God Never Violates Our Freedom of Choice

By A. W. Tozer

. . .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!

Yours in Christ,

Paul N. F.