And I chose to be a Calvinist!
This is a debate between those who espouse "free will" theology vs. those who proclaim so called "predestination" theology.
But this is somewhat of an unfair misnomer to the predestination team because predestination theology teaches that men do have and always will follow their free will. What? Does this mean that we've rendered the debate moot because both sides are the same? Not at all. A comparison is in order.
Both free will (FW) and predestination (P) camps say that man has a free will and will follow it. The difference is that FW says that man could and sometimes does want to choose God whereas P says that natural man will absolutely never want to chose God.
Before we go farther I think some discussion about how the will works will be helpful. If your walking down a dark side street and someone with a gun pops out from behind a dumpster and says "your money or your life!" is your will still free? Yes it is. You still have a decision to make. It's true that your options have been limited but you still have to choose. Here's another example. Suppose a child is told to mop the floor by his mother and the child obeys. Does the child want to mop? In one sense no and in another, more precise sense, yes. If you where to ask him he would say no. All things being equal moping isn't what he wanted to do. But here's the kicker, all things weren't equal. The child's options where limited down to these either don't mop and suffer the consequence or do mop and receive the benefits of obedience. The child was free to make that decision and the child did exactly what he wanted, thus it is correct to say that in that situation the child had a free will.
So, to bring this back to the question at hand, P theology says that every one has a free will and that every one does exactly what they want and that what natural men want is to sin and remain in rebellion against God. Thus natural man can't choose God because natural man will never want to choose God. (remember, everyone does exactly what they want)
FW theology says that every one has a free will and that every one does exactly what they want and that what natural men want is sometimes to sin and sometimes to follow God depending on the individual.
This is the key difference and FW says that some natural men want to follow God and P says that no natural man wants to follow God.
Which is correct? What does the Bible say? These verses have been quoted before but I'll quote them again.
Genesis 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually."
Is someone who's thoughts are only evil
continually ever going to want to choose God?
Psalm 53:2-3 "God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one”
God is looking for someone, anyone, who wants to follow him, someone who wants to choose God. How many does He see? Not a single one. Every one has turned aside. That doesn't mean most people. That doesn't mean everyone in a particular time era or geographical location. That means every single "child of a man", in other words, if your human you don't seek after God.
I think this point can't be overstated, there is absolutely no one who ever wants to serve God.
How do men get saved then? Natural man is dead in sin (dead men can't chose to serve anyone can they?) but God choses to make some alive. (see Ephesians 2) He renews our will so that we freely choose what before we freely rejected.
Then, is how language like Ephesians 1:13 fit in? It says " In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth..." The Ephesians trusted God after they had already been made alive.
Look at Ephesians 2:5 "5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) "
And in the same way verses like
Matthew 3:23 where it talks about people rejecting Jesus fit in because they haven't been made alive and therefore are still "turned aside" and "they have together become corrupt." So we can see that P theology fits all of the verses that have been quoted. And we can see that FW is at odds with the verses that have been quoted. I would again like to direct your attention to these verses:
Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance."
Psalm
65:4 "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with
the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple."
Acts 13:48 "And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of
the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."
John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:65 "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."
Ephesians
1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:"
That's predestination for you. I hope it was sufficiently lucid.
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