570 The Spiritual Man
and peace in believing God, he may understand His majesty and
amass much wonderful knowledge; but does he possess any genuine
union with Him if his will is not united with God’s? The joining of
wills forms the only true union. Consequently, upon receiving life
the believer should be attentive not only to his intuition but likewise
to his volition.
A Free WillIn discussing man and his will we particularly should bear in mind
that he exercises a free will. This means that man is sovereign, that
he has a sovereign will. What he disapproves of should not be forced
on him, what he opposes should not be coerced. Free will signifies
that man can choose what he wants. He is not a mechanical toy to be
run by others. He is responsible for all his actions; the will within
controls all matters both inside and outside him. He is not governed
automatically by an external force; rather, he houses a principle
within him which determines his acts.
This was the state of man when created by God. The man the
Creator fashioned was not something mechanical; for it will be
recalled that God said to him: “You may freely eat of every tree of
the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen.
2.16-17). How did God command him? God persuaded, prohibited,
yet never coerced. If Adam were disposed to listen and not eat the
forbidden fruit, it would be Adam who so willed. But if he would not
listen and would eat, even God would not restrain him. That is free
will. God put this responsibility of eating or not eating upon man for
him to choose according to his untrammeled will. God did not create
an Adam who was incapable of sinning, rebelling or stealing, since to
have done so would have been to make man into a piece of
machinery. God could advise, prohibit and command; however, the
responsibility of hearing or not lay with man. Out of love, God gave