There is a common belief among those in the camp of election that there is no such thing as "Free Will" or the ability of man to actually choose. According to this camp, man can never choose anything good. Man is totally depraved and has no good intentions nor does he have the ability to make a morally correct decision. In their view of man, it is utterly impossible for man, by his own free will, to choose God at all. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no such thing as "free will". It does not exist. So, they adopt the doctrine of monergism which simply means that man does not do anything and has no responsibility in the process of salvation and God does everything. According to the doctrine of predestination, which most monergists follow, God specially elects a few for salvation, God compels those that are specially elected to accept Him and God makes all the decisions. The doctrine of predestination (tied in with special election) says that God has predestined who will be saved and who will go to hell which I see as one of the most cruel and unforgiving ideas that Christianity has to offer. Yes, God is sovereign and can do whatever he pleases but God is also love and love doesn't send people to hell without, at least, the opportunity for salvation which resides in one making a decision to follow Christ as Lord and Savior. That is the subject of another blog post however.
While I agree that man will not (I chose not to say can not because there are atheists that live "morally upstanding" lives although they reject the Son of God and God altogether) choose anything good (John 3:19) and I agree that because of sin, man is depraved and has serious moral defects- I do not agree that there is not a such thing as man having "free will". Man is created in God's image. This doesn't mean that we are "little gods", it means that we take on God's transitive properties and one of those properties is the ability to choose or having volition. God gave us the ability to love, to show compassion, to feel empathy etc. If we have the ability to choose, that would be indicative that man has a will and man can exercise that will. Man, when prompted and guided by the Spirit of God will, at some point, see that it is his responsibility to follow God. That's why the gospel is preached- so that man would hear of the goodness of God AND hear of the error in his ways (SIN) which will ultimately lead to death. God's mercy through Christ's sacrifice, when preached to sinful man causes conviction of those that hear it. However, some make the choice to reject the gospel. Joshua gave the directive, "choose this day whom you will serve". Elijah asked the people on Mt. Carmel, "how long will you limp between two opinons?" These statements indicate that there is a responsibility on the part of man to follow God.
Let's go back to Eden where the whole issue of free will originates in the minds of both sides of this argument. In the garden of Eden, Eve was presented with a question from the serpent regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. While Eve answered by telling the serpent exactly what Adam told her, she also did something else. She doubted God, took the serpent's word over God's Word and finally rebelled against God's command and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In doing so, Eve became complicit with the rebellion of the serpent who was already an outcast and she subsequently placed her will above that of the Father's will. She chose to gratify a desire that the serpent intensified by making her believe that God was withholding something from her. Had there been no free will, not only would Eve not have disobeyed God, the serpent would not have rebelled nor would he have been in a position to cause man to rebel. Martin Luther in his treatise, "On the Bondage of the Will" takes the following position: "If we believe that Satan is the prince of this world, ever ensnaring and fighting against the kingdom of Christ with all his powers; and that he does not let go his captives without being forced by the Divine Power of the Spirit; it is manifest, that there can be no such thing as—"Free-will!" I would counter this by simply saying that Eve was not ensared by sin because prior to this event in the garden of Eden, there was no sin nor was there enslavement of man to sin. Unless we say that man was created sinful, which we know is not the case, then we cannot rightly say that Eve did not exercise her "will" in the garden. What we can say is that her "will" was easily swayed to rebel against God which is where I wholeheartedly agree with Luther and others that say that the "will" of man will choose evil if given the opportunity and therefore must be pressed upon by God's Spirit to be LED in the direction of God (Added 12/30/11).
Forced love, forced devotion and forced worship is not really worship at all. William Dembski, author of The End of Christianity, makes a very pointed and concise statement about what true worship is: forsaking all else and placing God as head of everything. Worship is a choice and to place God as the head and all other things as secondary is a choice made by those that truly worship Him. The most beautiful thing about the Christian life is the restoration of the fellowship between God and man that was lost because of sin. God does not become less than Almighty by actually having a relationship with man. He is still holy, sovereign and magnificent- even if He chooses to fellowship with man and give man (not force upon man) the opportunity to return that fellowship.
Another question to ponder is this, if there were no such thing as free will , why would God have to call man? If we were forced to serve and worship God, there would be no need to call man out of darkness at all. God would simply force man to serve Him and darkness would not be an option. Actually, there would be no darkness because there would be no sin because there would have been no rebellion in Eden. God calls and gives man the ability to accept that call because of His love. A loving God would not allow man to stay in darkness. Here is where free will is so critical because when God calls, the faith to hear the call and believe is a gift from God (1 Cor 12:9) that man can choose to use or not to use. Once a gift is imparted it becomes the possesion of the one to whom it was granted. The position that I take here is that of synergism. Not in the classical Arminian sense but in the sense that man has a responsibiltiy, albeit minimal, in the fellowship with God. A synergistic relationship is one where two parties are involved and the outcome of the relationship is based on the actions of both parties. Now, the relationship is still synergistic even if God does ALL of the work because as much as God calls, man must hear and take heed. An argument against this point would be to say that I am insinuating that God "needs" man. I am not saying that at all. God does not need anything or anyone, but he desires the fellowship. The bible says in John 4:23 that God SEEKS worshipers that worship Him in Spirit and in truth [added 12/30/12]. Why were we created in the first place? To fellowship with God and to Worship God [added 12/30/11]. One example of this synergistic relationship is the call to repentence in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says simply "IF (emphasis added) my people who are called by my name WOULD (emphasis added) humble themselves and pray and SEEK MY FACE and turn from their wicked ways- THEN I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. God calls on man to "seek his face" and he showed himself to man through the the Law, the prophets and eventually through Jesus.
God calls men out of darkness, God gives man the ability to believe however, it is man's decision and responsibility to accept the call. Some would accuse me of minimizing God in favor of man- but I see it as quite the contrary. This is far from a "seeker friendly" gospel. The only responsibility of man is to accept the call of God and even that cannot be done without God endowing man with the ability to believe. Faith is a gift from God, but every gift must be exercised by the one that it was granted to. While God can give man the ability to believe unto salvation(believing faith), He cannot and will not believe for man.
The bible says in John 6:44 that no one can come to Christ except he be "drawn" by the Father. In 1 Peter 2:9 the bible says that those that believe have been "called out" of darkness and into the marvelous light. The fact that a person has to be called to follow Jesus is not something to be taken lightly. It actually answered a lot of questions for me when I thought about it in this way. We all have relatives, friends, co-workers and others that we know and we always wonder "when are they going to 'get their life together?'" They will get their life together when God calls them out of darkness. When will that be? That's not for us to decide but that doesn't mean that we shouldnt' be a living epistle before them nor does it mean that we should not pray for them and share the gospel whenever possible. God is revealed to man through His Word and whenever we proclaim His word, we reveal Him to those that do not yet "know" Him. We who have already been called and have accepted the call are to be salt and light in the world. Paul said in 1 Tim 1:15-16 that he was shown mercy so that in him and his life and conversion, Christ could display His unlimited patience and so that Paul could be an example to others who might see and believe.
Free will is a topic of serious debate. Many speak of the "irresistible will" of God and that it is impossible for man to resist God but the truth is that God calls but there are some that reject that call. If it was impossible to reject the call, why is there scriptural reference to the "grieving" of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 4:30] or the "trampling under foot of the Son of God" [Hebrews 6] or "profaning of the blood and outraging the Spirit of grace" [Hebrews 10]? These point to the ability of man to accept or reject God's offer of salvation or even, as in the case of Ephesians 4:30, His process of sanctification [Ephesians 4:30 is addressed to believers]. Compare it to God leading us to the waters of grace, showing us flowing streams of mercy and once we get there we decide that we do not want to drink. God is not going to drink for us, however He is merciful enough to lead us to the source which is Christ.
There are countless biblical examples of rebellion of man against God. There are even examples of God hardening the heart of men that rebelled against him so that they were unable to believe, even in the face of irrefutable evidence. According to Jesus in Luke 8:10, and in Matthew 13:11, the people (Jews) that He preached to were unable believe in order to fulfill prophecy [Isaiah 6:9] that said "though seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear." When the people rebelled and chose something other than God, their punishment was that their hearts were hardened. God called but they did not choose Him, they chose something else and He did not force them to follow Him. He was upset and angry with the people but even in that, he did not force anyone to do anything- the ones that followed God were the ones that saw the evidence (i.e. the Red Sea experience, the waters at Meribah etc.) and believed God. The consequence of choosing anything other than God is death. Jesus said in John 8:24 that unless man believes that he is the Living God he will "die in his sins".
Are there times when free will is suspended? I believe so. There are times when God has a purpose to fulfill and He does so regardless of the feelings or reluctance of those involved. When God called Moses to speak for Him, Moses made a few remarks regarding his inability to speak and his lack of qualifications for the job of spokesperson for Israel. While Moses did not want to go, Moses really had no choice. Jonah is another good example. Jonah was supposed to go to Nineveh but instead boarded a ship to Tarshish. Jonah's free will chose to disobey God and for a while it looked as if Jonah got out of his assignment. But the storm that came up and great fish that came to transport Jonah back to Nineveh would say otherwise. The fish and the storm were both sent by God to let Jonah know that his choice in the matter of prophesying to the Ninevites was suspended.
While there are times when free will is suspended, there is ample evidence for the ability of man to accept responsibility when it comes to worshipping God. God chose man however, man, once chosen must accept that choice/calling. There are those that believe in special election which, in my estimation, gives an elitist and supremacist air to Christianity. Where is the card that goes in your wallet that says that you've been elected? Why would God only choose certain people or give them the option of heaven whereas others are just doomed for hell? Why would God, who is love, not open the doors for all who would believe to come to Him thereby placing the burden of heaven or hell on the one that rejected him? I am not a believer in "election" in the sense of "God has chosen me to go to heaven but you have to stay here" but I do believe that God elects some believers to different places/functions within the kingdom. Herbert Lockyer said it this way, "election is always inclusive, never exclusive. He (God, emphais mine) chooses a few in order that ALL (emphasis mine) may be blessed." All all are called but only certain ones are elected to "offices" to fulfill specific duties within the kingdom of God. God's call to salvation is general in that ALL who would come to believe have the ability and the opportunity for salvation. When John the Baptist preached repentance, everyone in the crowd had the opportunity to hear, repent and be saved. When Jesus preached the same message, the same scenario was presented- everyone that heard his voice had the opportunity to hear, repent and be saved. It is not a specific call but a call to all men to be saved. Rejection of that call comes at the peril of the hearer. God's call becomes specific as in the case of Samuel- although Eli was a priest, he did not hear God's voice when God called out to Samuel those three times. That call was meant for Samuel and it was for a special purpose.
Is there a call from God to follow Christ, yes. Does man have a responsibility to accept that call or reject it? If we use the analogy of a phone ringing- if you know it's God on the other end and don't answer, the results could be quite disastrous. When God calls us to repentance and salvation (for those that are unsaved), accept his calling. His kindness leads us to repentance and God has been more that merciful with us all. The bible says that it is God's desire that ALL men be saved [1 Tim 2:4]. His calling to accept the ransom that has been paid on our behalf is the most loving and gracious act in the history of mankind. If God is calling you, pick up the phone, it's your responbility.
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