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Throughout the Bible, throughout human history and experience this remains true.
Man's choice is between blessing and disaster, salvation and perdition. To man, in any
one given situation, there may seem to be many ways, but essentially there are only two:
God's way, or man's way. The choice for Israel is clearly outlined in Deut. 30: 15-19:
"See I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I
command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His
commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply:
and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if
thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship
other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and
that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go
to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing . . . . .".
Though it might seem to some of those who heard these words it was a choice of one
out of many gods, it was simply a choice between the one true Lord God and the worship
of falsehood. A similar choice was given to the nation by Joshua "Choose you this day
whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served . . . . . but as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24: 15). Again the choice is put by Elijah on
Carmel (I Kings 18:) where it would seem indecision is the issue (verse 21):
"How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if
Baal, then follow him."
Indecision is as much a mark of the bondage of man's will as outright rebellion.
This was made clear by the Lord Jesus Christ "He that is not with Me is against Me"
(Matt. 12: 30). As we have suggested above Adam and Eve needed to do nothing to
remain `with' God, they had to act to disobey: man today need to do nothing to remain
in rebellion. Adam and Eve had to choose to go against God: man today must choose to
go with God. But that very choice means the right choice will put man against the main
stream of life on earth: added to the bondage of his will is the further discouragement
and opposition of the way of life of those around him.
The Man Christ Jesus chose God's way, chose God's will. At the well at Sychar when
the disciples, bringing Him food, questioned whether `any man brought Him ought to
eat', He told them "My meat (or My necessary food) is to do the will of Him that sent Me
and to accomplish His work". To do the will of His Father was more important to Him
than anything else. The result of His choice was that "he was despised and rejected of
men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53: 3). He was concerned to do
the will of God, He chose the will of God, and inevitably all the influence of a fallen race
was against Him. In Him was nothing to respond to that influence, in us is so much
which is responsive that we well nigh despair of performing the good that we would.
When we choose the will of God rather than our own, the magnitude of the problem
becomes apparent. We find with Paul "to will is present with me; but how to perform
that which is good I find not". Some have suggested this was the apostle's experience
before his conversion; but is it possible for one whose will is in bondage to choose the