Title: The Question of Human Free Will
Text: Ephesians 2:1-3
Anytime the discussion of God’s sovereignty in election arises, one question is sure to be included in the conversation: How do we rectify the free will of man with the sovereign omnipotence of God?
This question is a natural response to two important truths:
(1) Man is not a robot, or a puppet. Man makes choices according to his own desires.
(2) God is sovereign, which means that He is ultimately, and absolutely in control of all things that take place in the world.
So, how do we rectify these two, seemingly contradictory premises? During the height of the protestant Reformation, Martin Luther debated Desidarius Erasmus on the subject of God’s sovereignty and human will. This debate later became a book by Luther called, “The Bondage of the Will.” Knowing this, it is easy to see that his is not a new question, nor is it a light issue that people of faith must confront.
When it comes to mans will and God’s sovereignty, there is an important truth that needs to be recognized: Though people are able to make choices, they are not completely autonomous.
Now, to make this claim, I first have to define autonomous. Autonomous means to be “self governing.” It means a being has the freedom to do what it wants, how it wants, when it wants, and in the way it wants. And, there is a sense in which man has a degree of autonomy. But it is not complete autonomy. The Bible makes a few things very clear:
Mankind is sinful by nature.
All people have have inherited a sinful nature from our sinful parents. This is known as the doctrine of original sin.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Ephesians 2:1-3 And 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— 3 among 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.
This did not begin with our parents, but stems all the way back to our first parent: Adam. When Adam sinned, the curse of sin went through to all of His posterity.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned [all sinned in Adam]
Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
These verses tell us that we are sinners by nature, and by choice. We are slaves to sin. This is why we have to be “born again”, to be set free from our sinful slavery.
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
Our sinful nature is one way in which we are not completely autonomous. We are bound in sin, not free.
God, by His grace, restrains the sinful nature of men.
Sin in the world is rampant, but it is nothing compared to what it would be if God’s restraining grace was not actively at work. A few examples from Scripture can be cited:
Genesis 20:1-7 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
These passages, and many others, speak of God’s active restraint over the sinful hearts of men. If God restrains the sinful nature of man, then that would mean that they are not absolutely free to do as they wish.
God hardens the hearts of some men.
The Bible speaks repeatedly about God hardening the hearts of certain people.
Joshua 11:20 (Speaking of Israel’s enemies) For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Isaiah 63:17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Romans 9:14-18 (speaking of Pharaoh) What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Now, hardening of a person’s heart does not mean that God creates new sin within their heart. This would be highly unnecessary. As we have seen, because man is sinful by nature, God would not need to do that anyhow. Hardening, then, is a removal of His restraint, not a production of new evil. So when we see God “harden” the heart of Pharaoh, it was God who chose to do so, and He did so with purpose. But He did not create evil in Pharaoh. He simply used the evil in Pharaoh's heart for His own, Holy purpose.
God opens the hearts of some people to hear the Gospel
Acts 16:14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
Here is a women who had been a believer in the God of Israel, but not a Christian. Then, when Paul came to town, she was given the grace of God to hear and believe Paul’s message. This is an example of what Jesus said concerning conversion:
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
This “drawing” that Jesus spoke of is when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to hear the truth. Without it, we could not and we would not come to Christ.
In the Final Analysis
If the Bible says that man is a sinner by nature...
And the Bible says that God restrains the sin of the world,..
And the Bible says that God hardens some hearts and opens others...
Then we CANNOT believe that man is COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS.
It is clear that people are able to make choices, but it is ultimately God who is sovereign, even over the will.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
