God’s Sovereignty Versus Man’s Free Will
Posted by Romeo Pelle
Original Sin
All of us were born sinners – without exceptions! By this we understand that we all have a depraved or corrupted nature that is totally inclined toward sin, rebellion, and disobedience. Romans 5:12 declares, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Apostle Paul continue in verse 19, “through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,” stating that this state of sinfulness was imposed on the human race due to Adam and Eve’s initial sin.
Pelagius, a British monk of the 5th Century A.D., maintained that the human soul was not tainted by the original sin, and there is no connection between Adam’s sin and the rest of human race. As such, he maintained that there was NO need for a special working of God’s grace in each individual’s heart. Pelagianism strongly emphasized the idea of free will, to the point that a salvation by good works was possible, by educating the humans to choose the right things in life and reject the bad habits.
Calvinism believes that there is a definite connection between Adam’s sin and the whole human race, and the inherited corruption affected the human will to the point of totally destroying anything good in it. In this view, predestination is an absolute prerequisite for God’s grace. Only those who are predestined for salvation become recipients of God’s grace. God chooses some from the fallen human race and confer grace on them and chooses some to everlasting death and pours out His wrath over them. This is called “double predestination.”
Unlike Pelagianism, Arminianism holds that we receive from Adam a corrupted nature, and such, we begin life without righteousness. James Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutch Reformed theologian, taught that all humans are unable without special divine help to fulfill God’s spiritual commands. Unlike in the Calvinistic teaching, this inability is physical and intellectual, but not volitional. Romans 7:18 states, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Arminius agreed that each person has an inborn bias to evil and wanted the responsibility of sin to rest on the individual. This teaching of personal responsibility also extends to personal salvation: The will, because it is not totally destroyed, can choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and achieve salvation through faith and obedience. This is called the “Doctrine of resistible grace.” God gives grace to all through the Holy Spirit, but one may resist it and not choose it. Those who choose it are the elect. Those who resist it reject it of their own free will. And those who do receive it may lose it if they do not persevere in it to the end.
God’s Sovereignty Versus Man’s Free Will
God’s sovereignty is deeply rooted in God’s attributes:
- God is before all things – (Col. 1:17); “In the beginning God…” (John 1:1). There was never a time when God was not. God was there “before the beginning of time” (2 Tim. 1:9).
- God created all things – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1). “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3).
- God upholds all things – “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col.1:17). “The Son is … sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3b).
- God is above all things – “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:6). For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalm 97:9).
- God knows all things (Omniscient) – “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5). “Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O LORD.” (Psalm 139:4). “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13).
- God can do all things (Omnipotent) – “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14).” “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37). “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”(Jer. 32:27).
The Sovereignty of God
A God who is before all things, beyond all things, creates all things, upholds all things, knows all things, and can do all things is also in control of all things. This complete control of all things is called the Sovereignty of God. Nothing catches God by surprise!
- God rules over all things – “The LORD is enthroned as King forever. (Ps.29:10) “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.” (1 Chron. 29:12)
- God is in control of all things – “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.” (Psalm 135:6)
- Earthly kings are under God’s control – “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD” (Prov.21:1).
- Human events – “The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes” (Daniel 4:6).
- Good angels – Rev.4:8; Job 1:6.
- Evil angels – They obeyed Jesus when He cast them out; “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10). - Even Satan is under God’s control! – He wished to destroy Job, but he could not because of God. God has the power to bind Satan whenever He wants to do so (see Rev. 20:10 – just an angel does it!).
Human Free Will
If God is sovereign, how then can we, humans be free? Does not divine sovereignty make a sham of human responsibility? Is not a sovereign God a Giant Puppet Master pulling the strings of human “puppets” at His will? If God is in complete control of everything then how can we be truly free? Are not God’s sovereignty and human free will mutually exclusive?
More over, if God is in control of everything, then why should we be blamed for anything? If an all-knowing God knows what we are going to do before we ever do it, then how can I be responsible for anything it happens, including my evil choices and deeds? So, if God is in control of all things, the saying, “The Devil made me do it” is not even true: we must change it to, “God made me do it!”
In fact, Calvinism claims that free choice is simply doing what we desire, but no one ever desires to do anything unless God gives him the desire to do so. If this would be true, then it would follow that God would be responsible for ALL human actions. The Bible doesn’t say that God gave Judas the desire to betray Jesus; rather it says that “the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus” (John 13:2). [Romanian: “Diavolul pusese în inima lui Iuda Iscarioteanul gîndul să-L vîndă…]. The Bible doesn’t state that the devil “forced” Judas: the act of Judas was free and un-coerced!
Did Satan force Adam and Eve into disobedience? If the answer is “Yes,” then who forced Lucifer into rebellion? The logic behind Calvinistic position regarding free choice is that God made Lucifer sin against God! But the bible is clearly declaring that God cannot sin (Hebrews 6:18) and He doesn’t even tempt someone to sin (“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.” James 1:13). Further, Habakkuk 1:13 declares that “Your eyes [God] are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”
If God did not make the devil do it, then we must conclude that God made a good archangel called Lucifer, WHO BECAME THE DEVIL BY HIS OWN FREE CHOICE TO SIN!
- God made only good creatures – At the end of creation God declared that “it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31).
- God gave free choice to good creatures – God said to Adam, “You are free…” (Gen 2:16). Humanity intuitively recognizes that freedom is a good thing. Free choice is undeniable a good thing.
- Free choice is the origin of evil – The power of moral free choice entails the ability either to choose the good our Creator designed for us or to reject it. The later choice is called “evil.” It is good to be free, not some programmable computers, but freedom makes evil possible. Free will is good in itself, but entailed in that good is the ability to choose the opposite of good. We conclude that the origin of evil is in misuse of God-given freedom. ILLUSTRATION: the freedom to drive, but many abuse this freedom and drive recklessly. My irresponsible driving that kills someone makes me responsible for what had happened! Similarly, God is morally accountable for giving His creatures the good thing called FREE WILL, but He is not morally responsible for all the evil we do with our freedom! God made the fact of freedom; we are responsible for the acts of freedom!
Good reason and Scripture inform us that free creatures are held morally responsible for their choices. Lucifer was condemned to eternal separation from God, as were the angels that followed him Rev. 12:4; Jude 6-7). Likewise, Adam and Eve were condemned for their action (Gen.3:1-19).
NEXT: SALVATION – WHAT IT IS AND CAN I LOOSE IT?
