Free Will

Few things offend people more than being told their will isn’t utterly free; that they aren’t autonomous beings who, at any conscious moment, independently decide what to think or do.  That’s because from infancy we assume we have an inborn right to arbitrarily choose how we act and/or react in any situation and nothing in nature indicates otherwise.

And, even though the Bible asserts election and predestination are realities, the issue of free will has been argued in Christian circles since the beginning.  (I do want to emphasize that your viewpoint on the subject has no bearing on whether or not you’ll go to heaven.  Only by believing in your heart that Jesus is your Lord and Savior can you gain eternal life in paradise.)

Augustine was the most significant Christian theologian after Peter and Paul.  His writings expressed what was generally accepted in the early church – God’s sovereignty over His creation is absolute.  Then, in 411, a monk named Pelagius stirred up controversy by insisting people must voluntarily choose to believe in Christ, despite Jesus declaring to His followers, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16).

Adolph Harnack opined Pelagius was “roused to anger by an inert Christendom that excused itself by pleading the frailty of the flesh and the impossibility of fulfilling the grievous commandments of God; preaching that God commanded nothing impossible, that man possessed the power of doing the good if only he willed it…”

The church excommunicated Pelagius in 418.  But over a millennium later, in 1524, a scholar named Desiderius Erasmus wrote a short book entitled Discussion Concerning Free Will intended to refute the reformation teachings of Martin Luther.  His “semi-Pelagian” attitude maintained that salvation was achieved via mutual cooperation between God and man.

In response, Luther published his landmark book, The Bondage of the Will, wherein he labeled the matter “the hinge on which all turns.”  Ian Hamilton encapsulated Luther’s reasoning thusly: “If our wills are not totally in bondage, if there’s any residue of essential goodness in any man or woman enabling them to will the good, then salvation isn’t of the Lord.  The Bible couldn’t be clearer: salvation is wholly the work of God, the result of His grace to us in Christ.”  Ephesians 2:8 states, “By grace you’re saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it’s the gift of God…”

What ensued was a split between Catholics and Protestants that drastically altered church history.  Enter James Arminius in the late 1500s who advocated a compromised perspective, writing, “All unregenerate persons have freedom of will, and a capability of resisting the Holy Spirit, of rejecting the proffered grace of God and of not opening to Him who knocks at the door of the heart.”

Of course, this flew in the face of the Calvinistic tenet that insists God’s grace is irresistible; that if you’re one of God’s elect then you’ll be inexorably drawn to and transformed by the gospel message, fully accepting it as the truth after hearing it preached. No exceptions.  Paul wrote, “…It’s God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

About that verse, Calvin commented, “The first part of a good work is the will, the second is vigorous effort in the doing of it.  God is the author of both.  It is, therefore, robbery from God to arrogate anything to ourselves, either in the will or the act.”

I enjoy reading books by Christian authors.  One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that there are lots of Arminian-minded believers in this world.  For example, inside Randy Alcorn’s excellent tome, Heaven, I came across this passage: “It seems to me that the capacity to choose is part of what makes us human.  It’s hard to believe God would be pleased by our worship if we had no choice but to offer it.”

The revealing phrase is “it seems to me.”  When it comes to God Almighty who are we to place any restrictions on how He thinks, what He’s decreed, or what He deems good?  Remember, though, claiming one’s will is free isn’t sinful.  It’s just incorrect.  Who created your will?  God did.  He bestowed to each of us the unique will we possess.

David wrote of God, “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made…  All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-14,16).  I accept Scripture as inerrant truth. I must conclude that my mind, heart, and will were all created by God.

Therefore, the choices I’ve made in my life were preordained because God personally designed and installed the reasoning impetus that determines my preferences.  Does that make me a robot?  Hardly.  I’ve never sensed I did or thought something because some kind of supernatural “force” compelled me.  When confronted with options, our one-of-a-kind, God-given will always chooses what’s most desirable or least undesirable to us.

R.C. Sproul opined, “If history is affected at all by the decisions of men and if God’s knowledge doesn’t include future human decisions, how can God know anything about the future of world history?  How can we find any comfort in the future God’s promised for His people if that future destiny rests in the hands of men?”

Sproul added, “[This subject] isn’t to be confused with the blind determination of ‘fate’ or the mechanical physical forces.  This is the determination of an omnipotent and holy being, who’s determined to bring about the salvation of His elect.  God is determined to accomplish His plan, and by His determinate counsel that’s exactly what He does.”

Understand that “The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It’s incurably bad.” (Jeremiah 17:9).  I’ve proven that to myself repeatedly.  Given my predilection for sinning, I never would’ve chosen to surrender to Christ.  It had to have been God’s will that I did. I’m forever thankful.

What’s “Works” Got To Do With It?

Pardon the play on words.  It’s not my intention to diminish the importance of this entry’s subject – sola fide.  The doctrine of “faith alone” is the bedrock affirmation of reformed theology.  How fundamental is it?  Martin Luther called it “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls.”

Many have been told they must earn their way into heaven by piling up “good deeds.”  But the Bible nixes that notion completely.  The prophet, speaking to God, wrote, “We’re all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight” (Isaiah 64:6).  Therefore, thinking anything we do can be considered “righteous” is folly.  Yet some believe otherwise.

The controversy began with the fourth-century theologian Pelagius who insisted men and women can become justified without the assistance of divine grace.  While he was rightly declared a heretic, his views continue to influence Christian thought to this day, though it’s been watered down into what’s referred to as “Semi-Pelagianism.”

For instance, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that grace, faith and Jesus are all necessary but, nevertheless, insufficient for a sinner to become justified; i.e., they’re not enough.  Therefore, one must merit saving grace via observing the sacraments.  But that’s not what the Scriptures say.  They confirm faith alone, the “gift from God,” is enough to link us forever to Christ, the One who qualifies us to receive the eternal benefits of His atonement.

Face it, spiritually we’re inept.  R.C. Sproul wrote, “If I must wait until I cooperate with the righteousness of Christ infused within me, to the degree I become inherently righteous, I despair of ever attaining salvation.  This isn’t gospel or ‘good news’; it’s bad news.”

Semi-Pelagians claim that James voided the “faith only” argument with one verse when he brought up Abraham and wrote, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).  This seems to contradict Paul, who wrote, “Where, then, is boasting?  It’s excluded!  By what principle?  Of works?  No, but by the principle of faith!  For we consider a person declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:27-28).

What’s a Christian to think?  Is the doctrine of sola fide valid or not?  A deeper investigation reveals there’s no contradiction.  The reason being while both James and Paul were pointing back to Abraham and both employed the same Greek word for “justify” they weren’t using the term to convey the same concept.

Paul, in expounding upon the doctrine of justification, refers to Genesis 15 wherein Abraham is counted righteous by God the moment he believes.  Paul preaches Abraham was justified before he performed any works of obedience.  Thus, God’s gift of faith alone saved him.  James highlighted the passage in Genesis 22 that tells of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac on the altar.  Yet Abraham had already been justified by faith long before that episode occurred.  And justification’s something God never takes back.

Viewed in logical context, James was addressing a question he’d posed earlier: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t have works?  Can this kind of faith save them?” (2:14).  What he was trying to convey was that merely saying one has faith and truly having faith aren’t identical because authentic faith always manifests itself in the believer’s actions.  If “good deeds” don’t follow one’s conversion their faith is, indeed, insufficient.

In other words, Abraham didn’t have to prove to God his faith was genuine.  God knew Abraham’s heart because He’s omniscient.  He knows everything.  Abraham was being obedient, trusting that God knew what He was doing even if he didn’t.  Abraham wasn’t relying on his own understanding but trusting in the LORD with all his heart (see Proverbs 3:5).

Addressing James 2:24, John Calvin opined: “It appears certain he’s speaking of the manifestation, not of the imputation of righteousness, as if he’d said, ‘Those who are justified by true faith prove their justification by obedience and good works, not by a bare and imaginary semblance of faith.’  As Paul contends that men are justified without the aid of works, so James won’t allow any to be regarded as justified who are destitute of good works.”

Note that Calvin mentioned imputation in his statement.  That word’s meaning is key to understanding how we, the wretched sinners we are, can possibly be accepted as worthy of adoption by our Heavenly Father.  Sproul wrote, “God doesn’t declare the sinner just because the sinner, considered in himself, is just.  God deems him just because of what’s added to his account, the merit of the righteousness of Christ.  Although justification is by faith, if considered from another angle it may be proper to say justification is by works.”

Say what?  Sproul explained: “Ultimately, justification is by works in the sense we’re justified by the works of Christ.  …We’re justified by faith in the works performed on our behalf by Christ.”

The saving of the thief’s soul on the cross next to Jesus is very revealing.  All that sinner had was the faith in Christ that God gifted to him during the final minutes of his earthly life.  He couldn’t do any works.  He couldn’t get baptized.  He could hardly breathe.  Yet our merciful Lord promised him, “I tell you the truth, today you’ll be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Some claim that, due to that episode happening prior to Jesus’ Resurrection, it has no bearing on how one becomes justified now days.  But I can’t find where that significant caveat gets articulated in God’s Holy Word.  The reassurance all Christians can glean from the story of the thief’s merciful salvation is this:  If a person is one of God’s elect there’ll come a time, however late it may happen, when their heart is regenerated by the Holy Spirit and they fully accept Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.  And they’re saved. On God’s timetable it’s never too late.