We stand for Free Civil Will!

Pick a card, any card!  Pick a spouse, a house, a car, or a suit.  You are free to choose any of these things that you want.

That freedom to choose includes, in a certain manner of speaking, whether to do good or evil.  You can choose to hurt your neighbor, or to help him.  You can choose to commit adultery or to remain faithful.  You can choose to nurture your family or to abandon them.

Yet there is one thing you cannot choose to do: love God.  You are incapable of yourself.  Only the Word of God can create such fear, love, and trust in God.  And in the end, this is the only kind of freedom that really matters.

You could have chosen to do all the right things when it comes to the people who live around you here on this earth.  None of that matters if you do not first trust Jesus Christ as your Savior.  "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).  You cannot choose to turn your heart towards God.

God is the One who is truly free.  And He chooses you!  He chooses you in the death and resurrection of His Son.  He chooses you in the waters of Baptism.  He chooses you each and every time He forgives your sins by the mouth of the pastor.

You have a free civil will, to choose which pants to put on this morning.  But you cannot choose God.  You cannot will yourself to believe in Jesus Christ.  That requires the free act of God.

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