Freedom and free will are related. The Bible speaks about both.

People desire freedom. Some believe that they have it. Prisoners are not free, and they do not feel free. Those who come to a saving knowledge of Jesus in jail say that this is the freest that they have ever felt, but they still count the days until they are released. Prisoners are not free to do all that they want to do, but their free will is still intact. They use their will all the time to choose.

Most people have free will—the capacity to choose. Our wills are not purely cerebral—of the brain. They are more a function of our minds, of our thinking. Babies and young children are sometimes limited by their caretakers in using their wills because some strong-willed children may hurt themselves or others, as may some adults who break the law or who present with mental illness, behavior disorders, or dementia. The mind in conjunction with the soul composes the who we are of the body we inhabit.

In talking about freedom and free will, the Bible admonishes us to love God with our body, mind, soul, and spirit. The Bible describes real people who obeyed God or who did not and therefore bore the consequences of willful actions against Him. Jesus teaches us to take responsibility for our words and actions. He desires that we respond to His good-news Gospel, believe it, and follow Him. The apostles and the early church modeled how we should use our wills to make wise decisions. Believers, who follow Jesus’s directive to spread the Gospel, encourage others to confess their faith. Their testimony shows their salvation is real and made of their own volition in response to God’s call in conjunction with His grace. God is not a tyrant. He gives everyone the free will to make the choice to be His child or not.

God’s provision of free will to us shows His deep love and compassion for us. He desires our voluntary love for Him—not one that is mandated or given out of fear of reprisal. Freely choosing to believe in God through Jesus and living a new life in Christ denotes true Christians. In making intentional decisions to follow and worship Jesus, they find true freedom in Him. Non-Christians may think that they are free, but they are really pawns of everything anti-God—not free, but of the world in the most impactful way.

No person can be free when they are bound to a world that is counter to the God who created them, the universe, and everything in it. Countries and their governments have expectations and laws. If these laws are not followed, there are consequences. Families and spouses too have expectations of each other—if they fall short, there are effects. Every workplace has rules and regulations that if not followed can result in dire consequences. Those with an independent spirit, who are self-employed, or who do not work but are cared for by government agencies, may feel that they are their own master, but nobody is truly free at home, at work, or at play, outside of faith in God. This is true even on one’s own property. There is no real freedom in capitalism, communism, democracy, or socialism. Thinking that one is free is not the same thing as actually being free.

As we age and learn, we find that more of the Bible is being affirmed through archaeology and science. The mind, at one time associated solely with the brain, has been found to be the source of a person’s consciousness and abstract thought. Each of our trillions of cells includes receptor sites which transmit the greatest percentage of the body’s information, with only a small amount occurring in the brain’s synapses. The biblical concept of worshipping God with body, mind, soul, and spirit is becoming clearer with ever-increasing medical knowledge of the human body. Rather than confuse us, increased information broadens our understanding of who we are, how we work, how we got here, our capabilities, culpabilities, and where we go after earthly death. This knowledge gives us the freedom to further study the meaning of human life.

The idea of being absolutely free is a falsity that is often used to sell products and ideas. The only true freedom we have in life and death is that freedom which comes from knowing God through His Son, who gives us the life-giving and life-saving knowledge that we are alive and free in His strength and will be eternally safe in His honor and to His glory. We are beginning to understand how our physical bodies and non-physical minds, souls, and spirits work together. God’s Word has spoken of this from the beginning.

Adam and Eve, Abraham, Ruth, David, the apostles, the good Samaritan all had free will. Some made good choices; some did not. All could have chosen the freedom God alone offers. Their stories are recorded so that we may know what is expected of us, what God’s will and laws are, and what will result from our willful obeying or disobeying Him. The Bible tells us these things so that we may know what constitutes sin—what is against God’s will—so that we may align our wills with God’s will and choose to be free indeed.