Free Will

Yes, this post is about freeing Willy, well, in a manner of speaking.  Free will.  It is what makes an Arminian instead of a Calvinist.  Let’s start from the beginning and build up to this most important of issues.  Adam had free will.  Look what Adam did with his free will.

Let us consider Romans 5 for a moment.  In this passage, it is clear that Adam represents man federally and genetically.  His sin has the consequence of a condition of sin for all mankind.  We inherit this sin from the moment of conception.  The concept of free will is bound up in the identity of man.  Free will is a part of man, it is inseparable from man.  Therefore, free will is flawed by sin as are all parts of man.  Can we choose God on our own?  Is it possible for a man to have done otherwise in Eden?  Paul says no to that in Romans 3, a quote from a number of OT sources including Psalms 53:3.  So, if a man’s free will is corrupted by sin, corrupted to the point where he cannot choose God, does not want to choose God, what good is free will?

Freed Willy?

A better question is what is the true state of our will.  Our will is in bondage to sin.  Our minds, bodies and souls are in bondage to sin.  That was the curse of Adam.  The wage of sin is death and we have earned it federally through Adam and specifically with our own deeds.  Every effort we make is corrupted by sin, since we live in the condition of sin.  If we do good works in the eyes of man, that is wonderful.  But these same deeds earn us nothing with God.  Either by motive or consequence, these deeds are corrupted, so that what seems to be a good deed before man condemns us before God.  Even our good intentions condemn us before our Righteous and Holy God.

But God knows our heart.  He just wants us to be sincere.  Try these verses on for size.  Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 7:24, Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21.  Am I just proof texting?  Sure, but it is good proof texting, isn’t it!  And that was just scratching the tip of the iceberg.  The purpose of the law is to point out our sin, to define it, to make it known.  Therefore, who among us is without sin?  Who then has a pure heart, a good heart?  Whose will is free from sin?  None but Christ!

How does man come to believe in God and in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  There is only one way.  The Holy Spirit, through the Word and sacraments, enters into the elect and transforms these hearts.  The Holy Spirit at Baptism breaks the bonds of sin, freeing us to be able to obey the Law.  The Holy Spirit points the way to Christ and to obedience to His will.  Because we remain in these earthly bodies that are still under the curse of Adam, we will falter, and we will sin.  But we will recognize the sin for what it is, and we will seek forgiveness.  This is the struggle of Christian living.  This is the struggle that will continue until death.  The resurrected body is not under the curse of Adam.  In that era, in that time, we will be able to live sinlessly for eternity.

Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit unbind the hearts of all men?  God says in scripture that he will keep an elect remnant to himself, more numerous than can be counted, but a remnant all the same.  Scripture says that these elect were predestined before the beginning of time.  Why?  That answer we are not given.  I’ve talked about the fairness issue before, but let’s do it again for us stubborn egalitarian Americans.

Through Adam, we are all doomed to a sinful state.  Through Adam, we all sin.  Due to this sin, we are all worthily, fairly and justly condemned to death.  Proof is available in the local cemetery.  We will all die.  Death and taxes, maybe, but always death.  From this graveyard of humanity, God saves some for Himself.  This is merciful.  This is gracious.  This is Good News!  We are not worthy.  It is not fair.  It is not just.  That’s the purpose of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation on this earth.  His sacrifice makes us worthy.  His sacrifice makes this just.  Don’t ask for fair.  You don’t want fair.  Fair means death.  Fair means the Wrath of God in the form of eternal separation from God.  No one really wants fair.  It is the mercy and Grace of the triune God that we most desire.

Free will?  No, thank you.  I’ll have a bit of that Holy Spirit, trust in Jesus, and enjoy my Gift from God.  Christian liberty means we are free to obey.

--Ogre--