Decisions must rest on the settled truth of God's Word rather than on claims of individual rights. The material opens by contrasting two human rulings, each treated as precedent that later courts were expected to uphold even when plainly erroneous. These examples illustrate how decisions detached from truth produce lasting harm and entrench error through the principle of standing by prior judgments and refusing to disturb what has been settled. In Genesis the same principle appears in its proper setting. God first declared His purpose to create humanity in His image and likeness and assigned specific responsibilities. Adam, instructed directly by God, evaluated the animals brought before him and correctly judged that none shared that image and likeness. His naming reflected insight aligned with the truth already established, and God accepted those judgments. When the woman and then the man chose instead to follow the serpent's suggestion that they possessed a right to decide for themselves, they rejected the undisturbed decision God had given. That single departure introduced the pattern of decisions driven by self-interest rather than by reverence for what God had already declared. Thereafter the material shows that sound decisions require a contrite spirit that trembles at God's Word. Such humility allows a person to recognize and apply the precedents God has already set rather than asserting rights that contradict them. Deuteronomy supplies the ongoing means for reinforcing these precedents. Every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles the entire law is to be read publicly so that each generation learns to fear God and to order its judgments according to His revealed instructions. This repeated reading keeps decisions anchored in the truth already given and prepares those who will exercise judgment in the Kingdom. Thus decisions function as a privileged responsibility exercised in humble submission to the settled Word of God. When they remain consistent with that Word they produce unity and life; when they rest on any other foundation they perpetuate division and death.

God designed His creation process to produce decision makers rather than order takers, as illustrated by the captain of the USS Benfold who shifted from top-down orders to an atmosphere where the crew learned to make decisions that built trust, morale, and effectiveness while preserving the chain of command. This principle mirrors God's purpose from the beginning when He created humanity in His image and granted dominion over the earth, a command that formed part of the declaration that everything was very good. The authority to rule required men to choose within the limits God set, learning to value and select according to His revealed will rather than personal notions of good and evil. God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden precisely to establish freedom of choice and to teach that proper decisions must rest on divine instruction. A perfect created being who once walked in Eden chose instead to exalt himself, corrupting his wisdom and introducing independent thinking that produced violence and destruction. This same pattern influenced the first humans, who selected the forbidden fruit based on what appeared good to the eyes and desirable for wisdom, resulting in pain and death rather than the peace and cooperation God intended. Throughout history God continued to choose individuals and set before them life and death so they could respond by selecting the path of obedience that leads to blessing. Under the Old Covenant, however, the people largely treated the law as external commands to be followed mechanically. With the gift of the Holy Spirit the elect now possess the capacity to make decisions according to the spirit of the law, an outgoing concern for God and neighbor. These choices occur within the Body of Christ, where each member operates from the position and gifts assigned by God, contributing to the unity and edification of the whole. Such faithful decision making within the revealed boundaries of God's mind prepares the firstfruits to rule with Christ and to participate in the eternal family that thinks and acts as the Father and the Son do.

The human will functions solely as an instrument of choice placed by God within every person, enabling the acceptance of one alternative while rejecting others in any decision. This instrument never operates as a sovereign power capable of self-determination, for it remains dependent upon external influences that shape its responses at every moment. Preference always intervenes as the decisive factor, directing the will toward the option most agreeable to the individual's heart rather than allowing the will itself to originate the choice. Consequently, the will serves the body much like other organs, reacting to whatever information or motivation reaches it, whether logic, conscience, carnal self-centeredness, or external forces such as Satan. This dependency becomes evident from the earliest human decisions recorded in Scripture, where Adam and Eve, though possessing free will, yielded to the influence of desire for fruit and wisdom or the wish to please another, resulting in tragic disobedience and death. Their wills did not create these outcomes independently but responded to the heart's inclinations, confirming that out of the abundance of the heart come the choices that govern conduct. An unconverted person, presented with alternatives of virtuous piety or sinful indulgence, consistently selects the latter because that path aligns with a heart that hates God and loves sin. In contrast, a converted person, having received from God a new heart and nature through His calling, finds the will influenced toward the life of piety and virtue. Such realities demonstrate that no one possesses the power to decide independently for salvation, since the will cannot overcome its own nature or the influences that dominate it. God alone remains sovereign, and His invitation supplies the essential new nature that redirects the will toward life rather than death. Without this divine drawing, every decision remains captive to the heart's preferences, rendering self-initiated obedience impossible.