ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE, DO WE HAVE FREEWILL?

I was very disturbed to read what a Christian had written on Facebook:

·       Free-willers hate the thought that they are not the one in control, therefore they hate God!

I knew that I needed to respond:

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·       Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were NOT WILLING!”

This assumes that they could have been willing but refused. They had the option to act otherwise!

If none of us have freewill and, therefore, couldn’t have acted otherwise, then we would all bear the same guilt and these many teachings of Jesus could not be true:

·       Luke 12:47-48 “And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Besides, God pleads with Israel that He has given her everything they needed:

·       Isaiah 5:1-4 “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?”

Had God not given Israel freewill, they would be right to complain, “I never had a chance to behave better because You never gave us freewill.” However, Israel NEVER accused God of this!!!

Just one last thought: By claiming that we lack freewill, you are making God into the Creator and Author of sin and the Author of every act of genocide and rape, thereby compromising the revealed character of God:

·       1 John 1:5-6 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Instead:

·       James 1:13-14 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted [enticed] by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts [entices] no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his OWN desire.

God does not give us the desire to sin, but He gives us over to the desires of our own heart (Romans 1:24-28).

If none of us have freewill and, therefore, couldn’t have acted otherwise, then we would all bear the same guilt and these many teachings of Jesus could not be true:

·       Luke 12:47-48 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Jesus taught that there are levels of accountability. However, if none of us have freewill, then there is no basis for these levels. Besides, if we do not have freewill, they is no basis for blame. It would make us a machine like a computer, which is not morally culpable when it fails to perform as intended.

Besides, God pleads with Israel that He has given her EVERYTHING they needed:

·       Isaiah 5:1-4  Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

Had God not given Israel freewill, they would be right to complain, “I never had a chance to behave better because You never gave us freewill.” However, Israel NEVER accused God of this!!!

You, therefore, are needlessly and unbiblically creating dissension within the Body of Christ. Please pray about this.>>