Volitional Responsibility

Pastor Mark Perkins
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The Law of Volitional Responsibility: People who choose for God are blessed; those who choose against Him suffer.

The Law of Volitional responsibility is well documented by Scripture.

Job 4:8-9, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish.

Prov 11:18, “The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

  1. The deceptive wages are the result of bad decisions.

  2. The deceptive wages shortchange the work of sin, making sin never worth it.

Prov 22:8, “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

Hosea 8:7, “”They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

Hosea 10:12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

2 Cor 9:6, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Gal 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

James 3:18 “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

The law of volitional responsibility is a built in function of divine discipline (see below). It is a law as universal as gravity, and no less impressive in its effects.

The law of volitional responsibility can be summed up in the phrase, “You will reap what you sow.” This means that the seeds that you plant in bad decisions will grow up to cause suffering in your life.

In the law of volitional responsibility, the suffering is always appropriate to the original bad decision.

  1. If the decision is in the realm of finance, then you will suffer financially.

  2. If the decision is in the realm of romance, then you will suffer romantically.

  3. If the decision is in the realm of social life, then you will suffer socially.

  4. If the decision is in the realm of your chosen profession, then you will suffer professionally.

In the law of volitional responsibility, bad decisions, like crime, never pay. You never ‘get away’ with a bad decision. You never slip a fast one by God, even on a small scale.

In the law of volitional responsibility, good decisions never go unnoticed by the omnipresence of God.

There will always be a difference between right and wrong. Always to eternity.

Choosing right over wrong will always be important.