The Right To Choose Good or Evil–John 5:22-29
22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to His Son [Jesus], 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes in the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. 25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the [spiritually] dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He gave to His Son the possession of life in Himself. 27 And He gave Him power to exercise judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
28 Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice 29 and will come out, those who have done good deeds [raised] to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation” –Jesus; John 5:22-29.
Out of (and for the sake of) love, God has given us the freedom of choice. ‘To love or not to love’ is a question we’re allowed to answer as we wish. God does not force us to love Him, follow Him, or to even do good for that matter. Because, real and unencumbered love is never forced. It is, and forever will be, a choice. Being that our Lord is Holy and perfectly just, however, our free will — our choices — will have consequences. Eternal ones at that.
The Church teaches that through the use of our reason (common sense) and the natural Law inscribed in our hearts, we can (and should) use our free will, aided by God’s grace, to choose what is good and reject what is evil. This is our fundamental moral obligation. The urgings of a well-informed conscience (wisdom) will actually guide us to seek God’s will — to love and obey Him — and to lead a moral life. As Scripture teaches, aside from the day-to-day consequences, there will be a final consequence at the Last Judgement. Eternal life or eternal damnation according to his or her own (life) choices.
As you prayerfully read over these verses from the Book of John, think about the power of choice to believe in (and follow) Jesus Christ. Think about His love for you, and the great call over your life. As you stay rooted in His Word, your faith will grow. And as your faith grows, so will your love for Him. And as your love for Him grows, you’ll want to do good. It’ll become your greatest honor to do all He asks of you; to love Him and to love your neighbor. And as you live your life in accordance to His will, you’ll experience your slice of Heaven on earth. And then, in the words of our Lord, those who’ve done all these things “[will be raised] to the resurrection of life” –John 5:29.
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