Free Will

Sunday morning December 2, 1855, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the greatest gospel Preacher of his day, stepped into the pulpit at the New Park Street Chapel and delivered a classic sermon entitled “Free-Will---A Slave.”

 

Jesus taught the free will was bogus, but then far too many Christians do not believe or believe in Christ Jesus!

 

Matt 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

 

 

Robert Schuller teaches the power of positive thinking!  He does not teach Christ, or the Gospel of Christ Jesus!  Instead, he teaches a humanistic concept called Positive Thinking!  The Church he pastors may never have heard the Gospel of Christ Jesus!

 

Unlike those who attempt to preach that man’s will is more powerful that God, Spurgeon correctly used Scripture to prove his point.

 

His Focal text: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40)

 

I must admit that the Bible text does not come across to English in the same manner it is written in Greek.  So, if you are offended by the Greek text, leave now.

 

The corrected translation is, “Y’all’s desire is not to come to Me so that y’all may have life.”

 

That may be a bit “southern” for many of you, but it is correct!

 

Before we get too deep into our study let me make this point. “Free will” or “freewill” is found only in the Old Testament and only used in reference to the giving of offerings!

 

During Spurgeon’s lifetime, there was a great debate between Arminianists and Calvinists.  That debate is still ongoing with one major change.  Today the insistence on teaching free will is found in many Presbyterian and Baptist Churches.  All so-called “full-gospel” Churches have abandoned the Bible is favor of free will!

 

In our day, the main argument now revolves around the fact that God is not calling robots.  Who can disagree with that?

 

I have searched the Bible in several versions and sure enough, the word “robot” does not appear in any of them!

 

So, up front, let’s agree that God does not want “robots!”

 

The fact is that we have not come up to the status of robots!

 

We are merely lumps of clay!

 

In Romans 9:21, Paul states that the Potter has power over the lump clay.  And yet, perhaps the vast majority of so-called Christians scream out in denial!

 

 

Do you deny the power of the Potter?

 

 

Many do exactly that!  Their human sense of self will not bow to Christ!

 

God is now molding the clay into the vessels He desires them to be!  The molding process may not be what some think it should be, but it is for our benefit!

 

Some feel that they must make themselves “willing” to come to Christ when invited.  That would be a neat trick if possible.

 

But the fact, is we are never “invited” to come to Christ!  We are commanded to come, but not invited!  Read the Bible and find within the New Testament where any person was “invited” to follow Christ! In the Greek text “Follow me” is imperative!  It is a command!

 

Christ is the Shepherd and we are His sheep! Does the Shepherd lead the sheep where He wants to go, or does He ask permission or take a vote to determine where the flock goes?

 

Do you have a free will?

Perhaps, but it is an extremely limited free will.

 

Matt 6:27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (NKJV)

 

In case you do not know the answer to Jesus’ question, let me offer a one-word clue, “None!”

 

If your free will is so strong why can’t you change your height?

 

In like manner, self-salvation is entirely unbiblical!

 

Salvation is not a matter of mental gymnastics.

 

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (NKJV)

 

 

We are completely UN-able to lead the Holy Spirit! The Bible never intimates that we can lead the Holy Spirit at any time to do anything!  And yet, that is exactly what all “free will” teachers say is what happens when we acknowledge Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior! At that point, they say that we have control of the salvation process! They may be offended that what I just said, but that is inferred in their teaching!

 

As I said, we are merely lumps of clay being molded by the Master Potter into what He has pre-determined what we shall be.

 

Many years ago, a young man named Saul was a Jewish whiz kid.  He was smart and mean!  He was so mean that he went to the High Priests in Jerusalem and asked for warrants to arrest and persecute all the Christians he could find in the city of Damascus, and they authorized his mission!  Early on a Monday morning (while you may think it was another day, try proving me wrong) Saul woke up and thought to himself, “I know that I will soon be on my way to arrest Christians in Damascus, but I think instead that I will acknowledge Christ Jesus and demand that He appear to me as I travel!”

 

WRONG!!!

 

We do NOT control God!

 

The Egyptian Pharaoh found that out the hard way!

 

When Moses told him, “Let my people go,” The Pharaoh rejected the idea until his first born lay dead!

 

You may think that Pharaoh was using his free will, but look again!

 

Ex 10:1 Now the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, (NKJV)

 

 

All choice was taken from Pharaoh!

 

 

Pharaoh’s meager will was no match for God omnipotent will!

 

All “free will” teachers think that they are in charge of God!

 

Both Saul and Pharaoh had no idea that their responses were pre-determined!

 

It is not by your free will that you were saved, it is by God’s grace alone!

 

It was not according to what you do, but according to what Christ has done!

 

Your works, or lack thereof, have no influence on God concerning your salvation, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!

 

You did not mentally decide to commit sin!  When you sin, it is a reflection of the sin nature that resides within each and every human being! 

 

Romans 11:32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. (NKJV)

 

 

Try fitting Romans 11:32 into the “free will” frame!

 

Because we are all bound up under sin it is impossible for us to “choose” to become righteous!  Instead, it is God who brings us righteousness in the person of His Son Christ Jesus!  It is not our work!  It is His mercy and grace!

 

Before our personal confrontation with Christ we were all dead in trespasses and sins, and “Dead men don’t make decisions!”

Some may tell us that we may lose the salvation that Christ brings. But is that true?

 

Heb 13:5b “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJV)

 

 

How do we leave Someone who will not leave us?

 

How do we walk away from the omnipresent God?

 

How can we become un-baptized out of Him?

 

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (NKJV)

 

Salvation may be a gift, BUT we too are gifts to Christ. We have been given by the Father to the Son!

 

In my lifetime, I have received many gifts, but not one of them has said, “I really don’t want to be here.”

 

The fact remains that unless led to do so by the Holy Spirit we will not come to Christ!

 

Christianity is not man in search of God!  Christianity is God in search of man!

 

God is not lost! We are!

 

Do you believe Christ?

 

John 6:44 ”No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;” (NKJV)

 

“Draws” (Gr. helkuō-ἑλκύω) in Greek also means “drags!”

 

Did you ever think that God drags you to Christ?

 

Many Church attendees do not believe what Christ said! 

 

Oh, they may believe that a man named Jesus lived many centuries ago, but they do not believe what He said!

 

The fact is that none may come to Christ unless the Father draws/drags him to Christ Jesus!

 

Has God the Father drawn you, or did you join a church (lower case c) due to emotion or social acceptance?

 

What happens to those who try to sneak into the true Church? Christ Jesus told us about those who attempt to get in without the proper garment, the righteousness of His Son, Christ Jesus!

 

Matt 22:11-14
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

 

All who attempt to get in by any other means except Christ Jesus shall be dealt with in like manner!

 

Verse 14 in the above Scriptures is little understood.  God’s call is universal, however His choosing is individual. Many are now called without being chosen! Many are called, BUT few are chosen! Being called is not the issue. Being chosen is! You may not come to Christ unless you are chosen to do so.

 

Prior to the parable about those trying to enter without the garment of righteousness provided by God’s grace we find another parable concerning who will and who will not be allowed in!

 

Luke 14:16-24
16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'
18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.'
19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.'
20 Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'
21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'
22 And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'
23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' " (NKJV)

 

Those in the first group would not come because their free will did not allow them to come.  The excuses they gave were flimsy at best!

 

We do not come to Christ by means of our free will! We come to Him by means of His choosing!

 

Look again at verse 23 in the above section.

 

Luke 14:23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (NKJV)

 

Notice that they are compelled! The first group was invited and their free will prevented their coming to the wedding.  The second group was compelled! Their “free will” has no affect on the work and power of God!

 

We are the second group!  We are compelled to come!  That is why Christ did not invite the Apostles.  Instead, He commanded them!

 

But, why won’t the human free will work in the matter of salvation and coming to Christ?

 

Remember our focal text: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40) And the corrected translation: “Y’all’s desire is not to come to Me so that y’all may have life.”

 

The entire title of the sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon that inspired this article is “Free-will---A slave”! A slave to whom? A slave to sin!

 

It does not matter how likeable you are socially.  Until you have been converted your “free will” is a slave to the sin nature.

 

The human free will is infected, yes infected by the human sin nature! The sin nature is a barrier that human effort cannot overcome!

 

Read chapter 6 of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  In it you will find that the word “sin,” the majority of uses there is a noun. In many of the uses of “sin” the Greek definite article is used, but not brought out in the English translations. 

 

Most translators ignore the Greek definite article because they translate from a linguistic position with no understanding of the Spirit!

 

“The sin” is a reference to the sin nature, which due to the fall of mankind is resident in each and every human being. The sin nature is dominant in each person, and controls each person until the Holy Spirit causes a conversion of the spirit. That lack of conversion prevents us from coming to Christ so that we may have life!

 

Until we are chosen we are not able to come to Him!  Your will is not allowing you to come!

 

Many point to the Old Testament to claim “free will.”

 

Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; (NKJV)

 

 

For just a moment, let’s assume that the ancient Israelites exercised their “free will.”

 

 

Did they choose to accept Christ, or did they crucify Him?

 

 

Their “free will” did not serve them too well!

 

 

However, they did not use their “freewill!” The shedding of Christ’s blood for the sins of the world was foreordained!

 

 

Isaiah 53:6c the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  (NKJV)

 

 

Do you believe that God “works all in all”? (1 Cor 12:6/NKJV)

 

Do you believe that God works all things according to the counsel of His will? (Eph 1:11/NKJV)

 

 

Do you believe Christ?

 

“And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40)

 

Do you believe the Truth

 

 

***If you wish to read Charles H. Spurgeon’s text click here.

 

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