BiblicalInsights.net

“Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7-8).
The word mocked is a translation of the Greek word mukterizetai from muktirizo which is defined as: “to contract the nose in contempt and derision; to toss up the nose, to mock, to deride.” Muktirizo is from mukter–the Greek word for nose.  When one “turns up the nose” he rejects something because he thinks it is not good enough for him.  He refuses to accept it.  A couple of examples will help illustrate the meaning.  First, “I offered the cat some food, but it turned up its nose and walked away.”  Second, “We offered her a pretty good job, but she turned up her nose at it.”
Some synonyms would be:  “to turn down,” “to dismiss,” “to ignore,”  and “to refuse to believe or accept something.”
God’s law and His justice cannot be rejected and held in contempt by individuals without reaping the consequences.  When we reject God’s law, we are saying that it is not good enough for us.  We believe we have found something better.  But, what we have found is not better than what God has to offer us.  Hence, this type of thinking involves self-deception and this self-deception is involved in the rejection.  We are accountable to God for the self-deception and the rejection of His word.  This rejection is unbelief.  Unbelief “turns up the nose” to God!  The gesture involving derision or contempt for the sacred things of God is offensive to the goodness of God.
Paul indicates that there are only two areas of choice:  flesh and Spirit.  When we sow to the flesh (live a life in pursuit of the fleshly lusts or sinful conduct) we reap corruption.  When we sow to the Spirit (live a life in pursuit of the spiritual things that belong to God or righteousness) we reap life (the abundant life and everlasting life).  This is an eternal principle of truth–you reap what you sow!  A person cannot sow to the flesh and reap life.  A person cannot sow to the Spirit and reap corruption.  But, many believe that they can sow to the flesh and still go to heaven!  This type of thinking involves self-deception because you cannot turn up your nose to God by unbelief and think that God is going to save you.
God offers us and gives us the best.  His grace, mercy, and love are unsurpassed.  His goodness is unsurpassed.  The lusts of the flesh or works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) do not exceed in value or quality God and His goodness.  The works of the flesh will corrupt and destroy your life.  Paul named these fleshly works in Galatians 5, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall to inherit the kingdom of God.”
Paul also lists the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).  The two lists are set in strong contrast.  The end results of the pursuit of either way of life (flesh or Spirit) is equally different.  “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death: but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:5-6).
Paul is instructing his readers not to be deceived (self-deceived) into thinking that they can turn up the nose to God (hold Him in contempt or derision) because they believe that they have found something better in pursuing a life of fleshly lusts (which is not better than the spiritual fruit God offers through life in the Spirit).  They will reap what they sow.

If there is no free-will, then, there is no love.  God created human beings with the power of volition.  This is one aspect of being created in the image of God.  God acts freely.  He created human beings so that they can act freely as well.  One of the best ways to know that human beings have free-will is that we intuitively know that we are making choices.  These choices are conscious, volitional,  choices.  Each person is an eyewitness to the fact of volitional power.  To overthrow this vast amount of eyewitness testimony would take a tremendous amount of counter proofs.  Another way that we can know that we have free-will is that God holds human beings accountable for their words and actions.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things doe in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or evil” (II Cor. 5:10).  “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5-6).  The justice of God demands free-will on the part of man. How could God be just when He punishes someone for something that they had no control over or personal responsibility for.  Free-will is also a part of our own justice system in the United States.  In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that a deterministic view of human conduct was “inconsistent with the underlying precepts of our criminal justice system” (Warner Wallace, God’s Crime Scene, pp. 141-158).  God has ordained the government to be a punisher of the evil-doer in order to protect the innocent (Rom. 13:1-ff).  In order for this to be valid justice, the evil-doer must bear responsibility for his actions.  Personal responsibility grows out of accountability to God.  Accountability to God is a part of God’s justice.  Personal responsibility is assigned to every person who chooses to commit a crime or a sin when he or she could have chosen otherwise.
Determinism is the view that actions are determined by prior causal events outside the control of an individual.  Most evolutionists and atheists believe in material determinism.  They accept the consequences of this false concept including: (1) denial of free-will; (2) no personal responsibility for moral choices; (3) no possibility of justice; (4) no possibility of love; (5) lack of ability to alter the future by personal choices in the present.  Each of these consequences have further consequences of their own.
Love (agapē) is a deeply committed love whereby one wills to seek the highest good of another regardless of that person’s character or conduct (Matt. 5:44-45).  This love is principled and volitional.  It is undefeatable, benevolent, good-will.  One way that we can show that it is volitional is that it is a response to a command of the Lord Jesus Christ. “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).  The command to love given by the Lord can be obeyed or disobeyed.  The alternative to love is hate.  Where there is such a choice between two moral actions, there is free-will.  Love and hate are observable moral qualities and are present in the hearts of people.  Why command a moral action if it is already determined and fixed?  Where there is no choice, the command becomes void.
Love is a response of the human mind and heart to God.  In I John 4:19, God’s Word states, “We love him, because he first loved us.”  Love for God is a response of the human heart to the divine and demonstrative love manifested by God.  God’s love is shown in the unspeakable gift of His Son (John 3:16; I John 4:10).  God’s love is compelling.  The cross draws people to it (John 12:32).  Our love for God is reciprocal.  Love responds to love.  This takes freedom to act or the power of volition.
The alternative to love is also a choice.  God will punish the person who decides to hate.  Hatred is one of the seventeen sins listed by Paul as works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).  Hate is equated with murder.  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (I John 3:15).  Where there is a moral choice there is free-will.  We cannot blame others for our own failures.  We cannot excuse ourselves for disobeying God’s commandments.  When we do not love as God commands, we will face God’s justice.  Our own disobedience will condemn us.