I wanted to take some time to address the issue of the “free will” of man. Does man have a
free will? If not, are we just robots? As my Pastor always says, “who cares what you think,
who cares what I think, what does “the Book” say?
Questions
- Is salvation a work of God and man, a cooperative effort?
- Is it something that God “sets up” like a cosmic “multi-level marketing program” where we “work the numbers” and gain eternal life as the final prize?
- Is it a grand and beautiful design that simply awaits man’s “turning of the key” so to speak, in order for it to work?
- Is salvation of the LORD, of men, or a mixture of both?
What does the Book say?
“But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9)
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:28-29)
The ONLY reason we believe is BECAUSE of the work of God in us!
“Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
Question
Does this simply mean that the plan comes from His hand, so that without Him, there would be
no salvation? Is that all this means?
What does the Book say?
The Apostle Paul did not view it that way:
"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."' (1Co 1:26-31)No man can boast before God. God has chosen the weak things, the base things, the foolish
things, so that He might destroy the wisdom of the wise. It is by “His doing” that any person is
in Christ.
It is not by His doing AND our doing, making it a "cooperative" effort, but by His doing alone!
Objection
How can you say by His alone? God only “starts it”, man still has to make the decision to
“accept” it!
What does the Book say?
Scripture explains that it is of God alone. Christ has become to us everything we need…
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. None of this comes from ourselves.
None of this is dependent upon us. The result, Paul says, is that if anyone is to boast, he can
boast solely in the LORD.
The Christian heart is glad to confess, “Salvation is of the LORD.” All of it, from start to finish. In completeness. In perfection. Salvation is a divine act, a divine work. It is centered upon God, not upon man. It’s God’s glory, not man’s, that is at stake. The God-centerdness of the gospel is what makes the Biblical teaching so fundamentally different than all of the religions of men.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet 1:3-5)
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Rom 9:16)
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
“ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44)
“And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’” (John 6:65)
“All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:15)
“In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…” (Eph 1:11)
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” (2 Tim 1:8-10)John 6 and 10 show that God will bring all of His sheep into the fold and see also Romans 9:10-24 for more on the work of a Sovereign God.
Before we continue, let’s take a moment to define the term ad hominem argument:
Ad hominem argument - An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the man", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim.
I’m a Biblicist!
Some have taken a stance against the view of God being completely sovereign while claiming to be a “Biblicist”. Sounds pretty spiritual doesn’t it? Nevertheless, the term Biblicist seems to have only limited usefulness in this debate. Which of us does not try to start with Scripture and to draw conclusions by studying the text? Which of us wishes to set aside any of the Bible in favor of a human system? No, we are all Biblicists here.
Now that we're all speaking as Biblicists, here are the questions that need to be answered.
Human Depravity
Question
Is the natural "human will" totally unable to respond rightly to God, or is it only partially unable?
What does the Book say?
It is TOTALLY unable to respond rightly to God. God liberates the wills only of the elect, passing over others. This liberation is an aspect of saving grace, and it is completely effective. The will, once freed, always turns toward God in saving faith. In terms of their moral freedom, the non-elect still cannot come because they will not come, because they remain dead in their trespasses and sin. Scripture says "dead" meaning "dead", not merely stranded at sea searching for someone to throw them a life saver.
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14)
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph 2:4)
Free Will
Question
What about man’s free will? Man does have a free will doesn’t he?
What does the Book say?
Yes, he does and man exercises that free will every moment of his life. Man will always “choose freely” according to his own nature. Eph 2:3 tells us that by “nature” we are “children of wrath” walking in accordance to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience… conducting ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind! In all of these things we are exercising the same “free will” from which so many claim comes the ability to make a "decision" to have a "love for God" and "saving faith in Christ". This not only contradicts plain common sense, but far worse, it contradicts Scripture.
Here’s an illustration
Take for instance a hungry fish. If you place in front of this hungry fish a worm and a fresh baked slice of pepperoni pizza, which of these will the fish eat? The answer is obvioius, the worm. Why is that? Because the fish will chose in accordance to his nature and his nature will draw him to the worm.
The point
Man’s freedom is limited to his nature. The “free will” of the natural man will never choose to bow down to a holy, just and righteous God. The natural man is an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works. (Col 1:21-22) Such a choice is diametrically opposed to his very nature. Without the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, raising that spiritually dead man from the grave (Eph 2:1), man’s free will can only choose sin.
That makes us robots!
Does it? Man has a free will and man is a free agent. The free agency of man is illustrated in man’s physical ability to do something. I could ask you to pick up a hammer and kill an innocent baby kitten. You have the physical ability to do this. You have the strength in your arms, the coordination to swing at an object and hit it with force, but one thing is missing. You do not have the “will” to do so. Let’s now look at someone who is lost and does not know Christ. This person is nice to their friends, they don’t outwardly appear to hate God, but have no desire whatsoever for the things of God and really would rather keep Him out of their thoughts. They could perhaps be a member of a church because they do enjoy being around other "nice" people. Tell this person to fall on their knees and worship the risen Christ! Tell them to surrender their life to Him, because He is worthy of love and praise! This person is in fine physical shape. They can walk, sit, stand, they can scream, they even have the coordination to talk and tie their shoes at the same time, but there is one thing lacking. They do not have the "will" to do so. They “will not” because they do not “want” to.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)When God saves a man, He changes that man and gives Him (by His grace) a new nature… one that desires Him. It is the will of this new nature to surrender to Christ, to love the things of God, to love fellowship with other Christians, to love our enemies, to proclaim the Gospel, to study His Word, to bow our heads in prayer, to repent of our sin, to surrender it all to Christ, to seek Him earnestly all the days of our lives! Why? Because it is the unquenchable desire of the new nature to know Him and to draw closer to Him every day.
You see, “no one” comes to Christ kicking and screaming under the control of some devious god. While we all deserve hell for our rebellion against a holy God, it is this same God, the God of all creation, our Creator, who by His love, grace and mercy, according to His own will and good pleasure (Eph 1:5-7), chose to save a people (the elect; Ie. anyone who turns from their sin and puts their faith in Jesus Christ) from His wrath and give them to His Son. It is they whom Christ prayed for in His High Priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 17:9) and it is they whom He purchased by His shed blood as He bore the cup of God’s wrath on the cross. Christ is risen, He is glorified and He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all who will repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone!
"how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 20:20-21)
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
Glory to God alone.
