A Measure of Free Will

I believe we have a certain measure of free will.   I believe that measure of free will has to do with the ability to make choices, even of a spiritual nature.  The argument is over there is any ability to make any kind of choices of a spiritual nature due to one’s fallen, sinful nature.

 

Free will does not mean one can do something he was not created to do, like choose to grow wings and fly like a bird.   Some will argue that one cannot respond to God positively because of his fallen nature, and this is why will require regeneration before one can respond, while others will say it’s not regeneration, but something like it—like a “quickening” (using the King James language in Ephesians 2.5) in which one is able to believe the gospel, and then they receive regeneration.  I would seriously question that there is both a quickening and a regeneration, because the quickening is really just another term for being made alive which is the same as regeneration:  it is the impartation of eternal life.  Whether one is regenerated or “quickened,” they surely mean the same thing, but I believe Scripture is clear that regeneration happens when we believe, not before we believe. 

 

Some (or many) believe in “total depravity,” which says one is totally unable to respond to God positively.  According to this total depravity, if man has any free will, it is within the limits of his total depravity, and that depravity is such that for him to respond to God, there must be regeneration or a quickening of some sort first.  

 

There was this guy who use to ridicule the idea of free will with a fictional story.  He told the story about a boy who grew up in a home in which his father told him that chocolate ice cream was bad for him, that it was poison, and if he ate it, he would die.  This was constantly taught to the child.  So, when the father and son went to get ice cream, and the offer was made to him of either vanilla or chocolate, he would obviously choose vanilla.  He could not by his free will choose chocolate because of his conditioning.  But this story leaves out the fact that one could be persuaded contrary to what he was always taught and accepted as true.  Choices are not always made in such an environment as this story, but even in such an environment, what difference could it have made if a reliable source and demonstration showed that the father was a liar?  What if the grandfather came along and told the boy that his father was not truthful, that he loved chocolate and always tried to keep it all to himself.  The grandfather said Chocolate ice cream is not poisonous, and to demonstrate it, he ate some in his presence.  The boy could know that his father lied, and so could actually then choose to have it.  This is the part the guy would leave out: the power of persuasion by demonstration to change one’s mind.  This is where free will actually does work, because through demonstration and persuasion, one can choose differently, even against previous beliefs and feelings. It is how I understand repentance as the resolve to think or do differently due to persuasion.

 

This is why God in Romans 11.11 can be said to be seeking to provoke the Jews to jealousy by salvation coming to the gentiles.  (I think this salvation is probably more than justification, but the purpose of God to have a people for his name through the gentiles.)  Why would God need to do this if he just needed to “quicken” or regenerate them to believe?  God, by putting gentiles into a role of privilege and blessing as the people for his purpose, just as previously was the nation of Israel, could stir up the unbelieving Jews to what they had missed, and then some might choose to seek the truth about the person of Jesus and come to the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus for salvation.  

 

Free will involves the ability to choose between different options.  Sometimes, a choice that seems very unlikely can be helped along by persuasion and repentance.  People can be persuaded to make choices contrary to what they prefer or desire, because they are persuaded otherwise.  It may be that some our more stubborn than others, or more fearful.  The reasons why some respond one way and others another is complex.  But if we are talking about salvation, why is it any different than anything else people agree and disagree on?  Why is it we make responding to the way of eternal life different than the way people respond to anything else?  I think because of certain theology that is so engrained in the thinking of so many.  Some are willing to be persuaded otherwise.  It’s probably often the case that one won’t be persuaded about anything unless they are willing to consider other arguments and have questions. 

 

By a “measure of free will,” I believe we have the capacity to make choices and to have a change of mind, if we are willing to consider different viewpoints and evidence that may be contrary to what we have believed before.