The Freedom to Choose

"The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, 

for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

John Calvin comments on Genesis 2:16: “Therefore, abstinence from the fruit of one tree was a kind of first lesson in obedience, that man might know he had a Director and Lord of his life, on whose will he ought to depend, and in whose commands he ought to acquiesce. And this, truly, is the only rule of living well and rationally, that men should exercise themselves in obeying God.” God gave man free will to choose whether to live in obedience to Him or choose his own way. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree God forbade, they exercised their free will and brought disastrous results for themselves and all of mankind. If God were not full of infinite mercy and grace all of mankind since that first act of disobedience would be doomed to eternal punishment without hope. But God provided a way to restore sinners to a right relationship with Him through Christ. Man still has free will to choose. Therefore we can never say "God sends people to hell." People choose that for themselves when they reject Christ, the only salvation God has provided. "Why did God make a tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) just to tempt Adam? Why was this tree ever necessary? Because for Adam to be a creature of free will, there had to be a choice, some opportunity to rebel against God. If there is never a command, never something forbidden, then there can never be choice; and God wants our love and obedience to Him to be the love and obedience of choice." (Dave Guzik)