45: Free Will: A Divine Gift or an Illusion?

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

Bible students exploring Biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

My name is Eddie Lawrence. Does God control every decision we make, or do we truly have free will?

Some say our choices are just an illusion, but what does the Bible really teach?

Few theological debates stir as much passion as the question of free will.

Do we truly have the ability to choose, or has God already determined our eternal fate?

In the last episode, we examined Ephesians 1 verses 3 -5 and the claim that God's sovereignty means

He personally selects each individual's destiny apart from their own choice.

But is that really what Scripture teaches? If God is in control, does that mean our choices are just an illusion?

The Bible tells a different story, one where divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not at odds.

To correctly understand Ephesians 1 verse 4, where it says for He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, we must grasp two key concepts.

First, we need a Biblical understanding of God's sovereignty, and second, we must consider whether God allows humans to make their own choices.

Do we choose to follow God, or does He choose who will follow Him? What does the

Bible say about human free will? We don't have to wonder if humans have free will or not.

The Bible tells us very plainly. Consider the following verses.

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.

It desires you, but you must master it. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.

Therefore, choose life, so that you and your descendants may live. But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the

Lord, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your father served beyond the

Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the

Lord. Then Elijah approached all the people and said,

How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow

Him. But if Baal is God, follow him. But the people did not answer a word.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often

I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

7. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

Does the Bible say that humans have free will? What do you think? Could you read the

Bible, and nothing but the Bible, and conclude that humans have no ability to choose?

Free will, as presented in these passages, is the God -given ability to choose between obedience and disobedience, life and death, blessing and curse.

It involves personal responsibility for one's decisions with real consequences, yet operates within God's overarching will, offering opportunities for repentance and guidance toward righteousness.

So if we have free will, in what sense has God predestined us?

Since it's clear from the scriptures that we have free will, Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4 and 5 cannot mean that God chose which individuals

He will save. If God did the choosing, then we don't have free will.

Yet, free will is a concrete biblical reality. Paul gave us a big clue when he said that God has chosen us in Him, that is, in Christ.

In Him means the same thing as in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3.

Christ is the place, if you will, where blessings are found. The best sense of these verses is that God chose all who are in Christ and predestined them for adoption.

He did not select us individually. He has left that choice up to us. Instead, He selects all who are in Christ.

In effect, God chose all who chose Him. The following analogy helps to explain this.

Imagine a town where severe storms are common. A wise and benevolent town founder builds a large, sturdy storm shelter in the center of town.

He then makes the following declaration. I have chosen this shelter as the place of safety in our town.

This shelter will protect and save anyone who enters during a storm. I have predestined that all who enter this shelter will be safe from the coming storms.

The choice to enter is yours, but know that I have prepared this place for you.

Consider how this analogy parallels what God has done. The founder, God, has made a choice and predestined an outcome, but not for specific individuals.

The safety is available to all, but requires a personal choice to enter the shelter, that is, to choose

Christ. Those who are in the shelter, in Christ, are chosen and predestined for safety, that is, salvation.

The founder's choice of the shelter as the means of salvation precedes any individual's choice to enter it.

Paul isn't describing God choosing individual people for salvation or condemnation before time began.

Like the analogy of the storm shelter, God chose all who respond in faith and are in Christ.

Ben Witherington comments, The concept of election and destining here is corporate.

If one is in Christ, one is elect and destined. Paul is not talking about the pre -temporal electing or choosing of individual humans outside of Christ to be in Christ, but rather of the election of Christ and what is destined to happen to those, whoever they may be, who are in Christ.

Likewise, Klein Snodgrass observes, Individuals are not elected and then put in Christ.

They are in Christ and therefore elect. God's sovereignty and human free will are not opposing forces, but complementary truths woven throughout scripture.

God has indeed predestined a people for salvation, but that calling is found in Christ and the invitation stands open to all who choose to enter.

The Bible consistently affirms human responsibility. The Bible consistently affirms human responsibility, urging people to choose life, obedience, and faith.

Just as a storm shelter offers safety to any who step inside, God has prepared salvation for all who come to Him.

The question is not whether God has made the choice, but whether we will.

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