For many years I taught that God is a gentleman; that He will not force anyone to do anything; that He gave every human being free moral agency – the freedom of exercising choice.
That was what I understood, because that was what I had been taught. And it fitted my concept of God, that He is not a bully and that He desires people to obey Him willingly from the heart.
Later, God opened my eyes to a different understanding. This is what I want to share here…
The Sovereignty of God
To my mind, the most profound words ever written by any poet, novelist, scholar or author, is the Spirit inspired words penned by the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:36
For [out] of Him and through Him and to Him are all things…
Take time to think about this statement.
Consider the words “all things.” It includes everything, every event, every thought. Nothing is excluded.
Where the Big Bang theory teaches that all things are out of one particle, Scripture teaches that all things are out of God.
Here is another “all things” verse:
…being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will… (Eph 1:11)
Maybe you find it easier to believe that God set the times and boundaries of nations (Acts 17:26), than to believe the He is involved in the minute detail of every person’s life. But consider the following:
O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps (Jer 10:23).
A man’s heart plans his way. But the Lord directs his steps (Prov 16:9).
There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel- that will stand (Prov 19:21). (See also Isa 46:10).
A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way? (Prov 20:24)
Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all … Such knowledge is too wonderful for me (Ps 139:4 – NAS).
Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens (Rom 9:18).
The absolute sovereignty of God implies that He has absolute free will. He can do whatever He desires. No outside force or influence exists apart from Him; it can therefore not thwart His plans.
Clyde Pilkington writes,
To advocate human free will is to deny God’s Godhood. For there to be a God, there can’t be two conflicting wills. There is room in His universe for only one with free will. It is impossible for a finite being to have an absolutely free will. If creatures had absolute free will, then the creation would be greater than the Creator. God’s will is FREE, man’s will is NOT.[1]
People as Puppets?
Does this mean every person is a puppet on a string – manipulated every moment by the hands of God?
Not at all!
I’m not denying that man has a will. It is just that the will is not as free as we tend to think. Every person’s will is being influenced by many factors. It may be his or her temperament with which he or she has been born, it may be the example of parents and close family, it may a traumatic event of the past, the culture in the community or workplace that has rubbed off on the person, or the prompting of the Spirit of God or a desire that God has placed in the heart of the person. Furthermore, if everything is out of God (which it is), then every influence is also out of God.
Let me use two illustrations. When God commanded men to multiply (see Gen 1:28; 9:1,7; 35:11) which we know man did, were they forced to do so? Were they like robots being controlled by God? No! But God had planted a strong sex drive in men and women so that what they “willed to do” was prompted by desires God had put in them. God knew that they would not be able to resist that drive.
The same applies if I should place a plate of chocolate cookies and a plate of spinach before a child and say, “choose which one you want to take.” The child will be able to exercise a choice, but you and I know what the choice will be.
Clyde Pilkington continues,
Based on fancied “free will,” Christianity essentially has God gambling on an experiment. We, however, are not masters of our own fate. We are not the lords of our own lives. We are the creatures, not the Creator. We are like a leaf in a stream, unaware of the current beneath, or its destination.
Verses seemingly implying man’s free will
Some passages in Scripture, at first glance, may appear to affirm the free moral agency doctrine.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 God exhorts the nation of Israel to choose life. Theoretically they could get life by keeping the law, “which if a man does, he shall live by them..” (Lev 18:5). But God knew that they would not be able to do it. Many years later, Paul wrote that the purpose of the law was to shut every mouth and help men to recognize sin (Rom 3:19, 20) and to lead people to Jesus Christ (Gal 3:24-25). The fact that God told Israel to choose, does not mean that they could choose without any influence or inherent weakness that would affect their exercise of choice. After all, as Paul explained, without God’s Spirit no one can be subject to the law of God and no one can please God (Rom 8:7-9).
In Acts 16:30-31 the jailor asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” Their answer was “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ..” Faith is a requirement for salvation. But it does not mean one can by willpower or by applying one’s mind, work up or generate faith. It is a gift from God (Eph 2:8).
Examples in Scripture of no free will:
I will mention just a few examples from Scripture, where it is evident that the persons concerned did not have free will:
- People, after the flood, desiring to build one city, scattered by God all over the earth, by confusing their language so that they could not understand each other (Gen 11:1-8)
- The devious actions of Joseph’s brothers towards him … “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” (Gen 50:20)
- Pharoah’s heart being hardened by God (Ex 14:4-28)
- Reluctant and unwilling Jonah steered by God to Nineveh to preach to its inhabitants (Jonah 1-3)
- Nebuchadnezzar, the mightiest man on earth at the time, caused by God to wander in the wilderness and eat grass like a beast for seven years, after which he publicly acknowledges the supremacy and sovereignty of God (Dan 4:31-35)
- King Cyrus being stirred by God to have a house for the Lord rebuilt in Jerusalem (2 Chron 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4)
- In spite of many miracles, Jesus’ contemporaries did not believe on Him because of spiritual blindness imposed by God (John 12:37-40)
- Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus in fulfillment of prophecy (Ps 41:9 + Luk 22:47,48); Zech 11:12 +Mat 26:14,15)
- Peter’s denial three times “before the rooster crows” of his connection with Jesus, as had been predicted by Jesus (Mat 26:34, 69-75)
- The inability of two disciples, to recognize the resurrected Jesus, as they were walking to Emmaus (Luk 24:13-16)
- The conversion of the Apostle Paul, who were on his way to continue persecuting believers, when struck down by light from heaven and hearing the words of the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9:1-9)
- The inability of anyone to have saving faith, unless God grants that faith (Eph 2:8 – cf Rom 12:3, Phil 1:29)
The implications of this truth run deep and wide. It reaffirms that God is truly God; that man is not as great and powerful as he may think; that we are not masters of our own fate; that no human positive thinking or willpower can change God’s plans; that no person can lead another person to salvation unless God is the author of it; that we cannot judge others; that no one can boast of any virtue or strength he or she may have; that we need to accept ourselves as imperfect creatures; that we need to extend mercy toward others who have not met our expectations.
Scripture encourages us to see God as a loving Father, who is in charge and in control of everything. When it seems to us that the circumstances of life are spinning out of control, He assures us in His Word that He will work out all things for the eventual good of all creatures (Rom 8:21, 28).
Remember Rom 11:36…
…to Him are all things.
And consider 1 Cor 15:28 where we are promised that at the consummation of time,
God will be all in all….
And instead of worrying or fretting
Be still [relax] and know that I am God… (Ps 46:10)
***
Books on this topic that I recommend:
The Divine Activation of Faith and the Myth of Free Will – Clyde Pilkington (available at Bible Student’s Press or Amazon)
The Myth of Free Will – Martin Zender (available at Amazon)
Divine Lockup – Clyde Pilkington (available at Bible Students Press or Amazon)
Being OK with not Being OK – Clyde Pilkington (available at Bible Students Press or Amazon)
[1] Bible Student’s Notebook 576