A Short Comment on the Freewill of Man
Last night at Ruth & Naomi’s the discussion turned to an Arminianism/Calvinist debate about who chooses who, does God choose me or do I choose God? This of course went nowhere. I refused to get into this debate in this forum, with people quoting scripture out of context and relying on how they feel to come up with theological points. It was still good, speaking of the things of God. Afterwards, I spoke with one of the other leaders who holds to an Arminian/Wesleyan view of salvation. He believes that man has freewill and can choose his own destiny. I did not have much time to talk as there were dishes to clean, and a wife to get home too…and since he is a professing Christian – why debate when we are there to reach the lost? There is a time and a place for this kind of discourse and I do hope to continue the chat another time.
So what about freewill? Of course we have a free will. I choose to have beef or chicken for supper. I will myself to walk here or there. But my freewill is not a saving power. In our freewill, fallen man cannot on his own do anything but sin. Such “free will” is a tragic reality. Without some higher power to change the selfish direction of our free will…it will only lead us to eternal damnation.
If God chooses those who will be saved, am I free to make my own decisions? “What about my free will?”
Most people, including Christians, have an understanding of human freedom that says that nothing determines our choices but us. It makes sense in the society we live. We are always able to spontaneously choose to do good or evil, to do this or that. Man is free to choose according to how he feels at the moment. And we do. We will always choose according to our strongest desire, and so we make free choices. We do what we want to do. We are selfish. Apart from Christ, we are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and are inclined to hate God. We only want what is opposite of God, and in our free will we choose to reject Him. We freely choose to love and to serve Jesus only if the Spirit changes our hearts. Otherwise we remain lost.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.[c] 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind[e] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
I am not a pastor or a theologian. Yet I can see what scripture says…I am dead in my sin. Not only does scripture teach me this, but my own experience teaches me this. I do not want God, if I am left in my own desires. Even still, after being born again by the spirit, I struggle against my selfish desires. And so do you. Yes, all Christians who are regenerated by the Spirit face conflicting desires. Serve God or ourselves. If we believe in God’s promises, we have a new inclination, that is, in Jesus we are set free to follow Him, to want him, to want to serve him. But sometimes our old sinful nature comes to the surface and we do what we want. We do not always rely on God’s grace as we should; rather we let evil, selfish desires become stronger than our desire to love Him and Him alone… and in doing so we sin. But by the Spirit we can increase our desire for the Lord and so choose righteousness.
“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” Romans 7:19
That is my take on freewill…in a tiny nutshell.
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I had an interesting discussion with a group several weeks ago as well- one argument was “if we have free will, God hasn’t already decided whether we’ll serve him or not”. It’s a tough one to reconcile, especially with finite human beings who are unable to think of a God who is not bound by time.