Philosophers and theologians have debated the nature of man and whether or not we have free will for countless years. Intelligent and sincere Christians disagree on this issue, and both use scripture to back up their arguments. And so, without seeking to divide the worldwide Church, but instead bring unity under the scriptures we have to ask, "Who makes my decisions for me?" Even more philosophically, "Do I even have a choice at all? Is the story of my life already written for me?"

There are many verses that have lead some Christians to believe that God has laid out the course of our lives and that we have no free will. Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 10:23, Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30, Acts 13:48 all seem to suggest that God has chosen some for salvation and other for condemnation. They suggest that because God's omniscience (his "all-knowingness") keeps him from not knowing what we'll do and therefore we only have the illusion of free will.

This makes a lot of philosophical sense, especially if you approach scripture already believing that because God knows everything that he can't not know something, like what you will choose to do. But it's important to remember that it's very dangerous to look as scripture with preconceived ideas. If we do, we'll have the temptation to read as far as the first verse that confirms our view and no further. But, as Paul reminded Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."(2 Timothy 3:16-17) We need to consider the entirety of God's word before we make up our minds.

Let's look at couple of scriptures where God (and the prophets of God) instruct us to choose. The first is found in Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua here is flat out telling the Israelites that they need to decide for themselves whether or not they will follow God or not. Before Joshua, Moses made the same demand of the Israelites. He said, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live"(Deuteronomy 30:9). Clearly, the Israelites had the ability to choose whether they'd follow God or not.

What about the New Testament? Jesus said in John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command." His half-brother James tells us, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."(James 4:17) My question to anyone who denies that we have free will is this: Why are we told to obey if we can't disobey? Think of all of the scriptures (and there are hundreds) in which God tells people to do things. In fact, look at the entire Mosaic Law. If some people are fated to reject God and other are fated to embrace him, why did he bother commanding us at all? If I'm given a directive, I have the choice to follow it or not. But if I had no choice, then there wouldn't be any reason to tell me to do something, because I would have done it if you told me to or not.

God's omniscience, his ability to know all things, isn't limited by our ability to choose. It is enhanced. He not only knows the outcome of one choice, but the outcomes of millions and millions of variations. We don't need to "shrink" God down in order to accept the idea of free will. We have to "grow" our understanding of God's omniscience.