Of Free Will

Since the birth of Protestantism, the debate over the doctrine of man’s free will has raged like a perpetual forest fire. At some point every believer is confronted with this fundamentally challenging doctrine. The doctrine of man’s free will is foundational to one’s theology and worldview. It directly affects one’s perspective of God, man, and the relationship between them. Therefore, I propose the same question that has been asked for hundreds of years; does mankind inherently possess free will?

To find the answer I look to the ultimate source of truth (no its not wikipedia), The Bible, God’s inspired, infallible and inerrant word.

A quick search of the term “free will” results in several passages. The bulk of these are Old Testament verses referring to freewill offerings. In the Levitical sacrificial system, a freewill offering is a voluntary sacrifice to God, as opposed to one in consequence of a vow or as an amends for an offense. The Hebrew word translated “freewill” literally means “spontaneous”. This idea is not the concept of our query, but it does provide some insight into the definition of our term. Another verse containing our phrase is Philemon 14. In the context, Paul is explaining why he is sending Onesimus, the runaway slave and new Christian convert, back to his master Philemon. Paul did not want Onesimus to stay and minister to Paul on Philemon’s behalf without Philemons consent so that his goodness might not be by compulsion but of his own free will (Phil. 14). Therefore, free will can be further defined as a choice or action that is done willfully and not under compulsion.

The doctrine of man’s free will contends that while God is omnipotent, individuals have the power to ultimately chose or reject everything. In this paradigm God foreknows every decision and choice, but He never violates man’s will by compulsion. In other words, a man’s choices are his own, and are not controlled or influenced by God.

Two scriptures often used to support this doctrine are Deuteronomy 30:9 and Joshua 24:15. Both of these verses urge Israel to choose God and not evil. The logical jump is that if God commands us to choose, then we obviously must have the ability to do so.

Not exactly. There are numerous commands in Scripture that we cannot possibly follow on our own, without the assistance of God. For example, we are commanded to be holy because God is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). I don’t know about you, but my level of holiness falls astronomically below God’s standards. In fact, all of mankind falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). So why would God give a command that is impossible for us to obey on our own? Simple, He created us to have a relationship with Him. By design, mankind must depend on God and His holiness. He never intended us to go it alone. Our inability to obtain God’s standard of holiness forces us to rely on Him. Therefore, God commands the impossible.

Mankind does certainly have the cognitive capacity of choice. We all make dozens of decisions every day. So the real question is, does the natural, unregenerate man have the ability and freedom to choose God over evil?

According to Romans 3:10-12, individuals never seek after God, and never do good. The unbeliever is unable to choose God on his own. Jesus himself said that the natural man loves darkness and hates the light of God because his deeds are evil (John 3:19-20). The unregenerate man does not seek the righteousness of God. Instead, he runs after the lusts and passions of his wicked heart, seeking only to satisfy his flesh.

Psalm 14:1-3
1The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.

2The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

3They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

The natural man does not choose God. He does not, because he cannot. Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Sin is deceitful and hardens the heart (Heb. 3:13), resulting in further lawlessness (Rom. 6:19). Like a simple snowball rolling down a snowy hillside, sin grows exponentially until it is an overwhelming avalanche of death and destruction. A person is a slave to that which they obey (Rom. 6:16) and to anything by which they are overcome (2 Peter 2:19). We (believers) were all formerly slaves to sin, presenting the members of our body as instruments of unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13, 17). In our fallen, unredeemed state, we were incapable of righteousness (Rom. 6:20). Sin was our master, reigning in our mortal bodies so that we obeyed its lusts (Rom. 6:12). But God demonstrated His great love toward His elect, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, redeeming us from the bondage of sin (Rom. 5:8). And having been freed from sin, we became slaves to righteousness (Rom 6:18), resulting in sanctification and eternal life (Rom. 6:22).

The will of man is not free. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Slaves do not perform their own will, but that of their master. The unregenerate are in bondage to the ruler of this world and to their own ungodly passions. They are in rebellion toward their creator, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. For the knowledge of God is evident within them and within creation, and they are without excuse. Therefore, because of their unbelief and idolatry, the wrath of God is upon them (Rom. 1:18-23). They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped the created thing (themselves) instead of the creator (Rom. 1:25). Therefore, God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts, and to a depraved, useless mind. In their rebellion, God lifts His restraining grace, and allows mankind to zealously pursue the damning desires of their deceitfully wicked heart. They become the victims of themselves, led by their passions to perdition.

Mankind is not free. Mankind is enslaved, unable to leave the path of death and destruction without the intervention of God. No one can come to Jesus unless the Father grants and enables them (John 6:65).

The natural man is not only a slave, he is something far worse: a corpse.

Ephesians 2:1-3
1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Apart from God, we are all dead. It is only by the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us that we have life. His rich mercy and His great love compel Him to redeem the unrighteous. It is not of our own doing, or of our inherent merit. It is not a result of works or good deeds. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive. God did the doing. God was responsible for the redemptive work, not us. We are hopelessly incapable of turning away from wickedness and seeking God without His intervention into our heart, mind, and will. God gave life to us, the elect, and transformed us into new creations. We have been given the free gift of faith and salvation. We are His masterpiece, created for His glory.

In conclusion, I return to the original question, does mankind possess free will? The Biblical answer is clear. While men have the capacity to choose, they will always choose evil over God. The natural man is enslaved, in bondage to the lusts of his heart. His understanding is darkened, blinded by Satan. Apart from God, mankind is spiritually dead. But praise and glory be to God, in that while we His elect were yet sinners, dead in our trespasses and sins, Christ died as a sacrifice for us so that we may be alive together with Him forevermore.

for His glory,
DJ