Bullet Point 10 (of 12) - Mankind has Freewill (misses the mark)

Bullet Point 10 (of 12): ‘Mankind has freewill’ misses the mark because it doesn’t go far enough. As everyone knows, freewill is necessary for love to exist at all. But, because of the very purpose of the creation of mankind by God, in His image, mankind has a portion of responsibility that even God cannot interfere with, or intervene in. 

This is connected to the fundamental reason why God did not intervene in the Fall of Man (EotDP P1 C2 S6) even though He knew that it was taking place. This quality that belongs to mankind alone out of all of the creation also makes it clear why the restoration from the terrible event of the Fall of Man has taken such an enormous length of time and, moreover, had to be carried out in an exacting way according to principles every bit as absolute as the Principles of Creation.
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What is the meaning of true freedom? In light of the Principle, three characteristics of freedom stand out. First, there is no freedom outside the Principle. Freedom requires both free will and the free actions pursuant to that will. The former and the latter have the relationship of internal nature and external form, and perfect freedom is achieved when they are in harmony. Therefore, there cannot be any free action without free will, nor can free will be complete without free actions to accompany it. Free actions are generated by free will, and free will is an expression of the mind. Since the mind of an original, sinless person cannot operate outside of God’s Word, that is, the Principle, it will never express free will or generate free action apart from the Principle. Undoubtedly, the freedom of a true person never deviates from the Principle. 

Second, there is no freedom without responsibility. Human beings, created according to the Principle, can reach perfection only by fulfilling their responsibility based on their free will. Accordingly, a person pursuing the purpose of creation as prompted by his free will ceaselessly strives to carry out his portion of responsibility.
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Third, there is no freedom without accomplishment. When human beings exercise freedom and carry out their responsibility, they strive to accomplish results which complete the purpose of creation and bring joy to God. Free will ceaselessly pursues concrete results through free actions.

To summarize, freedom cannot exist outside the Principle. Freedom is accompanied by the responsibility laid out in the Principle, and freedom pursues accomplishments that bring joy to God. Free actions generated by free will bring about only good results. Therefore, it cannot be that freedom caused the human Fall. Rather, the human Fall was caused by the stronger power of unprincipled love, which overwhelmed the freedom of the original mind. In truth, human beings lost their freedom as a result of the Fall.

Since Eve’s heart and intellect were still immature when she was tempted by the angel, she became confused emotionally and intellectually. Although the freedom of her original mind induced in her a sense of foreboding, because the power of the love between her and the angel was stronger, she crossed the boundary and fell.

Conversely, since fallen people can also relate with God in freedom, if they follow the words of truth, form a common base and engage in give and take with Him, then the power of principled love can revive their original nature.

Here is an invitation to a seminar from March 18th - 20th. You can attend in person at a mountain top in West Virginia, or on-line. I look forward to seeing you there. Let's get real about our Awesome God! Let's engage with the God Centered Ideology (not a vague belief) that we need, to identify, and chase out, Satan. Praise God ! ! !

Andrew & Marie Derricutt

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