him. The believer knows he is free
to choose - and with that knowledge he chooses forever the blessed will of God!
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