Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 7 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Intimacy with God  /  Chapter 7: You cannot know God without faith  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 7
The chapter says God evaluates actions not only by results but by the “degree of free choice,” contrasting helping a neighbor willingly versus under compulsion; how does this reshape the way you view your own obedience, ministry, giving, or moral behavior when it feels forced?
Another way to ask: The chapter says God looks not only at what you do, but how freely you choose it, like helping gladly versus being forced. How does that change how you think about obedience, serving, giving, or doing right when you don’t feel like it?

Direct Answer David teaches that God weighs the heart’s choice, not just the outward result; doing the right thing under compulsion is not the same as willing obedience. This challenges us to care about internal willingness, not merely outward compliance.

Support from Transcript:

  • “God doesn't evaluate actions by the results alone. Rather, He also looks at the degree of free choice in the action.”
  • Example: “one person might help his neighbor because he wants to. Another may do it only because he was forced to.”
  • He emphasizes moral agency: “to obey or disobey is in our own power,” so forced obedience is a different category.
  • Faith “introduces the doing of good,” implying good works are meant to flow from faith, not mere pressure.
  • He defines the faithful person as one who “doesn't betray the trust” and has “the obligation to obey,” suggesting obedience is a entrusted responsibility, not a performance.
Discussion Follow-ups When you do right reluctantly, what is forcing you—fear of people, habit, guilt? What would need to change for your obedience to become more willing?

Jumpstarter 7 of 10
Back Questions Next