INTRODUCTION
Freedom is one of the most precious things that we human beings possess. God created us as free moral creatures. That is, He created us with the ability to make our own choices in life, to make our own decisions without being forced or compelled to do anything against our will. In theology and philosophy, this precious freedom to choose or make our own decisions is called ‘free will’.
To be sure, God makes all kinds of demands on our lives. The Bible is filled with laws, rules, principles, commandments, exhortations, admonitions, do’s and don’ts that God wants us to obey and live by.
But the bottom line is, none of us have to obey God if we don’t want to. God doesn’t force us to obey Him. If we don’t want to obey Him, God honors that. He lets us disobey Him. He doesn’t stop us from disobeying Him. He abides by the decisions we make.
God, I am saying, gave us free will. He lets us make our own decisions. He doesn’t force His will upon us.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN FREEDOM AND FREE WILL
Freedom is defined and understood in so many different ways. We all have our ideas about what we’re free to do.
What exactly is freedom? What is Christian liberty? Is freedom the God-given right to do as we please? Undoubtedly, this is how many of God’s people understand freedom. For them, freedom is the right to do as we please. The right to live any way we please.
But this, brethren, is not how the Bible defines freedom!
Before we get to the Biblical definition of freedom, I think it’s helpful to make a very important distinction between freedom and free will. The two terms are often confused and used synonymously, which is the reason why so many of God’s people have liberties that we know aren’t right or aren’t theirs to have.
Free will, as I said earlier, is the power or ability to make our own decisions. This includes the decision to disobey God and do whatever we please. For example, let us suppose that we choose to fornicate. We want to fornicate. Now if we equate freedom with free will, then what we have as a result is the freedom to fornicate. That is, since we’re free to choose; and since we choose to fornicate; then we automatically conclude that we have the freedom to fornicate.
But instinctively, for the true child of God, we know that this isn’t what freedom is all about. There’s something perverted about this kind of logic or reasoning.
FREEDOM IS NOT THE SAME THING AS FREE WILL. THEY’RE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. JUST BECAUSE WE’RE MORALLY FREE TO MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS DOESN’T MEAN WE’RE FREE AS CHRISTIANS TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT TO DO.
What, then, is freedom? What does our liberty encompass?
Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 2. I look at the Biblical meaning of freedom. Chances are, it’s not what you think. So drop by and find out. I’ll save a chair for you.
Gaylord Diaz's Blog 
Luther & Alice Lockwood said,
January 8, 2013 at 9:30 AM
Well said Pastor.
nanaspiana said,
January 8, 2013 at 9:38 AM
Thankful to have this discussion addressed!! Thanks, Gaylord.
nanaspiana said,
January 8, 2013 at 9:43 AM
Thankful that you are addressing this subject, Gaylord. It is often a difficult and sly subject . . . in that it is Always Easier to choose the lower path!!