The Top Ten
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Over the years in pastoral ministry, I have found that the most frequent question that men and women who come to the Reformed Faith ask has to do with free will. Very simply, “Do men have free will?”
Think carefully as you seek to answer this question. It is necessary to be clear on the meaning and use of the words. The will of man is the faculty of the mind by which choices or decisions concerning a course of action are made. The word free means unencumbered, not enslaved, or not controlled by external obligations.
So, if I substitute the meanings of the words, the question can be rephrased in this way, “Do we have an unencumbered mental faculty by which we are able to make choices?” Still, every person that answers this question will give a response based upon their own personal opinion.
There are as many opinions as there are people asking this question. Since the question is so important, we must carefully seek the only opinion that matters. In other words, what has God said, if anything, concerning the issue of man’s will?
You first action might be to try and find the occurrences of the words “free” and “will” together in the concordance of your Bible. Failing to find such an example, we now turn to Genesis. We read that after God “breathed into Adam the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). God said to him that he was free to eat of every tree of the Garden except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17).
I’m sure that most of us are familiar with what happened. Adam and the woman, later named Eve, ate the fruit of the only forbidden tree. At the end of chapter three of Genesis, we read that God “placed the cherubim [mighty angels] and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” God insured that no man would be able to eat of the tree of life and live forever (Genesis 3:22-24).
We next look at God’s destruction of the earth by the universal flood. God surveyed all mankind and declared “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Further in redemptive history, the prophet Jeremiah spoke for God and said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The New Testament is consistent with the Old Testament. Men have not changed. The Apostle Paul wrote, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10).
In God’s view, man’s will is in bondage; it is not unencumbered. We do whatever our greatest desire is at any given time. The problem is that natural man’s desire is only evil continually. One of the greatest, possibly the greatest American Theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote a book entitled, “The Freedom of the Will.” The premise of his book is that men do whatever they want to do. The problem is that before God regenerates a man or woman, the only thing that they desire is sin! Men are not born spiritually sick. All men are born spiritually dead.
The reality revealed by the word of God is, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us … while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:8, 10). Man’s will is in bondage to sin! Jesus said that “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
All this may strike you as just some philosophical rambling, but this truth is much more. Understanding our human nature is essential if we are ever to know the depth of God’s grace.
Therefore, what is the right answer to our question “Do we have free will”? Even in a purely physical sense, we are limited. No one can honestly claim that he can do whatever he wants without penalties. All of us have certain restrictions placed upon us. Next time, may God forbid, that you’re pulled over for driving above the speed limit, try telling the officer that you are free to do whatever you want, because the speed limit doesn’t apply to you.
Apply that same logic to life in Christ. Tell God that you’re free to choose Him or not. Tell Him that you did not inherit Adam’s sin. Tell him that your will is not in bondage to sin that you are able to take and eat of the tree of life and thereby you can choose to live forever!
The Bible’s answer to the question of man’s will informs your view of God. It defines your relationship with Him. It will cause you to think deeply about His absolute sovereignty in your salvation! What’s your answer?
