Teaching by Minister Christopher Robert Holder: Free Will in the Inner Heart of Man
Teaching by Minister Christopher Robert Holder
Testimony of God Ministries Inc
September 9, 2025
1. The Free Will in the Inner Man of the Heart: Humanity’s Seat of Power
- The Kingdom of God on earth is determined by humanity’s free will in the inner man of the heart.
- Free will in the inner heart of man is the control center of man.
- Not even Almighty God overrides this principle; it is eternal, unchangeable, and irreversible.
- This same law/principle determines whether one walks in the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan.
2. Genesis 1:1–3; The Prologue of Salvation
Genesis 1:1–3 (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (or God who is Spirit) moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
- Heaven on earth = Divinity in humanity (Salvation – God dwelling in man).
- Darkness upon the face of the deep = spiritual problem deep within the inner man of the heart of fallen humanity.
- Let there be light = God’s preplanned spiritual solution Light (Salvation) to the spiritual problem Darkness.
- And there was light = Light (Salvation) formed, even from the beginning.
This passage is the prologue to all Scripture: Salvation as God’s Eternal Purpose. Moses used figures of speech. E.W. Bullinger rightly warned in his work Figures of Speech Used in the Bible(1898):
“Ignorance of figures of speech in the Holy Bible is the fruitful parent of error and false doctrine.”
Figures of speech are God’s way of emphasizing truth. Genesis 1:1–3, written in figures of speech, is the prologue to the Holy Scriptures. The New Testament Scriptures support the prologue.
John 1:5 (KJV)
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
John 1:9 (KJV)
“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Acts 26:18 (KJV)
“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV)
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
3. The Old Testament Witness
Moses: Life or Death, Blessing or Cursing
Deuteronomy 30:15–20 (KJV)
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Moses clearly set forth the principle of choice: life or death, blessing or cursing.
4. The New Testament Revelation by the Master Teacher: Jesus, the Incarnate God and Resurrection Lord, expounded on this teaching:
John 3:19–21 (KJV)
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Here again, humanity is responsible for the choice: to remain in darkness or to come to the light.
5. Christ: The Revelation of the Mystery
The Old Testament (OT) centered on Christ as the hidden person of Salvation; the New Testament (NT) revealed Him as the Light, the Resurrected Lord and Salvation.
Hebrews 1:1–3 (AMP)
1 (OT) God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in the voices and writings of the prophets in many separate revelations—each of which set forth a portion of the truth—and in many ways,
2 (NT) in these last days has spoken to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature His] Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].
3 (NT) The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],
6. Paul’s Explanation: The Revealed Mystery
Paul explains how sin entered through Adam and how grace reigns through Christ:
Romans 5:12–21 (KJV)
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul shows the revealed mystery: Adam’s free will choice, from his the inner heart, brought sin and death, but Christ’s obedience opened the way to righteousness and life eternal.
Conclusion
- Figures of speech highlight the mysteries of God’s plan.
- Free will is the God-given seat of human power.
- From Genesis 1:1–3, the plan of salvation was preordained.
- Moses taught: “Choose life.”
- Jesus, the Master Teacher, proclaimed: “Come to the light.”
- Paul declared: through Adam came death, but through Christ comes life eternal.