Free Will

“And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev 22:17

Walk into nearly any evangelical Sunday School class on a given Sunday morning and before too long, some well-intentioned lady will answer a question with the phrase “because we are created with a free will to choose.” (Incidentally, that answer has just surpassed “because He loves us” and “I know in the Bible it says...” topping the “Most Common Sunday School Answer” charts at #1 of all time). At that point, most everyone else will nod in agreement with their arms folded in a satisfied and even somewhat smug look on their faces. If the argument were articulated from their side, it would go something like this: “God is Sovereign; yet, in His Sovereignty he has allowed for a small window that belongs to the creature exclusive of the Creator called man’s free will; in this small window, man can either choose God or reject Him; God has done this so that men are not human robots controlled at all times by the will of God.”

The teacher, although he might have skimmed through enough of Luther’s Bondage of the Will to disagree, doesn’t really have a good answer as to why this isn’t true. So, rather than confront what he knows deep down to be shaky reasoning and risk being thrown to the ravenous wolves of the free will majority for the remainder of the class time, he quickly moves on to the next topic. You get the picture...

The idea of free will is perhaps the most misunderstood and misused idea in the contemporary church today.

The purpose of this essay is not to provide a comprehensive discussion on the subject, nor a biblical exposition (although verses can be provided if queried). Rather, the purpose is to address the subject practically and simply; hopefully, some of the content will provide a way to more effectively love those who claim a wrongful notion of free will into a deeper consideration of truth.

The Human Will

In order to understand the freedom of the human will, we must first establish terms that will enable us to know what is meant by will and then what is meant by free.

By will we mean man’s disposition to act according to principles or ends. Simply stated, will is the power of choice.

For a moment, we should consider the place of will within man.

According to scripture, man is a created, dichotomous being of body and soul. He was created from the dust of the earth and was given life by the breath of his Creator. As dirt is to the body, the breath of God is to the soul.

While the substance of the human body is flesh, the substance of the human soul is spirit. In fact, according to the Bible the characteristics (what it is) that describe the soul are:

• spirit (substance),

• life (effect),

• heart (position-center of man), and

• self (person-the personality).

It is important when considering the abilities of man to always consider what man is and how man works, since man, just as any other created being, will never exceed the limits of what he was created to be.

As the characteristics (what it is) of the soul are spirit, life, heart and self, the faculties (how it works) of the soul are:

• understanding,

• affections,

• will and

• conscience.

As the explanation of these terms will hopefully attest, the order of the terms is very significant. It is the progression of how the soul governs the body. Ultimately, when your body takes action, the understanding, affections, will and conscience have already been at work in sequence to determine the action that will transpire. You cannot and will not act unless the sequential process of the faculties of the soul has first run its course. In other words, you must understand (whether fully or partially, truly or falsely) in order to desire; you must desire in order to will; you must will in order to act; and the conscience must either excuse or accuse an idea into action.

Understanding is the power to distinguish between truth and falsehood; it is the power of comprehending. To know is to understand. How someone comes to understand principally occurs through 5 ways.

• Thinking is the mental concentration of ideas.

• Reasoning is logical thinking resulting in a conclusion.

• Perception means to take notice of, observe or detect. Our ability to discern comes from this ability to perceive.

• Purposing is intending to do something; it is determining to act in a certain way. In order to eventually act, one must initially purpose, intend, devise and plan.

• Imagining is the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses. To imagine is to think of an idea never before wholly received in reality.

Affections are feelings or emotions. The power or ability to love, hate, joy, sorrow, etc. comes from our affections. Desire is based on affections. You will not want until you desire. You will not desire until you like. Desire is the conscious impulse towards something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment.

Will has already been defined.

Conscience is the sense of moral goodness or blameworthiness of ones own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. It is the judge within you, reviewing your intended or actual actions, and will condemn or condone accordingly either accusing or excusing.

What Does Free Mean?

In our context, free means might + right.

Might = Ability. Right = Permission.

In order for a moral being to freely do something, it must always have the ability and permission to do so.

For example, are you free to jump to the moon? There is no moral law that prohibits you to jump to the moon; however, the physical law of gravity obviously prohibits you from jumping much higher than your table, much less out of the atmosphere. Thus, you are no more free to jump to the moon than you are to fly, since you have no ability to do so.

Are you free to take a gun into another’s house and commit murder? As long as you are able to break in and have the appropriate means, there is no physical law prohibiting you; however, the moral (and in this case, federal or state) law prohibits you from breaking and entering and taking another life. You are not free to murder, since you have no permission to do so.

Is the Human Will Free?

Worded another way: To what extent is man capable of exercising the power of choice freely? Answer: To the extent that he has both the ability and permission to do so.

Is it possible for man to exercise the power of choice successfully and not be free to do so? Yes.

Consider sin. Is any man free to sin? Answer: the wages of sin is death, and if you are dead then you are not free. Man may be able to exercise the power of choice in sinning, but he is not free to do so since the consequence of death awaits him both spiritually and physically. Too often, paraphrasing Luther, men mistake freedom for familiarity.

Consider man in creation. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Was man created as a moral agent with an ability to exercise power of choice? In an absolute sense, no; man was never free to do absolutely whatever he pleased. But as long as he was responsible to obey the law set before him, he was free to eat of any tree in the garden. When man sinned, he lost that ability or free power of choice without losing the subsequent responsibility to obey perfectly the law set before him or the consequential punishment (death) for not being able to do so.

And this is why the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation--Man is responsible for that which he has no ability to do.

But this is also why Jesus became incarnate, lived perfectly, put sin and its wages to death, as One whose will was free--that his people might also live as ones whose wills have been set free.

Consider the words of the Savior:

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:32-36.

The human will is only free when Jesus makes it so, and whosoever will may freely come only when the Son has freed his will indeed.

As many today are confounded by a mistaken idea of free will, most of Jesus’ Jewish audience did not understand what free will meant as well. They failed to see that only the Son could set them free from the wrath of God, free from the curse of sin, free from being a slave to the law. Instead, they mistakenly thought their will gave them an ability to be justified through their own obedience to the law.

They also failed to know that freedom from is always freedom to, that being free from sin is also always being free to walk in the Spirit; these freedoms cannot be separated. As such, they nullified the grace of God causing Christ’s death to have no purpose (Gal 2:21).

Dear reader, if you will be free there is only one way. Come to Jesus--the way, the truth and the life.

For the only men who will be fit to stand before the Father are free men and men only fitly made free by the Son.