I am currently involved in a Christian chat room whereby debating and fellowship occur. One of the debates that comes up frequently is whether man has free will when it comes to choosing our Lord. Many feel that it is predetermined and those that will be saved are the ‘elected’.

I know the Lord is all knowing and knows who will come to him and who will not. But I am having a very difficult time thinking that the Lord has predetermined who will be saved and who will not. I truly believe that the Lord is love and he would not create some simply for them to go to hell.

Can you clear this up for me? Do we have free will or is there predestination? Thank you.

How should Christians view such things as fantasy tales and science fiction?

I grew up with Disney movies such as Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, etc. My parents read me fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. I never thought these things were real and I never felt they skewed or damaged my view of God or relationship to Him. Likewise, my brothers grew up on Star Wars, alien space ranger stories, and things like that. Obviously, we knew they were all “pretend”.

I’m at a place now where I’m wondering what God thinks of fantasy and fairy tales involving fairy godmothers, magic spells, etc. If a person doesn’t believe in those things and understands that these plots and stories are just “make believe”, what is your opinion of what God thinks of that? Are we allowed to indulge in childlike imagination or are these things that add fantastic creatures to what He’s already created intrinsically wrong and the gateway to the occult as I’ve heard argued by ultra-conservative Christians?

I want to please God and pursue a holy life, but as I near a point in my life where I move towards marriage and begin having children of my own, I find myself wondering if princess fairy tales for any daughters I may have and space ranger stories for any sons are wrong in God’s eyes or if they fall under disputable Romans 14 matters. What do you think?

Why should we try to sin less if we can never be fully sin-free in this lifetime? Does that “less” in frequency really matter? If Christians will be forgiven of their sins after they ask for God’s forgiveness but later they still keep sinning of the same or different in nature and keep asking for forgiveness from God, what is the point of living a holy life which is clearly not achievable in this lifetime even in Christians?

Which bible verse says there are no greater or lesser sins and all sins are the same before the eyes of God?