if God predetermines the choices that men make, then they are not truly free choices since men cannot help but do what God has ordained -- in which case men are merely puppets without moral responsibility for what they do. How can you reconcile Gods sovereign foreordination with mans free will? Answer: The first thing we have to admit about this pattern of reasoning (viz., God ordained it, so man is not free and responsible) is that it directly contradicts the teaching of Gods infallible word. The Biblical logic says that Gods foreordination does not deprive man of freedom or responsibility. Who can credibly claim to correct God for such an alleged error? Obviously we need to go back and find out what is wrong in our own way of thinking. It seems that many people make the mental mistake of thinking that Gods sovereign plan and control over the things in this world somehow changes the very character and operation of those things. Thus if God sovereignly predetermines how a man will use his volition (his free will), then mans volition is no longer really his volition (his free will is not actually free). But such reasoning is fallacious. When we hold that God predetermined that the wind would turn a particular windmill, we do not thereby deny the reality of the wind. When we hold that God predetermined that a glass of water would quench your thirst, you cannot infer from that fact that the water is not truly water. Take for an example the bones of Jesus. We know from Biblical teaching that Jesus had a genuine human body; thus his bones were real human bones -- made of the same material as anybody elses bones and capable of breaking. He did not have steel or super-divine bones. Yet the Bible declared in advance that his bones would not be broken (John 19:36). God predetermined that the bones of Jesus would not be broken, but in so doing God did not alter the nature or those bones as bones. They did not mysteriously become unbreakable material. They still were regular bones. Similarly, when the Bible teaches us that God foreordained the free decisions made by men, we should not infer that those free decisions were not really free after all. Mans volition remains just that -- his volition. God is able, according to Biblical teaching and reasoning, to determine in advance that a man will exercise his free will in a particular way -- and the man freely does so. Without force or compulsion, the man genuinely chooses to do what God had already foreordained. Question: But doesnt the Bible teach that man does not have a free will, but a will which is enslaved to sin? Answer: When we talk about mans free will in a setting like this one, we must remember that we are simply saying that a persons actions or choices are voluntary -- genuinely under his control, and such that he has the outward ability to do other than what he actually chose to do. We can call this metaphysically free will; the persons choices are self-determined, rather than forced or compelled. To affirm this is not to say that man has a morally free will. The Bible teaches that unregenerate men are not free to do good in Gods sight; they are morally incapacitated, so that all of their choices -- and they are genuine choices -- will fall short of pleasing God and will fail to live up to His holy standards. Morally speaking, mans will is in bondage to sinful desires -- is not free. Nevertheless, the sinful choices made by unbelievers are still choices. Whether your unregenerate neighbor chooses to play football with his son or to rob a bank, he will in some way be guilty of sin (thus he is not morally free to do what is good in Gods sight). Yet his choice to play ball or rob the bank will genuinely be his own; it will determine what he actually does (in which case he is metaphysically free in the decision he makes). The Westminster Confession of Faith has a chapter entitled Of Free Will, and it distinguishes between the metaphysical freedom and the moral freedom (or lack thereof) of fallen mans will. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined, to good or evil.... Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good (IX.1,3)...By Dr. Greg Bahnsen
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:32:40 +0000
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