The doctrine of free will has its two extremes.

 

The one extreme is that we choose nothing and God chooses everything. He chooses who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. We have no part in the choosing...it is all him.

The other exteme says that we are the ones constantly choosing. We have such free will that we can even give back our justification.

There is a third way to view this also.

True free will mean's that we can choose whatever we want whenever we want. For example, we could choose not to exist and if we truly had free will then we would not exist.

One might say that this is a foolish statement because we are limited in our power to do such things. This is true we cannot choose to "not exist" and the reason is because God has not allowed such.

God does not allow "many choices" that would be considered truly free will. A true free will could choose to go without sleep for 100 days and because the will is free to choose it could also choose not to be tired. This would be true free will.

However, because the rules that God has established do not allow for such things...we cannot choose such. Thus our choices are limited.

Our choices are limited by God. He gives us the choices and those are the only choices that we have. Anything else that we could even imagine is impossible because God hasn't given us those choices. Again, such a choice would be choosing never to exist. This choice is impossible because God hasn't made that one of the things we can choose.

Therefore, our choices are limited by God. Like any good father he limits our choices. We have the freedom to choose but only from the choices that God has given us. Nothing more and nothing less.

Furthermore, if we should choose something that does not please him, he will discipline us in order that we might choose that which he desires for us. He works to break our will in order that our wills might be conformed to his will. 

Before we come to Christ we had one choice. Do we want to receive the life of Jesus by believing on his sacrifice and thereby have eternal life? That is our choice. There is no other choice because the default is hell. We were already on our way to hell.

Jesus confirms this when he says, that he did not come to condemn the world because the world is already condemned rather he came that the world through him might have eternal life.

Thus we only have one choice before we are born again...do we want the life Jesus is offering us? If yes we have eternal life if no nothing has changed.

Now, when we are born again our choices are limited. They are limited by God. Since he planned before the foundation of the world for his Son to die for our sins and since he is not willing that any should perish...he has limited our choices.

Once we are born again the choice of heaven and hell has been made. It cannot be made again...it is not an option. We may think that it is an option and the enemy would like us to think it is an option, but it is not an option. Once we are born again the default now becomes heaven. We have gone from a default of hell to a default of heaven. We can no longer choose hell because that is not a choice.

The choices we have after being born again become do we want to be his bride or not? Do we want to be as close to Jesus as we possibly can or not? This is now our choice. Will we follow Jesus or will we continue to wallow in our flesh?

When we become born again we are believers. That is good. In being a believer we are now justified...we are no longer guilty. The sentence of condemnation has been expunged. Our righteousness has been assured because Jesus is now our righteousness.

He is the anchor of our soul. We do not hold him...he hold us. There is no choice of leaving him, because he said he will not leave us. The choice now is will we follow Jesus.

God wants us to choose to follow Jesus...become a disciple. There is a difference between being a disciple and a believer. Believers are all those who have been born again. All believers will be in heaven.

However, being a believer does not make one automatically a part of the Bride of Christ. This is for those who follow after him. Those who pick up their cross daily and follow him. For if we pickup our cross daily, deny our selves and follow him...then we are worthy of him.

To be worthy of Jesus is not about heaven and hell. It is about the bride or not the bride. This is our choice, bride or not the bride. The choice of heaven and hell cannot be remade.

Not all who are in heaven will be the Bride only those that endure until the end will be of the household of Christ. Only those that continue on and abide in Jesus will be partakers of Christ.

We are Christ's household "if" we endure, but this speaks of the bride this is not speaking of losing ones salvation. We are partakers of Christ if we hold fast, but this speaks of the bride and is not speaking of losing our salvation.

That is what all the "if" verses and the "endure" verses are all about. They are not about heaven and hell but about discipleship.

The book Hebrews is about obtaining the promise...the inheritance. It is not about heaven and hell. It is about not allowing unbelief in our lives and thereby not obtain the promises.

Unbelief keeps us from going on to perfection (maturity).

Unbelief keeps us from overcoming. Unbelief keeps us from being disciples.

Unbelief keeps us from being a part of the Bride of Christ.

This is the unbelief that Hebrews is talking about. It is not talking about heaven and hell.

We must remember that Moses did not enter the promise land...because of unbelief. If Hebrews is about heaven and hell then Moses must be in hell.

Num 20:12  Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

Moses did not enter the promised land because of unbelief. Only two men entered the promised land who came out of Egypt...Caleb and Joshua. Did everyone else end up in hell?

No, it only means that they did not believe that God could overcome the giants in the promised land. We are much the same today. We do not enter into all that Jesus has for us because of unbelief. Yet once born again, that doesn't mean we are going to hell.

Thomas said he would not believe unless he saw the scars. Did that mean he wasn't going to heaven if he had died suddenly? No. It only showed that he was walking in unbelief in that area of his soul.

Jesus challenged the disciples many times about their lack of faith. Lack of faith is unbelief. Jesus was saying that the disciples had unbelief. Did that mean they were going to hell if they should have died then? No it only means that they lacked faith...not justification.

Justification is a gift from God. After being born again we are rewarded for our faith in his promises. A gift and a reward are two different things...to make them the same is not rightly dividing the word of truth.

The unbelief that Hebrews is speaking of is not about heaven and hell it is about obtaining the promises. It is about possessing the land. Just as Israel entered the promised land and began to possess it under Joshua, likewise we must possess the land of promise ourselves.

What is the land we are to possess? It is our souls.

Our souls are the land we are to possess. Jesus said in Luke 21:19 in your patience possess ye your souls. The scriptures also say the trying of our faith works patience.

So, God tries our faith, as our faith grows we acquire patience and in our patience we possess our souls. This is not about heaven and hell. That is not a choice...it is about will we enter into the promises. Will we possess the land.

What is the promise? These things and greater things than these shall you do because I go to my father...this is one promise. Has anyone on this forum been walking in this promise on a daily basis (remember it is pick up the cross daily and follow me)? If not then we haven't entered into this promise.

Not entering the promises does not mean we are going to hell. Hell is no longer an option for those that are born again. Hell is not an available choice...it is not an option. Entering into the promises speaks of allowing Jesus to live his life fully in us and through us. He wants to come forth from our spirits into our souls.

Remember, that which is born of spirit is spirit and he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Jesus dwells in our spirit and wants us to give over our souls to him. This is possessing the land, this is overcoming.

The word of God divides between spirit and soul. We are to study the scriptures asking the Spirit of God to help us discern when he is speaking of our spirit and when he is speaking of our soul.

Things that speak of eternal, forever, justified, complete, in heavenly places, perfected forever and the like speak of our eternal position with the Father and Jesus. This is ours forever. We cannot lose our position because our position is in Christ we have been placed into Christ. We are hid with Christ in God.

Do we see that? We are hid in Christ who is hid in God. We have been bought and then hid. There is no walking out of God choice. That is not an option.

He has limited our ability to give back our gift by saying the gift cannot be given back...it is irrevocable, cannot be repented of and cannot be returned or left by the wayside. This is not an option as it is not one of the choices.

The only choice we now have after being born again is will we follow Jesus out of love or not? Do we want to become a disciple or not? Do we want to be of his household (the Bride) or not? Do we want to partake of Christ (be the Bride) or not?

This is our only choice. God has limited our choices. We can fuss, cry, whine and pretty much act like spoiled brats. We can curse God, say we hate him and even say we don't believe in him anymore...but that only shows our immaturity, our lack of understanding, our lack of faith, our lack of discernment and our lack of patience. However, this does not cause us to lose our salvation, but it does limit our rewards in heaven and unless we repent will cause us to lose our place in his household.

Heaven is not the end game. Jesus is the exceedingly great reward. If we think heaven is our ultimate goal then we have been misled. Heaven is our home. Satan robbed us of that when Adam sinned. Jesus restored that to us when he bought us back. Now that we are home, Jesus and the Father want us to walk as sons of God and not sons of disobedience.

When Jesus bought us...he bought every single person that every existed. He died for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2  And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

He bought back the whole world when he died and rose again. Thus everyone's name has been written in the book of life and it is only by not being born again that our names are taken out. The scriptures bear this out.

Ps 69:26-28

26 For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness (they are not yet righteous or justified).

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living (yet they are in the book of life), And not be written with the righteous (the justified).

These verses show that those that have not become righteous by Jesus blood are still in the book of life until they die. They are not yet righteous or justified yet they are in the book and have not yet been blotted out. Only those that do not receive the blood of Christ by the time they die are blotted out of the book of life. This is what is meant in the book of Revelation.

Rev 3:5-6

5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.  

6 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'  

This verse is not saying that Christians can lose their salvation and be blotted out of the book of life. It is saying those that have overcome and have white robes will not be blotted out. There is a difference.

If we have overcome and have white garments then we will not be blotted out. The question then becomes how does one overcome and get a white garment. Because God is loving and faithful he shows us how to get the white garment.

In Rev 12:11 we read about overcoming:  11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

It says they overcame by the blood...this overcomes sin.

It says they overcame by the word of their testimony...this overcomes Satan.

It says the overcame by not loving their lives though they died...this overcomes the flesh.

There are degrees of overcoming and likewise degrees of rewards. In Rev. 3:5-6 the reward for overcoming is a white garment. We see what that white garment is and how they overcame to receive it in Rev. 7:14

Rev 7:14 So he said to me,"These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

They overcame by Jesus blood having washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Now let's look again at the verse about blotting out our names.

He that overcomes will be clothed in white garments. This overcoming speaks of being washed in Jesus blood. This speaks of having our sins forgiven. Since our sins are forgiven and our robes are now white...our names will not be blotted out of the book of life.

Thus anyone who has been born again has been washed in Jesus blood and that being the case we have a white garment and because we have a white garment we will not be blotted out of the book of life.

Rev 1:5-6 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Our choices are limited. God sets the limits.

To reiterate.

We cannot give back the gift. It is not one of the choices...it is irrevocable.

We cannot be blotted out of the book of life if we have been washed in Jesus blood. It is not one of the choices.

The "if" statements and "endure" statements are not talking about gaining heaven but rather gaining Christ, being his household and being a partaker in Christ. This is not about heaven and hell it is about discipleship and being the bride.

We cannot go to hell if we do not enter into the promises. This is not a choice...but we will lose reward.

We cannot be a part of the bride if we do not possess our souls, but we will not lose heaven. Losing heavn is not a choice.

Heaven is not the end game...Jesus is our reward.

Remember, if we sin willfully because we think it doesn't matter that we sin now that we are eternally secure we will be severely disciplined by our Father. He will discipline us and devour the adversaries (sins) because judgment begins at the house of God. Thus all the warnings that go along with not pressing on are sure.

We will be disciplined. We will not partake of Christ. We won't be of his household.

We may think that heaven is enough...no my friends Jesus is enough. He is the exceeding great reward. This is our goal, this is the prize...and a prize is something one wins. A gift is free.

So, let us press on for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus...being the bride of Christ.

John Johnson