God’s Omniscience v. the “Free Will” of Mankind? A paradox?

Repeatedly, I receive allegations of an alleged paradox existing relevant to the question(s): “How can mankind possess free will when God possesses the attribute of omniscience; Doesn’t the ability to know all things nullify the possibility of free will?”

For some unknown reason, possibly because God is defined in His character as perfect LOVE (1 John 4:8), God the Father desires an intimate relationship with both His angelic and human creation and in order for intimacy in relationship to exist in purity with authenticity, the parties involved in that relationship must possess volition, the ability to “choose” fellowship or reject same; otherwise, the relationship is robotic, the parties being compelled to associate thus culminating in a union of nihilism, emptiness.

So extremely relevant is God’s desire for relationship that God’s intimacy with His angelic creation and His desire to maintain that intimacy is the causation for the creation of matter, Time, our Universe, this Earth, our complex genome; in fact, the Son of God entered Time for the specific purpose of destroying the works of the one who attempted to nullify God’s intimate relationship with His angels via a coup d’état manifesting in the Kingdom before the creation of Time (1 John 3:8b; Ezekiel 38:11+). I believe the Holy Spirit makes it irrefutably clear that the introduction of sin into the Kingdom of God is the only reason for our existence in Time and absent that rebellion there is no reason for God to have endured 6000-years of a rebellious and obstinate human creation yet God has endured and given Himself as a Redeemer for mankind in response to His love for the beautiful angelic creation that He cherishes and His desire to maintain volitional love and relationship with them.

Consider this,

In order for genuine love to exist, the antithesis of love i.e. the possibility for hate must also exist; In order for good to exist by definition, the antithesis of good i.e. the possibility for evil must also exist; In order for righteousness to exist by definition, the antithesis of righteousness i.e. the possibility for sin must also exist; In order for obedience to exist with purpose, the antithesis of obedience i.e. the possibility for rebellion-disobedience must also exist. It has been alleged that God is the Author of moral evil as the KJV translators incorrectly translated the Hebrew “ra” in Isaiah 45:7, but God is NOT the Author of moral evil as God allows for the possibility of evil to exist out of necessity as the free will to choose good and obedience must reign paramount in order that God’s Plan for Time and Eternity be fulfilled in righteousness.

Concerning Calvin and predestination,

If Calvin was correct and every man and woman is predestined to life in Eternity or death in Hell, I ask you, what would become of love, how can it exist with intimacy? Where would authentic relationship with interpersonal joy and fellowship find meaning and fulfillment? What intimacy and satisfaction would God derive from programmed robots dutiful to comply in nihilistic obedience? Calvin obviously did not understand the God of Scripture and those who espouse a demonic doctrine of predestination don’t understand the love of God and His Plan and purposes for the creation of human kind.

Concerning God’s omniscience v. the free will of mankind – an alleged paradox,

It is suggested that God is either omniscient and free will does not exist or God lacks true omniscience in order for free will to exist in Creation. It is my position that God’s omniscience does NOT negate free will.

As an elementary analogy, I know my beautiful wife of 35-years of marriage and my two-wonderful children with intimacy as they are my flesh and I know what decision they will make in any given life scenario with a 98+- rate of accuracy. My human omniscience concerning my family and their decisions does not negate their ability to exercise free will; in the same way, simply because God “knows” the beginning from the end does NOT suggest that our personal destiny in Time and Eternity is predetermined by God. Foreknowledge does not mandate a conclusion but simply acknowledges God’s ability to KNOW all things as He is God, God is Spirit and He is NOT confined or restrained by Time, physics, the limits of human cognition, genomic mutational degradation, entropy (the Adamic curse).

God’s immutability, eschatology and free will?

It is certainly Scriptural that God’s eschatological Plan for Time and Eternity is immutable and God is immutable and what the prophets have spoken through the Spirit will certainly come to pass BUT the process by which that immutable Plan comes to fruition is fluid; in other words, God, in His omnipotence, is perfectly capable of providing both His angelic and human creation free will in order that relationship with Him can manifest in purity with authenticity while simultaneously working through and around our personal decisions and choices in life to bring about His immutable will concerning Time and Eternity.

God is NOT restricted by our choices but He uses our free will to further His eschatological Plan and through our personal choices God is glorified and receives pleasure from those who love Him and express that love in obedience to His perfect will. This is but one reason God desires that all men and women be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth as God seeks same to worship Him and trust in Him and ally with Him as God restores order and peace and love that have been disrupted through rebellion and sin that manifest before the creation of Time.

Satan’s free will and God’s Sovereignty,

God, in His omnipotence, is perfectly capable of using the evil expressed in human nature, free will, through rebellion in an alliance with Satan. As an example, consider the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust which was the resultant of a conspiracy between Hitler and Allah-Satan/Islam. Though Allah-Satan desired to thwart God’s Covenants with the Jewish people by attempting to eradicate the children of Israel from the face of the Earth, God allowed the “Never Again” movement to manifest in response to the Jewish Holocaust which ultimately fulfilled Ezekiel’s regathering prophecies (Ezekiel 34:13; 36:24-28; 37:1-14) relevant to the reestablishment of a Jewish State which we know today as the Nation of Israel (1948). The establishment of Israel is essential for the coming Tribulation and Millennial Reign of Messiah-Yeshua. Satan, exercising free will, conspired to destroy God’s chosen people and thwart eschatology but God used that evil for good and in furtherance of His perfect eschatological Plan for Time and Eternity. God uses the evil of Satan and man’s alliance with Satan to demonstrate the horrors of sin to the faithful angelic creation who watch with amazement the unfolding of God’s Plan for Time and Eternity.

In conclusion,

It is paramount that every man and woman disregard the false doctrine of predestination as our God does NOT predestine winners and losers. It is paramount that everyone understand their culpability as a sinner before our Holy God and exercise their individual free will to humble them self before God the Father, repent of their sin, sincerely believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that the Son, Jesus Christ, God manifest in flesh, is their God who suffered and died to pay their sin-debt and believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead for their justification (Romans 10:9-10).

God the Father has so decreed that anyone exercising their free will to choose the Son, Jesus Christ, as their God for the mediation of their sin, that person so declaring-believing in Jesus as their God will receive forgiveness of sin, the imputation of Jesus’ perfection over their life and God the Father promises to declare them “not guilty,” infuse His Spirit within them (Ephesians 1:13-14) Who will walk with them in the process of sanctification throughout this life and then welcome them into His Kingdom at the moment of their last exhalation in Time (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:8).

How does one find righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father?

1) Through obedience to the Commandments etched in stone and the 613-Levitical Laws of Moses?

2) By grace (unmerited favor) through faith (believing-trusting) in Jesus Christ as God who died to pay our sin-debt, a debt we cannot pay through human effort?

I ask you,

1. What Law does the Holy Spirit announce as relevant “before the beginning of Time?” Was it not the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:9-10)?

2. What Law governs the affections of the angels in the Kingdom of God?

3. What Law governed the affections of Adam, Enoch, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, seeing that Moses had not yet approached Sinai nor had Moses penned on parchment the 613-Laws governing every aspect of God’s righteous decrees pertaining to the holiness of Israel as God set them apart specifically for His purposes?

4. Prior to the Mosaic Law, was the Law of Hammurabi relevant or the Law of Conscience as written on man’s heart by God (Romans 2:15)?

5. To whom did God impart His Law, both the Commandments and the 613- Levitical Laws? Was it not the Hebrew Tribes and those sojourners who would convert to Judaism? Did God require the Gentiles to observe the Law of Moses-the Commandments?

6. Were the Gentiles told to obey the Law of Moses at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)?

7. What law does the remote Aborigine, having never seen a Bible or heard a Scripture, function under as he lives within a community necessitating order? Does not the Aborigine intuitively know that stealing from his neighbor is wrong? Does he not intuitively know that raping his neighbor’s wife is wrong? Does he not intuitively know that murdering his neighbor is wrong? Is not the Law of Nature through the conscience at play (Romans 2:15)?

Discussion,

It is perfectly clear and beyond rebuttal that the Holy Spirit has declared the Law of Moses-the Commandments as having been fulfilled in Messiah (Matthew 5:17) and that these Laws were given to the Hebrew Tribes specifically to point them to their coming Messiah as righteousness through a Law would not be ascertainable by sinful mankind; therefore, the Law that could only condemn mandated an Intercessor for the atonement of sin (Hebrews 10:4; Romans 3:20). When Messiah entered the World and initiated His Earthly ministry, the Law given through Moses was fulfilled (Matthew 5:17) and therefore was passing away until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25); therefore, the one who believes in Jesus as Lord is NOT under the Law of Moses but under grace through faith (Romans 6:14) in the One who fulfilled the Law in perfection (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It is written concerning the passing of the Law of Moses…

The Law has faded away,

“4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

What is the point?

If you have humbled yourself before God the Father and repented of your sins, believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your God who died to pay your sin-debt and you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead for your justification (Romans 10:9-10) and you believe that Jesus is completely sufficient APART FROM WORKS to save you from your sin and provide righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father – THEN – you “decide” to pursue obedience to the moral aspects of the Law of Moses, the Commandments, during your walk of sanctification in obedience to the Holy Spirit, you do well and honor God through obedience and a good conscience in faith. ***BUT*** If you deny the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and faith in Him alone to provide righteousness but you believe that obedience to the Law of Moses and the Commandments are necessary to justify you before God the Father apart from Jesus Christ, you are condemning yourself to death in sin and death in Hell because the Law of Commandments cannot save you because you are a sinner (Romans 3:23) and have violated the Law of Commandments and to violate one-jot or one-tittle of the Law is violate the whole Law (James 2:10). You have rejected Christ and fallen from grace and you’re pursuing a Law that only condemns and a Law unable to provide atonement for sin and righteousness with God the Father.

“Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Galatians 5:3-4

In closing,

It is only by grace (unmerited favor) through faith (believing) in Jesus Christ as your God who has redeemed you by His atoning blood that you will find righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father and it is ONLY SUBSEQUENT to your confession and believing that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10) that your works of obedience and philanthropy become relevant in the equation concerning righteousness as it is your good works, your obedience, your philanthropy, SUBSEQUENT to your confession that validates and authenticates your relationship with God the Father; that relationship with God the Father having been FIRST established by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord. If one then desires to honor the moral aspects of the Law of Moses and the Commandments in their daily walk of sanctification through the indwelling Holy Spirit, they are free to do that with the knowledge and understanding that the Law of Moses-the Commandments did not, cannot, will not, save them from death in sin and death in Hell.

Tragically, some Messianic Jews err in attempting to keep the Law of Moses and believe that Yeshua is Lord and died for their sin-debt but simultaneously believe that the works of the Law are necessary to somehow complete that atonement; this is the work of Judaizers who deny the sufficiency of Messiah’s atonement and with futility attempt to complete that atonement with good works; this is an eternal error (Ephesians 2:8-9)!

It is written,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Galatians 2:20:21 (ESV)

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Galatians 3:1-10 (ESV)

Warning: concerning the Hebrew Roots Movement and the cult of the Black Hebrew Israelite’s that roam these FB debate pages…

What is the Truth concerning Israel today?

The promise, the Covenant God made with Abraham was relevant as a blessing to “all the families of the Earth” and not just Israel (Genesis 12:3). Israel was set-apart by God to be Holy as He is Holy and it would be through Israel and her prophets that God would articulate His eschatological Plan for Time and Eternity; God, through Israel, would demonstrate His blessings for obedience and His cursing for disobedience; His purpose for having created Time and Eternity and the human genome; demonstrate His power, authority, sovereignty as God over all life in Time and Eternity; it would be through the Tribe of Judah that God the Father would bring forth His Messiah who would “destroy the works of the Devil“ (1 John 3:8b; Genesis 3:15) and provide redemption to everyone who would trust in Yeshua-Jesus as Lord (John 3:16); God’s promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel remains valid, but…

Unfortunately, Israel failed God in their disobedience and unfaithfulness to His Law and His Messiah; in their rejection of Messiah Yeshua, the children of Israel demanded that Yeshua’s blood be upon them and their children as they falsely accused Him of blasphemy and had Him scourged and hung Him upon a tree as a curse until dead (Matthew 27:25). For this reason, Isaiah prophesied (Paul reiterated) that only a remnant of Israel would be saved and that a partial hardening of Israel toward God has manifest and will continue until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25); therefore, Israel has fallen-away for a period of time due to Her unfaithfulness and Her rejection of Messiah Yeshua; therefore, God’s judgment on the Israelite, the Jewish people, has manifest before our eyes in their present day stubbornness and rejection of God’s grace through Messiah yet God’s immutable, eschatological, Plan ordained “before the beginning of Time” (2 Timothy 1:10) to manifest via the Nation of Israel will be fulfilled.

Those who espouse a Hebrew roots superiority doctrine in conjunction with the cult of the Black Hebrew Israelite’s that roam these FB Groups are espousing a false doctrine that emanates from the Evil One; therefore, do not follow their destructive and deceptive ways lest you too find yourself in opposition to God the Father, the Son and the Spirit and suffering the immutable truism of sowing and reaping.

Confusion concerning God’s holiness, free will, sin/evil and Hell; a Christian response to follow: “But god creates evil. Sin exists not because of free will, but because of the definition God ascribed to things as “Sin.” Could god not have created free will without sin? If the answer is Yes, then why didn’t he? If the answer is no, then why can’t he? He is either evil, or not omnipotent. Both logical outcomes lead to a God not worthy of worship. God’s willingness to condemn me to hell for eternity is a showing of his power, not his worthiness.”

Christian response,

God is Holy, He does not create evil but only the possibility for same so that free will can reign supreme which is essential for love and relationship with our Creator to manifest with purity and authenticity. Note that the KJV translators in Isaiah 45:7 incorrectly translated the Hebrew “ra” as “evil” but the correct translation in context is “calamity.” See: https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/45-7.htm

There is no “free will” void volition; one must possess the ability to choose and in order for that “choice” to exist, the antithesis of love and good and righteousness and obedience must also exist.

God is omnipotent and omniscient and though His Plan for Time and Eternity is immutable, the process by which that Plan comes to fruition is fluid; in other words, God allows you and me to make our own individual choices concerning our destiny in Time and Eternity and He works through and around those choices to bring His perfect will and Plan for Time and Eternity to completion.

God the Father has provided you a Way to find forgiveness for your sin and He has provided a pardon from death in sin and death in Hell if you will “choose” to repent of your sin, believe in your heart, confess with your mouth, that Jesus Christ is God who died to pay your sin-debt and that Jesus was resurrected from the dead for your justification (Romans 10:9-10). God does NOT will or choose to send anyone to Hell (1 Timothy 2:4), Hell was not created for mankind but for Satan and the fallen angels (Matthew 25:41); man will enter Hell by first climbing directly over the Cross of Jesus Christ.

The power of Hell is not God’s will for your life but God is Holy and He will NOT permit your unrepentant, destructive sin to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time (Revelation 21:27); therefore, you will deal with your sin within the Age of Grace through faith in Jesus Christ – OR – you will deal with your sin at the Judgment of the Condemned and lose both body and soul in Hell. Man will enter Hell by “choice.” The choice to live with God forever or lose both body and soul in Hell is yours to make (John 3:16; Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 10:28). Please choose wisely, please choose life?

Christian response,

God the Father commissioned the Son (John 3:35) to create the Heavens and the Earth (Hebrews 11:3; John 1; Colossians 1) in response to Lucifer’s rebellion in the Kingdom before the beginning of Time as the Gospel was ordained “before the beginning of Time” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). The Son of God entered Time for one specific purpose, “to destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b). God the Father extricated Lucifer and the fallen angels and placed them upon this Earth to be dealt with apart from the Kingdom and partially constrained by Time and physics within the Realm of Time (Luke 10:18; Ezekiel 28:11+; Revelation 12). God the Father extricated Lucifer from the Kingdom due to the destructiveness of sin and the truism that God’s holiness will NOT permit anything impure to enter or exist in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27). God the Father, in Eden, proclaimed a spiritual and physical war to commence between the Son who would be born of the seed of the woman v. Satan-Lucifer in Genesis 3:15. God’s plan concerning the defeat of Satan was pictured in Genesis 3:21. That defeat was ultimately accomplished 4000-years later at Golgotha and victory was exclaimed by Messiah-Jesus with “It is Finished” (John 19:28-30).

Concerning God’s foreknowledge, God, in His omnipotence was fully aware that human kind would relent to the enticement of His anointed cherub angel that had committed treason in the Kingdom but God, in order to maintain volitional love with His faithful angelic creation, opted to defeat Lucifer-Satan with selfless love as opposed to arbitrary power. Had God the Father simply eradicated the rebellious cherub angel and those who followed him in the rebellion, God would run the risk of destroying volitional love with His faithful angelic creation as God would be viewed as a tyrant. God’s desire for love and relationship with His created beings motivated the creation of Time and human kind and through this temporary creation God defeated His enemies by selfless love as God gave Himself as a sacrifice to defeat Lucifer’s dominion over death, Hell and the grave (2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 26:28).

God’s foreknowledge must be viewed in conjunction with His overarching desire for “relationship.” Though God’s Plan for Time and Eternity is immutable, fixed, all things that the Prophets have articulated will certainly come to pass, the process by which God’s eschatological Plan comes to fruition is fluid. In other words, every man and woman and angel has been endowed with free will to choose their loyalties and their ultimate destiny in Eternity. Free will is essential if love in relationship with God is to manifest with purity and authenticity; therefore, even though God’s eschatological Plan is immutable, God allows our free will to reign supreme and God, in His omnipotence, works through and around our individual choices to bring His immutable Plan for Time and Eternity to fruition. It’s very important that one understand the significance of this truism as God’s omniscience i.e. God’s foreknowledge, does NOT negate our ability to choose loyalty to God or loyalty to Satan as we are warriors in a cosmic struggle that defies human comprehension.