What about Free Will?

It did not take long for my blog posting on the doctrine of sovereign choice or as it is more commonly called the doctrine of pre-destination to elicit the question "What about free will?". There are multiple scriptures and whole passages within the bible that speak to the subject of the free will of man. However, I believe that it must be stated at the front of this blog that the answer to the question,"What about free will?", needs to be addressed directly and very emphatically. MAN DOES NOT HAVE FREE WILL! I was convinced of this after reading a book by R.C. Sproul several years ago,one of the most famous and well respected theologians in the modern Evangelical church. The book was titled "Willing to Believe". I read that book shortly after I had read another book by R.C.Sproul titled "Faith Alone". At the time I read those books I was a member of a Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel church. My views on the process of salvation were poorly grounded in teachings by non-seminary educated preachers. My understanding at that time, was that for a person to be saved or to be "born again", all was needed was a passioned presentation of the gospel by a witness using the Roman Road set of scriptures. Although those kind of Gospel presentations actually work, most of us do not know the why and the how of how it actually works. I did not know at the time that there was any real theological debate that was on-going among theologians over the process of salvation and the dynamics of all that the process actually entails. After my first reading of both books,my paradigm for understanding the salvation process was obliterated and forever changed. Dr. Sproul eloquently and comprehensively presented the different views of the salvation process, listing their strengths, and ultimately disproving all but the historical Reformed understanding of the salvation process.
Dr. Sproul pointed out that the main issue about the free will of man in choosing God can be reduced to this argument. Is man able to cooperate with God using his own determinate will in his own conversion or is man totally depraved, a slave to rebellion, blind to the presentation of the Gospel, and incapable of comprehending the words of Jesus Christ without initially being regenerated? The bible teaches that man is spiritually dead. And logically if you are spiritually dead you cannot communicate with the Living and Eternal God. The famous passage in John chapter 3:1-21 details the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus and is the best starting point to discuss biblically man's participation in his own salvation. Every Christian is familiar with this passage, and a good many can even quote it, but the exposition of this passage is usually straight forward by most preachers and is not thoroughly unpacked in a complete and comprehensive way. In verse 8, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, states: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.(ESV) I must point out that just as the wind blows where it wishes,(another word for a determinate will), the wind's "will" is compared to the will of the capital S Spirit, which is referring to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings new life where He wishes. Simply stated God chooses who is born again. You cannot even approach God with out Him first choosing you and drawing you (John 6:65). Jesus states emphatically in verse 3: Truly, truly,I say to you,unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (ESV). To describe the vista and the beauty of the Rocky Mountain National Park to someone who was born blind is impossible. They have no frame of reference of vision, or of seeing at all to base their interpretation on. In the same way, without out God acting in a monergistic way to "open and heal our spiritual blindness", there is no frame of reference for a spiritually dead man to choose Him. So, to conclude my part of the argument for man's will being free in the choosing of God, dead men do not choose. Only men who have already been regenerated by God will believe.

See Romans chapter 9, Ephesians chapter 1,John chapter 3, John chapter 6, Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 5, the calling of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, an idolater from the land of Ur, the story of King David's anointing by Samuel to be King, David was the 8th son of Jesse, and he was a sheepherder, read the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis, the calling of the disciples of Jesus, the conversion of Paul on the Damascus road, Acts chapter 13, and verse 48 specifically as some beginning readings to meditate and understand God's sovereignty in choosing who serves Him. Also, there is an excellent link at http://monergism.com/ that has many articles on classical Reformed theology. Dr. Russell Moore's paper at predestined-to-what-why-the-doctrine-of-election-is-so-hard-to-believe at Moore to the Point web page. Dr. Moore is an associate Pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and an academic Dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. See all the sermons on Romans chapter 9 by John Piper at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/.