What about human freedom?
This is a very interesting topic, and there are a variety of answers that should actually be considered, and hopefully we will look at the main points during the course of our service this morning.
I’m not going to be doing any recapping today, simply to say that we have seen over the course of the last few weeks that God is sovereign, and that He is in control of everything that is, and that He ordains whatsoever shall come to pass regardless of how we as humans conceive that thing.
Now with this in mind the second last question we need to have a look at today revolves around the sovereignty of God and the question which asks if Gods’ sovereignty takes away human responsibility, and more specifically human freedom.
If God is sovereign, and if He ordains everything that comes to pass, are we not then merely puppets on a string doing whatever God wants us to do? Is our destiny not worked out to such an extent that we have no real freedom to make choices?
Think of Judas Iscariot for instance – was he destined to betray Jesus before the world even began? If so, was there nothing he could do about it? Did he not have a choice in the matter?
To understand the answers I’m going to give you this morning we need to first come to terms with the reality of free will.
Let me begin by saying that we absolutely do have free will, but in our natural, in other words, in our lost state, that freedom will ALWAYS choose sin over God. It’s got nothing to do with God forcing us or coercing us to sin as we saw last week, but Scripture is clear that when we exercise of freedom to choose, that we will ALWAYS choose evil over God!
Romans 3:10f: “as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Remember that this is speaking of the natural man, or the sinful man, or the unsaved, unregenerate man)
Let’s just look at that phrase that says that there is no one who seeks for God.
Literally it says that there is no one who seeks after God. Thayer interprets the Greek for seek, which is Exeitio, as 1) to seek out, search for; 2) investigate, scrutinise; 3) beg, crave; 4) require; 5) to worship.
Paul says that there is NO ONE who seeks God, there is no one who craves God, and there is no one who worships God. Just in case you wondering about the word for ‘no one’, it is an absolute negative in Greek, and means not one single person and it clearly implies that there can be, and there are NO exceptions whatsoever!
For those who are tireless warriors for human freedom, and for free will who believe that to follow God or not is our choice, our decision, our freedom – I agree 100% with them – we do have the freedom to choose, but where I differ drastically is in the fact that Scripture teaches us, (and by the way, this isn’t a matter of interpretation or a minor difference of opinion between fellow believers in which you can go either way and it ultimately makes no difference), Scripture teaches us that we will ALWAYS use that freedom to choose the wrong, the sin and the evil instead of God. (That’s in the Bible, and nowhere in the Bible does it teach us anything else!)
So, as far as human freedom is concerned, we are free, and when it comes to salvation or a decision between God and the world, we will always use our freedom to live in the world!
Now this is where the problem comes in then, because the next question then must be, but how do we become Christians then? How do we choose God then? Ok, here our freedom is overridden, and God steps in and does something for us that we cannot do for ourselves due to our freedom! (Irony at its best – the one thing man wants most is the one thing that is sure to kill him, in this world and the next! – Patrick Henry – “give me freedom or give me death” – the result was the Revolutionary war.
Anyway, back to the question – if we will always use our freedom to choose evil, how then do we choose God? Well, quite simply – we don’t!!! God chooses us. Jesus actually said this very clearly: Mat 19:25 – 26: “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
You see, when it comes to salvation, to receiving the gift of grace that God has for us, when it comes to that – we have no desire, no passion, no worship for God that will draw us to Him! We will use our freedom to do evil every time, so if God doesn’t override our liberty, our free will, our choice and give us the gift of grace – we will never receive it!
Ok, once you have received the gift of grace, then your freedom and your free will reach a new level. You must understand that it is only once you are a new creation, it is only once your life is controlled by the indwelling Holy Spirit that you can really have freedom, liberty, free will – call it whatever you want to, fact remains the same - it is only in Christ that you can have this freedom. The moment you are born not by the flesh, but by water and Spirit, at that moment, for the first time in your entire life you have the capacity, the ability to choose between good and bad.
You see, it is then, and then only, that you are no longer bound by sin to only choose sin. It is then that God through His Holy Spirit looses you from the bondage of sin and death, and you are truly loosed, and you are freed to choose to sin or not to sin.
Let me explain it in another way – last week I told you that Adam and Eve had something we don’t have any more. They had in their natural state the ability to choose to sin, and they had the ability to choose not to sin. They were not bound by the reality of Romans 3, they were not slaves to sin as we are, they were not children of wrath as we are (Eph 2:3).
In our natural state we no longer have that freedom, that liberty to make the choice to serve and follow God – because as I’ve just explained, we must choose to sin, but once God renews your mind, gives you understanding, once that happens the ability to choose to sin or not to sin is restored in your life.
Let’s go back to the portion of Scripture we read at the beginning of our service – Phil 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” That phrase that says that we are to ‘work out’ or salvation literally means to make it complete, to finish it, and, listen to this – to prove oneself worthy of your salvation!
I know I’m repeating myself, but this is vital and you need to understand it. Paul NOWHERE says that we must achieve, earn, deserve, or even choose our salvation. In fact he repeatedly confirms and stresses the fact that our salvation is a gift from God which He gives according to His purpose and desire. What Paul is saying here, is that once God has saved you, and once your ability to choose good over evil, God over Satan is restored – then, then we must work out our salvation – prove ourselves worthy of the wonderful gift. (We are not saved by works – we are saved to works)
Ok, anyway – that is human freedom, and by the way, many will try to dispute these facts, but these are not some preferred theology or belief – these are biblical, undeniable, undisputable facts that should never be debated!
Anyway, now we have spent all this time talking about human freedom, liberty, free will, choice call it whatever you want, but we still very quickly need to see and understand how all of this relates to providence – to the fact that God is the primary cause of everything that is and everything has happens in His creation, how it relates to the fact that God has freely and immutably ordained whatsoever shall come to pass.
I want to read 2 more verses from the Bible, but before we do that let me introduce you to a theological term today – it is the term ‘concurrence’. Many people know what it means when you say that you concur – means you agree. However, concurrence is actually a much much deeper and richer word than that. Concurrence actually holds the idea of simultaneous actions by different individuals and that those actions, although independent are in agreement or working towards the same goal! It is two actions performed independently but working together towards a single goal!
What does this mean for providence, and human freedom? This is the miracle of the creation. Although we as humans are acting in freedom – either to choose sin for the unregenerate, or in the battle to abstain from sin for the saved, all our choices are in concurrence with the actions God is taking in His creation, and all these are working together towards a single goal.
Before last week this statement would have given us a huge problem, but now we know that even the evil actions of man are somehow working in concurrence with the actions and will of God towards one goal! (Remember that evil, although it is ordained by God is never caused, forced or coerced by God. Mans freedom allows us to choose evil, and therefore we are responsible and accountable for our own actions)
God however has a plan with this all, with Adolf Hitler, with Joseph Stalin, with Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins. He has a plan with the murderer and the rapist, the thief and the liar, the saint and the sinner, and all the actions of all these people are working in concurrence with the actions of God toward one goal!
Ok, now let me read those two verses, and maybe today you will hear these very well known verses with a new understanding.
Php 2:13: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Let’s read it a little differently just to enhance the meaning this morning: And we know that for those who love God all things work together (in concurrence) for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. All my actions, my independent actions which are born in my freedom either to sin, or to work out my salvation, along with Gods independent actions which are born in His sovereign will are working together toward one single and mutual goal...which is? The good of those called according to His purpose!!!!!
To understand this, I want us to go back a couple of thousand years, just for a minute – back to a young man named Joseph. We’ve looked at his story a few times, but nowhere is it more real than in the message of concurrence.
Gen 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (quickly put you in the picture – Joseph , dads favourite, got coat, brothers hated him, decide to kill him, sell him to slave traders, bought by Potiphar, accused by wife, thrown in jail, meets baker and butler, meets pharaoh, becomes ruler, meets brothers again, saves Israel)
You see the concurrence there? Joseph’s brother exercised their freedom, and they planned evil. Separately from that, independently from that, God exercised His freedom, and He planned good!
Next time bad things happen in your life, you can be assured that God is acting in concurrence with the event that are taking place in your life, and the single goal is for the good of those that love Him.
Once more to Joseph and think about it for a while. Let’s take one of the actions out of the equation – good or bad, doesn’t matter, take one action away, and you destroy concurrence! (Joseph didn’t know Gods’ plan, only later could he see it, and that’s when he said to his brothers – you meant evil, God meant good. Sometimes you can’t see the plan, but have faith in the fact, God is in control, and it is working to your good if you love Him)
Joseph, take away the brothers and their hate and their sin, and there is no slave traders, no Potiphar, no wife, no jail, no baker and butler, no pharaoh, no meeting brothers, no bringing Israel into Egypt to survive the famine. Take it even further, far further than Joseph could ever dream of it going... Take Israel out of Egypt, and you never having them becoming slaves, no slaves, no Moses, no Moses, no wilderness, no wilderness, no commandments and no promised land, no kings, no kings, no David, no David no Joseph and Mary, no Mary, no Jesus, no Jesus, no salvation.
The sin of Josephs brothers, in concurrence with Gods own actions has resulted in the ultimate Good of those that love Him. They meant it for evil, and they will be judged according to the desires and intentions of their hearts. But God meant it for good, and what God intends, what God plans, what God ordains, that shall come to pass.
