How can God be Sovereign if everyone has a free-will? How can any prophecy be assured if those acting within the prophecy have a free-will? How can God control us or accomplish anything with certainty if man is free to reject Him at any point?
Magic…I guess.
I will address these questions. However, the question that should be asked is whether or not God gave man a free-will at all?
I am not going into all the arguments on this as I have in other articles because I want to focus on a few scriptures. But, I do find it important to define what I mean by free-will.
Defining ‘free-will’ — Free will is the ability of man to act independent of God and any influence at all. In truth, if something influences then we ain’t free.
What ‘free-will’ is not:
Free will is not the ability to make choices. Everyone makes thousands of choices a day. The question is whether those choices are influenced.
Free will is not man’s will. Every man, woman, and child has a will. Of this, I have no doubt. The question is whether this will operates independent of God and all other influences.
Okay, so scripture says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3). Yet, another scripture says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15). So, which is it? Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart or did Pharaoh harden his own heart?
Answer: Both are true. How?
The answer and a key to truly understand God’s word is in the relative and the absolute perspective. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (absolute perspective). Because God determined that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened, Pharaoh made a decision to harden his heart (relative perspective).
Absolute perspective: God’s complete control over everyone and everything in His creation.
Relative perspective: What God’s creatures do in relation to each other and as a result of God’s plan.
So, this is how man’s will works and how God maintains His Sovereignty:
God determines everything. Then, God causes the circumstances of a person’s life to form wills for them to make choices that align with what He has determined to happen.
The common Christian objection to this truth: “Well, what about when we sin or go against what God says?” Here is a deep truth and one that most miss. In the absolute perspective, God has determined for humans to go against What He says. You think I’m crazy? Let me prove it to you with just a few examples from scripture.
God forms vessels of dishonor on purpose. In my previous example, this is exactly why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The apostle Paul says that God has the right to make people specifically to be vessels of dishonor (Romans 9:21). Why did God do this to Pharaoh? So that God can make known the riches of His glory (Romans 9:23). Remember that because God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He performed great miracles in Egypt including the parting of the sea. God had planned for Pharaoh to go against His command in order to show His glory and power through these miracles.
Acts 4: 27-28 says that Herod, Pilate, the nations, and Israel did exactly what God’s hand designated to occur. What did they do? They gathered against and killed Jesus Christ, God’s Son. An evil deed don’t you think and yet, God did this to save all mankind.
In the book of Genesis, Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him but ended up selling him into slavery. This was an extremely bad act. Yet, Joseph says to his brothers, “You devised evil against me, yet God, He devised it for good in order to accomplish, as at this day, to preserve many people alive (Genesis 50:20).” The evil, sinful act of Joseph’s brothers was DEVISED by God in order to save Israel.
How about the law of Moses given to Israel. God commanded Israel to follow every detail of this law and yet Paul says that law produces sin (Romans 7:8). God told Israel to follow law all the while planning that they would fall short. Why? So that Israel could recognize their need for a Savior.
Should I talk about Judas? We all know what he did. However, do you know that Judas did what he did because the scripture must be fulfilled (Acts 1:16). Jesus Himself said to Judas, “Do it quickly” and did nothing to talk him out of it. Why? Because Judas had to do what scripture (God) foretold.
WE can all go against God’s stated will while fulfilling His intention. In truth, a human can always go against God’s revealed will but can never go against His absolute will. This is explained clearly in Romans 9: 18-25.
Finally, here are two verses right next to each other that show this relative and absolute viewpoint perfectly. I present to you Philippians 2: 12-13:
12 So that, my beloved, according as you always obey, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, with fear and trembling, be carrying your own salvation into effect, 13 for it is God Who is operating in you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.
In the above verses, we are told to ‘carry our own salvation into effect.’ See, Mr. and Mrs. Christian would say, “we have a free will because we must carry our own salvation into effect.” So a free-will believer would say that we must act in certain ways to get our salvation, therefore, we have a free will.
Not so fast! Remember that being free means that we are uninfluenced by God or anything else. With that in mind, here comes verse 13: For it is God Who is operating in you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight. This is the absolute viewpoint.
It is so vitally important to understand that ‘working out your own salvation’ may include faith choices, repentance, and decisions of your will. HOWEVER, it is God that works in you to WILL and to WORK. This is what forms your will and causes you to act, not your free-will. You cannot possibly have a free-will if God works in you to WILL and to do. If God works in you to will and to do, you will do. If God is not working in you to will and do of His delight, then you won’t. All is of God.
Salvation is of God!
Yes, but you must have ‘faith’ to be saved says Christian #1.
Okay, Christian #1, where does that faith come from? You and your independent will or from God?
29 for to you it is graciously granted, for Christ's sake, not only to be believing on Him, but to be suffering for His sake also,
30 having the same struggle such as you are perceiving in me, and now are hearing to be in me. -Philippians 1: 29-30
Yes, but you must ‘repent’ to be saved says Christian #2.
Okay, Christian #2, where does repentance come from? You and your independent will or from God?
25 with meekness training those who are antagonizing, seeing whether God may be giving them repentance to come into a realization of the truth, -2 Timothy 2:25
Choose this day whom you will serve, says Christian #3. See, we make choices.
Well of course we do, but who is in charge of those choices?
Just so you know…something cannot come from your independent will and from God at the same time. If its your independent will then God cannot influence it otherwise it would not be independent.
So, faith and repentance play a part in aionion salvation but where does this faith and repentance come from? God! So says scripture. You see, most people think that God did a lot for them but believe that its their ‘own will’ that determines their salvation. Their self-will decision determines whether or not they receive the good things from God. The truth is that God does everything from start to finish, including forming the individual will of each human. Therefore, we all have a ‘will’ it just is not ‘free.’
God determines the choices man will make and creates the will in man to carry those choices to completion...
I end with this question to prove that man’s will is completely dependent upon God. How can man choose Christ by his own free-will if God determined that this man would be in Christ before the man was even born, before time began? -2 Timothy 1:9
God chooses who will be saved for the ages and then gives them the faith to save them. This is special salvation. Those not given faith will not have a special salvation because they were not given faith by God to believe. They will be saved later at God’s appointed time for them.
Grace and peace to you all.