19. Communicable Attributes: Totally Free and Unlimited Power

Episode Summary

The Bible describes God as being totally free; he does whatever he pleases. This may sound frightening because whenever a human does whatever they please, they often commit great, evil acts. Not so with God because he is also perfectly good, so when he does whatever he pleases, it is always good.

The fact that God has created humans with a significant degree of that same freedom provides a Biblical basis for freedom of religion. For example, when Jesus issues an open invitation to follow him (Matthew 11:28-30), there is an implicit recognition that people are free to choose whether or not to respond positively to that invitation. Sadly, this freedom has often been denied at many points in human history.

There are some cases where human freedom is rightly curtailed. For example, the Bible also provides a pattern for the rule-of-law: Governments should articulate and enforce rules which prevent one citizen from abusing another. In the context of the Church, there is also a New Testament basis taking care not to exercise your own freedom when doing so will harm a fellow Christian.

God is also described as all-powerful in the Bible, with passages such as Jeremiah 32:17 and Ephesians 3:20 indicating that nothing is too difficult for Him. However, there are limitations to God's power, not in the sense that He is not powerful enough, but rather that He cannot will or do anything that would deny His own character, such as lying or tempting others to evil.