Free Will A (Listen or Read)
Free Will
This last pillar is not difficult to resolve. What father holding his little girl’s hand crossing a busy street would ever let it go? The more she pulls, the tighter he squeezes. There is no way she is going anywhere! Is God any different? The argument that a person can choose hell by rejecting God as a result of “free” will is in effect saying a little girl has more strength than her dad. God has given man a “measure” of free will, but certainly not to the degree that He would allow him or her to damn themselves forever in torment. Is God less of a parent than we are (Mt. 7:11)? We extend increasing freedom to our children as they mature. Too much too soon is disastrous. He knows just how much freedom we need for our development.
God, as Creator, is owner of all things (Ps. 2:8; Ez. 18:4; Col. 1:16; He. 1:2), and that includes you and I. He has never relinquished that title. Only He has absolute “free” will over His property. Should we be forever lost, He would be the loser and God is not a loser!
Many say hell is locked on the inside. But how? Christ has the keys! (Re. 1:18).
Many believe God’s hands are tied; as much as He would like to keep us, He is unable. But, is our power to destroy His property really greater than His power to preserve or restore it? How “free” and powerful are we? What role did we play in controlling our life experiences that have made us what we are? Will we deliberately choose what sufferings we will undergo in the future that inevitably will affect what we become? What intricacies of our reasoning processes, which determine our decisions, do we fully control?
Is the Bible right in saying no one seeks after God, that our natural mind is at odds with Him and not subject to His law? “Indeed it cannot be subject,” said Paul (Ro. 3:11; 8:7). How can a naturally hostile mind, which “indeed” cannot subject itself to God, of its own “free” will do so? Is there not a contradiction here? Only God can give us faith and draw us to Himself; we cannot muster it up. See He. 12:2; Ro. 12:3; Jn. 6:44; 15:16; Ph. 1:29; Mt. 11:27; 16:16-17; Jn. 1:13; Ac. 13:48; 1Co. 4:7; Ep. 2:8-9; 3:16-17; Ph. 1:6; 2:13; Col. 1:12; 2 Th. 3:2; 1Ti. 1:14; Tit. 1:1; Ez. 36: 26-27; Jer. 24:7; 31:33-34; 32:39-40. To idolize “free” will as though it were the crux of our salvation contradicts the Bible and fosters a boastful attitude! (1Co. 1:26-31; 4:6-7).
What are we implying when we infer that God is helpless in the face of man’s “free” will? It intimates that our salvation depends on human power, not divine. Thus, God is stripped of His power and glory leaving the blood of Christ powerless to save those for whom it was shed (all sinners). In fact, it negates the very definition of God as “Almighty,” leaving us with no real God at all. In Exploring the Attributes of God Dr. Robert Morey stated:
God’s sovereignty was viewed as an essential attribute by the early Church and anyone who dared to deny it was called an atheist. This is one of the most misunderstood and maligned attributes of God. Yet, it is an essential attribute that makes God GOD. The Scriptures always describe God as actively controlling and guiding the entire creation. It is never viewed as bare potential. Where should we begin when studying God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? Should we begin with man and establish his free will and then define divine sovereignty in such a way it does not conflict with man? Or, should we begin with God and His free will and then develop our understanding of man from that viewpoint? We must begin where Scripture begins.…The Bible begins with GOD. He is the great I AM, the Alpha…Omega, the Beginning…End.22
The story of Joseph pictures God powerfully working behind the scenes influencing the wills of men. Who of these men thought their will was not solely their own? Yet God, in His infinite power, was at work accomplishing His purposes through their decisions (Ge. 45:5). While the king of Egypt decreed all male Hebrew babies should die, God was all the while orchestrating His plan for putting Moses at the head of the kingdom! Even while Pharaoh resisted Moses, God was at work according to His plan. Where was Pharaoh’s “free” will? Consider what Isaiah wrote about Assyria:
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger…I will send him against…the people of My wrath…will give him charge.… Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so.…For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it.…Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?” (Is. 10:5-7, 13).
Assyria was being used by God and was totally unaware of it. In all these cases, we see men doing, but God orchestrating.
References: See Bibliography page.
