Post 69 - Human Free Will & the Will of God

"I dropped that pencil. I did that" cried a desperate seminary student named John Piper as he confronted his professor of systematic theology in the hall after class. John Piper's action (and his desperation) was in response to the professor's assertion that man has no freedom of the will, a doctrine that was supported by Martin Luther, John Calvin and others.

Did John Piper really drop his pencil by his own volition, or was that act--indeed, the entire encounter with the professor--predetermined by God? Was it his decision, or not? Could he have done otherwise, or not? Do people really have free will or is the concept of human free will a "blasphemous doctrine" as claimed by R. C. Sproul and other theologians, mostly of the Reformed persuasion.

Before we can understand what freedoms of choice God has granted to us (if any), it is necessary, I believe, to first understand God's own will.

I must advise, if you're seeking profound theological insight into the mysteries of God and human volition, this brief treatment will disappoint. But if you want some simple, biblical clarity into the will of God and the freedoms of humans, I hope this will be helpful. After all, sometimes less really is more.

The Two Wills of God

In reading through the pages of Scripture, we find two inclinations of God which could be defined as His will: (1) what God desires, and (2) what God decrees.

Both, I believe, are manifestations of the nature of God.

The Decree of God

This is easy; God declares something he wants to happen, and it happens. It happens simply because a sovereign God makes it come to pass. I believe this is how God knows the end from the beginning. God uses his divine power and omniscience to ensure an outcome that conforms with his divine purposes.

For example, few theologians would deny that virtually everything along the path of redemption has been decreed by God. This includes the sovereign, unconditional choice of his servants throughout redemptive history. The Bible refers to this as God's "purpose of election" (think, Abraham, Jacob, the nation of Israel, David, etc.).

Also included in God's redemptive decrees were the sending of the Christ, the recruitment of the apostles, and all actions related to the crucifixion. I propose that all of these acts were according to the "predetermined plan and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23) of God--that is, they were decreed by God.

God's Secret Will?

Within God's decretive will, some scholars speak of a "secret will" of God. This is the notion that God has secretly determined outcomes that have not been revealed in his word and, are often contrary to his revealed will. While the Bible certainly speaks of "the secret things of God" (Deut 29:29), I dispute that there is any "secret will" of God.

Although we might not always understand every action of the hand of God, we certainly know every intention of the heart of God. God has graciously revealed his nature to us. We know who God is.

Fortunately for us, God, by his own decree, cannot act contrary to his nature. God is righteous and just, compassionate and merciful, patient and loving. We can trust that God's decrees will always reflect those unchanging qualities.

The Desire of God

Throughout the Bible we see many things that God desires, but has not decreed--things he wants, but doesn't sovereignly bring about. For example, throughout Scripture we see that it is God's will/desire that his people reflect his attributes. God desires that we display the things he calls the "weightier matters of the law; justice, mercy, faithfulness" (Mat 23:23).

Most often, this expression of God's will (sometimes referred to as his "permissive will") is in the form of commands or divine counsel.

"You shall not murder. (Exo 20:13 ESV)

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; (1Th 4:3 ESV)

What God decrees and what God desires are two aspects of God's will in Scripture.

Human Will

In Romans, Chapter 9, Paul famously asks the following rhetorical challenge, "...who has resisted [God's] will?" (Rom 9:19 NKJV)

Well, if he's referring to God's decrees, the answer is a resounding, "Nobody!" But if he's referring to what God desires for us, the answer is, "Everybody!"

It is this aspect of the "will" of God that opens the door for our ability to either comply or resist God's will for us. God desires that we show justice, but we do not. God desires that we are merciful, but we are not. God desires that we are faithful and trustworthy, but we are not.

Like God's will, our wills are tethered to our nature, but unlike God, it seems that we have been given the ability to act contrary to our nature. We can choose to do things that are against our natural inclinations.

For example, although our natural bent is to seek after our own good (often at the expense of others), we can choose selflessness, compassion, mercy, love. Of course, as Christians in submission to the lordship of Christ and through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, we can begin to tip the scales--less human nature, more divine nature--less of self, more of others.

The apostle Paul says that those who choose to behold the glory of Christ "are being transformed into [His] image from one degree of glory to another" (2Co 3:18 ESV). This transformation can only occur because God has granted us the freedom of the will to choose to believe in his Son... or not; to reflect His nature... or not.

Final Thoughts

In his book, The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther contends that without God, a man's will is in bondage. He cannot choose between good and evil. He will always do evil.

Without God, that may be true. Fortunately, the Bible agrees with John Calvin who contends that there is no such thing as a completely godless man.

"Men of sound judgment will always be sure that a sense of divinity which can never be effaced, is engraved upon men’s minds... there is some God... naturally inborn in all, and is fixed deep within, as if it were the very marrow."

--John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559, i.3.3.

With regard to God's plan of redemption, it seems that God has simply granted to all people sufficient grace to choose life--but the freedom to do otherwise.

And with that, I am dropping my pencil, resting my case.

Next Post: Post 70 - Pride and Shame (bibleinsights.net)