Free Will or Free Grace?

September 3, 2008 8 Comments

Calvinism. Predestination. Foreordination. Foreknowledge. Election. These are good, Bible words that have become the focus of a whole lot of debate. I used to be a Calvinist, but have come to define my own beliefs about God’s sovereignty without referencing the famous theologian. I still struggle with the issue of God’s sovereignty, and one of my great pet peeves is those who think they have it all figured out and neatly packaged in five nifty points.

As the debate rages on over the specific nature of God’s sovereignty, I can’t help but be struck by a well-known quote from our hero, Charles Spurgeon.

I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, “You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself.” My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Though I’ve come to reject much of what modern Calvinism affirms, I actually love this quote. Why? For one thing, it affirms that it isn’t our free will that saves us. We sometimes make the successful leap from salvation by works to salvation by grace through faith, but then faith almost becomes a work, an effort on our part, and this is far from the truth. Salvation is by grace and is all of God.

It also affirms that grace is free to roam about, to divide and conquer. Often we see grace as passively available instead of actively working, but the New Testament presents to us a grace that is powerful and sufficient. So grace is free to save people within the sovereign will of the Creator. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved.’

I’m still not a Calvinist. (Neither am I an Arminianist by any stretch of the imagination.) But I do affirm that our theology at times tends to trust God less and man more, to rely on human choice rather than divine intervention, and revolves around our energy and efforts rather than the work of God among the human race. Salvation is still and always will be a God thing – all God, without our help. Grace is free!

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  • Harold Brown

    Greetings,
    I do have a testimony to share on God’s Sovereignty . The Lord made Himself known to me by revelation, using the example of the potter and the clay . Romans 9:21
    There is no teacher like the Holy Spirit ! No man could ever teach like that ! To see yourself as clay in the Hand of God will quickly teach you the “Myth” of Free-Will !

    • Brandon

      @Harold Brown -

      Harold, thanks for weighing in. I rejoice in your coming to a thorough knowledge of what it means to be clay in the Potter’s hand. But I’d also have to advise you to be very careful when talking about receiving revelations. The Bible is the ultimate teacher and the Holy Spirit certainly speaks to the heart, but always in confirmation to the fully revealed Word of God.

      I believe very strongly in God’s sovereignty, but also that every person makes free choices in perfect conjunction with God’s will.

  • Chris G.

    Brandon,
    Thanks so much for your insight. I love Spurgeon’s quote when asked how he reconciled free will and election. You likely know it but he said, “You don’t have to reconcile friends.” The danger is when we take an extreme view of one or the other at the expense of the “opposing” view. I believe, like you, that every person makes a free choice that is perfectly in line (or conjunction as you stated) with the sovereign will of God.

  • http://groundedandsettled.wordpress.com/ Tom Fellows

    Bro. Brandon, I’m sorry to dig up one of your old posts and comment on it. :) But I have to say that I find myself in the exact same boat you are in. While I can’t say I’ve been a Calvinist, I do find myself very interested and exploring it. Mainly because of all the ruckus that has been stirred up toward those that lean that direction.

    Like you, I honestly think the correct answer lies dead in the middle. God is indeed sovereign and maintains control over all the affairs of the world and mankind. Yet, the Holy Spirit draws all men unto Christ, and that is accomplished through the presentation of the Gospel. At the same time, man has the prerogative to either accept that message or reject it.

    Frankly, when I look at the 5 points of the “TULIP”, I can honestly see some truth in all of those points. However, I cannot see a just and loving God choosing to save some, yet willingly condemn others to Hell. I can, however, see him willingly allowing someone to make that choice to reject Him, although He would be deeply grieved by anyone that would consciously reject such eternal hope.

    Myself, I’ve always found myself wrestling with the concepts of predestination and election and figuring out how it all fits within the scope of how I believe. I reckon it shows that we’ll all know one day when we get to Heaven for sure!

    Sorry to be so long, and thanks for your insights!

  • http://simplemann.net Simple Mann

    Tom,

    I hear that question a lot, "How can a just and loving God choose to save some and willingly condemn others to Hell?"

    I think the better question is, "Why would He ever choose to save any?"

    We know that in the days of Noah, He wiped out the entire population except for six lone survivors because of the wickedness of the people. It is not outside of His character to direct His wrath at sinners. The thing is to understand that He is JUST; that is not diminished because of His love. He is JUST, and He is MERCIFUL. And as the prophet Hosea relates, He will have mercy on those whom He will have mercy. Ultimately, HE is God, and He can pretty much do whatever He likes (except sin). Doesn't make it easy for our little minds to understand, but there it is.

    Blessings,

    Simple Mann

    Simple Mann’s last blog post..Am I Really a Christian?

  • Dave

    Well Simple Mann, I think there is one point that you are overlooking and that is the question of why did God create man in the first place? I have heard many Calvinists claim we are created simply to "glorify God." This answer puzzles me, because that is why God created angels, not humans. I am not saying that I believe God will not receive ultimate glory from the human race, but I believe His purpose in creating us was to have a creature that would CHOOSE Him. If we were simply here as instruments of His glory, then we should be angels, not humans. The difference between man and angels is that we were made in God's image, meaning we have mind, soul, will, and emotion. Angels cannot experience these like humans can. Therefore, God created us as a being that would ultimately have to make a choice. We must choose to follow Him or reject Him. As Joshua told the Israelites.. "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." God created humans as an instrument of His love and His glory. He wanted a creature that would CHOOSE Him and cry out for His mercy. And this is where God receives the ultimate glory. I think the ultimate argument against the point of God simply saving some and rejecting others is His response to the sin of Jerusalem. These people had rejected Jesus, and the Bible tells us that Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept. He wept because they had chosen to reject Him. Why would He weep if He knew that these people had no choice in the matter. Why would He care that these peopel rejected Him if it was determined before time that they would reject Him and they had no choice in the matter? I do not believe that this nature of Jesus would contradict His Father's plans. They were seperate, yet the same (Trinity). Being one with God, Jesus would not have wept over their sin, because He would have known that this was the path He had chosen for them from before time. It's just something to think about.

    • http://simplemann.net Simple Mann

      Now I will say at the outset than I am a simple man with a limited mind, so what I say I do not say as a prophet, but I only intend to share with you what I have discovered in reading the Word of God.

      On the matter of God’s purpose in creating man, I would like to encourage you to use a concordance or an online Bible with search capabilities and search out and read all the verses you can find on the word “inheritance”. There are many that talk about inheritance in a lineage the way we normally use the term today, and there are also many that talk about the inheritance we have been given in God. But look for the ones that talk about God’s inheritance. Just a few of them are found in Exodus 34:9, Deuteronomy 20:4, Isaiah 19:25, and Micah 7:14,18-19.

      Now concerning Joshua and this free will, I think that you should read Joshua in context — this is what Joshua actually said:

      “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

      “Choose you this day”… but notice the choices Joshua lays out for them: 1) the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or 2) the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. I read this passage several times myself before it dawned on me that Joshua was asking them to choose between the True and Living God and the false gods their hearts truly desired.

      And if you think that I am mistaken, continue reading in this chapter. The people are convicted and plead, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods,” and “We will serve the Lord!” and “We will obey!”

      But consider what Joshua says to them for all their positive confessions that they will “choose God”:

      But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (Joshua 24:19-20)

      Now, as the people continue to affirm their affections, Joshua tells them in verse 22, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” Verse 31 says that “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.” That sounds good, right? Maybe Joshua was wrong about these people, huh? They did choose God, right?

      Well, actually, the story picks up in Judges chapter 2. That chapter begins with Israel’s disobedience, the death of Joshua, and then the unfaithfulness of Israel.

      And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. (Judges 2:11-13)

      Bummer. How can these people who have seen the mighty works of God first hand keep turing away from Him and serving false gods? What is wrong with their hearts? Can’t they just choose God?

      Well, it would be pretty easy to condemn those fickle Israelites… but for one thing. We’re just like them. Yep, that’s right. We are no better. But don’t take it from me. Listen to what the word of God says:

      As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
      “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
      “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
      “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”
      “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

      And lest there be any doubt, Romans 3:21-23 drives the point home as Paul writes, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

      I know how badly so many of us want to believe that there is enough good in us to choose God. I know how nice it would be to believe I’m capable of making that decision. But I know how wretched and corrupt I am and how deceitful and wicked my own heart is WITHOUT God. And I know that I was utterly incapable of performing the miraculous spiritual heart surgery necessary to remove a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. The work had to be done by God, and I am totally okay with that. Salvation is of the Lord, and I am a happy and undeserving recipient of His grace. This rebellious, hell-bound sinner did not deserve the gift that was given to him, nor would I have ever taken it had the Lord not given me life. Dead hands don’t grasp, no matter how precious the gift might be. I can definitely say that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I will continue to thank the Lord my God for all my days for what HE has done… and I will continue to ask His forgiveness for what I myself have done. All my righteousness comes from Christ, and to Him be the glory.

      Blessings, brother.
      Simple Mann

  • http://www.brandonacox.com Brandon

    To believe I have nothing to do with being saved is ignorant. To believe I do have something to do with being saved is arrogant. Perhaps it is that all of us have "free will" in the sense that as we walk through this life, we make choices. But that in my "free will" I certainly cannot affect the ultimate will of a sovereign God or in any way impede His purposes.

    Personally, I'm too much of a worm to work it all out. I trust that God gave His one and only Son for me, a sinner, and that by trusting Him, I will be saved for eternity. Whosoever will, let him join me.