Baptism Gives Us Free Will

January 03, 2011 Length: 1:01

St. Symeon the New Theologian on the free will that comes only through Holy Baptism.

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Some non-Christians think the Christian life consists of being a “robot” without any free will. St. Symeon the New Theologian, however, says that true free will is only possible for those who are baptized:

Baptism does not take away our free will or freedom of choice, but gives us the freedom no longer to be tyrannized by the devil unless we choose to be. After baptism it is in our power either to persist willingly in the practice of the commandments of Christ, into Whom we were baptized, and to advance in the path of His ordinances, or to deviate from this straight way and to fall again into the hands of our enemy, the devil.

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