“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the
Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1)
The topic of free will has produced more debate than many topics among
philosophers and theologians throughout the centuries. Going back to Pelagius
and Augustine to Luther and Erasmus, there have been those within the church
who have debated the issue for years. With that in mind I would be kidding
myself, if I thought that I would be able to settle the issue in a few blog
posts. But I do hope to raise a few eyebrows and promote some thinking in those
who read this series of posts.
Before
we dive in, I think it is important for me to share with you why I think this
topic is significant and why I feel burdened to discuss it. You see, if I can’t
show you that this is worth discussing and thinking about, then I doubt you
will read on; and why should you, if it were not worth while?
First,
there is the issue of definition. What do we mean when we talk about “free
will”? We toss around the term as though we all know what it is we are talking about,
and more than that, that we actually agree on the definition. If all people
mean by the term is that we make choices and decisions in our lives that are
truly in some sense ours and for which we are responsible, then there really
wouldn’t be any debate. All Christians agree that man is a morally responsible
creature, that is, that he is accountable and will be held so by God for the
decisions he has made in his life. So, the train hasn’t even left the station and
already we have a reason why the issue of free will presents a problem: we
either don’t know or don’t agree on what it is we are talking about.
Second,
I think most people just haven’t thought through what they actually think about
free will; they haven’t thought critically about what they say they believe concerning
the issue. And this is understandable, for not everyone has the time to sit
down and contemplate for hours on end how it is that they make decisions. Our
will is almost something that we take for granted; it’s just something that is.
But thinking through how it works and what the Bible has to say about it are probably
not on the top of most people’s priority list. Add to this the fact that many
people are turned off by the topic because of the debate that has occurred
throughout the centuries amongst the best minds; and thus, people conclude that
they themselves will never be able to figure it out, so why should they bother
thinking about it.
Third,
the theological implications of how we understand the freedom of our will are
massive. It affects how we understand ourselves, God, sin, salvation, grace,
judgment, and more. I’m not going to explain the implications for each of these
now, although some I will discuss in future posts. But I think at least the
fact that our understanding of these other subjects will be impacted is rather
obvious, which makes this an important topic. Moreover, I’m going to assume
that we desire that our understanding of the freedom of our will is according
to God’s word, Holy Scripture, and not just some thoughts of men pieced
together. With that said, it has been my experience, and maybe yours also, that
the discussions on this topic are largely void of the Bible. No reference is
often given to what the Bible says, and yet we claim that we want to believe according
to it. So, I hope to clearly show my points from Scripture as often as possible
and where it is appropriate.
Fourth,
how we understand this issue affects how we love, pray for, and interact with
others: both believers and unbelievers. You see, this is not just some pie in
the sky theological issue; it has real practical consequences. If we understand
our will to be bound and determined by our nature and desires, then we will
pray that God would do a mighty work of sovereign grace in the heart of an
unbelieving person, so that they may be born again and given a new heart with
new desires, and thus new eyes to see the glory of the gospel of Christ; and so
believe and be saved. But if we understand our will to be undetermined and such
that we can choose to do other than that which we are most inclined to do, then
why would we bother to pray? In that case, what could God do; if the freedom of
our will requires that it must not be determined by a work of God’s grace or
anything else?
I
know some of that might have been a bit difficult to follow, but I hope that it
will become clearer as we journey together through this issue. As I’ve tried to
show, as much as the freedom of the will can be a deep and dense theological
topic, it is a very practical issue. And at the end of the day our aim in
discussing it ought to be worship. We want to love God more and marvel at his
grace, and love others as we have been loved. And to that end, I invite you to examine
with me what it means to have a free will.
