Nothing gets on my nerves more when people say, "God will not get in the way of your free will." It gets even worse when people who say that come from Covenant Seminary. Seriously? You went to a PCA school and you say that? One of the many things that make me question the PCA.
I do understand to a point, however. I always knew God is sovereign and that he chose me for salvation. I did not choose him. But until last April, I thought I still had freedom. Then I was talking to a guy. He was shocked that I believed in predestination. "What about free will?" he asked. Then it hit me. You can look from Genesis to Revelation, there is no such thing as free will. If there was, only Adam and Eve had it and they lost it when they ate from the tree. God has always been the only free being in the universe and we are only clay made by him.
Some people like to say that God didn't want robots so he gave us free will. I used to believe that, too, but again, the Bible says nothing about that. God wanted people to worship him. And people sinned, and in his mercy he saved people when he didn't have to at all. And honestly, my faith was chosen for me, but I don't feel like a robot. I'm more free than anyone else who tries to live without God. I'll never be completely free until I no longer can sin.
Last one, this almost convinced me. A clever Arminian said that since God made us in His image that we have free will. Even if that was true, Adam and Eve still lost that free will when they sinned. You can't have freedom if you have original sin in your life and pass it on to all your children. And we are all children of Adam and Eve, so we all are born separated from God in original sin. We have no freedom unless God sets us free. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.
You make some great points. I find it both amusing and sad that so many people can't use the word "will" without putting "free" in front of it, even though no such thing is found in the Scriptures.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of the matter is that the human will is in bondage to sin and Satan, and every human makes the natural choice to reject Christ until the Lord intervenes. Saul of Tarsus was saved against his will. He had no intention of getting saved.
I believe you are correct about Adam and Eve. They were the only humans who had a choice to become sinners or not. The rest of us do not have such a "free will."
All of the arguments against God's sovereign grace are based on human reason instead of the Word of God.
Please share scriptures that back up what you are stating ~ that would be great!! It makes me nervous when people make grande statements or professions over the ENTIRE word of God without Biblical evidence, right?
ReplyDeleteScripture is clear; we are "slaves" to sin. We sin because we are sinners. Given the opportunity to sin or not, the natural man always sins. It is only when we are regenerated (born again) that we are free from the bondage of sin and THEN we have the freedom and the ability to choose to not sin. As you have already noted, "whom the Son has set free is free indeed."
ReplyDelete