Did God decide that certain specific persons would go to heaven or hell, before he created the world? Did God know everything that would ever happen before he created anything? If so, did God know this because he determined these things would happen, or vice versa?
TABLE of contents
INTRODUCTION
Chosen But Free
Free Will or Divine Sovereignty
God’s Sovereignty
Who Made the Devil Do?
Who Made the Devil?
The Origin of Evil
Reward and Punishment
Free Will and Divine Sovereignty
Seeing the Alternatives
Calvinism
Pelagianism
Arminianism
Depravity and Free Will
Election
Predestination and Human Freedom
Before Knowledge of God
Salvation / Chosen by God and Chosen by Man
CONCLUSION
ATTACHMENT
Predetermined and Freely Chosen
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
Did God decide that certain specific persons would go to heaven or hell, before he created the world? Did God know everything that would ever happen before he created anything? If so, did God know this because he determined these things would happen, or vice versa?[1] These, and similar questions have concerned Christians for centuries and raise the question of human responsibility to accept or reject the good news of the gospel.
In short, the aim of this essay is to develop a Pentecostal-Evangelical doctrine of election referring to the statement: “Man is ... entirely responsible to accept or reject the grace of God.”
Firstly, one pictures divine sovereignty and how it relates to human free will. Here the writer also includes the question of the origin of evil. Secondly, there is a brief overview about the concepts of Calvinism, Pelagianism and Arminianism and a consideration of how much human will is affected by the fall. Lastly, the writer discusses the question of election and determines how this relates to human personal freedom of decision.
The limitation of words leaves no place for a historical-theological explanation or an indepth discussion about the concept of election. The writer simply derives that a significant free will goes to the heart of Christian anthropology and therefore man is entirely responsible for his decisions.[2]
Chosen But Free
Free Will or Divine Sovereignty
God’s Sovereignty
The Bible illustrates a God who is before all things, beyond all things, creates all things, upholds all things, knows all things, can do all things and is ultimately in control of all things.[3] This complete control of all things is called the sovereignty of God. A careful study of scriptures shows, that even human decisions are under God’s control.[4]
However, if God is in complete control of everything, including human choice, then how can man be truly free? Are not sovereignty and significant free will mutually exclusive? To put the problem another way, if God is in control of all events, then how can man be responsible for anything that happens, including his evil actions? Step by step man attempts to discover an answer to these unknowns.
Who Made the Devil Do?
Some excuse their sin, claiming: “The devil made me do it!” However, the problem is even greater, because logically one cannot stop at this point. For if God is in sovereign control of all things, then instead it would appear that, ultimately, “God made me do it.”
Indeed one response to the problem of divine sovereignty and human responsibility is that of strong Calvinism.[5] This response claims that free choice is simply doing as one desires, but man does not desire to act unless God gives him the desire to do so.[6] In the end, one arrives at the crucial question; who caused Lucifer to sin? A logical Calvinistic deduction is (if all desires come from God) then God made Lucifer sin against God![7]
Who Made the Devil?
Here the writer argues that God did not make the devil, and He did not make the devil do it (sin). Rather, God made a good angel called Lucifer, who became the devil by his own free choice to sin. Therefore, in that case, his original evil act was self-caused, that is, caused by himself – which is exactly the view of human free will the strong Calvinist rejects.[8] Otherwise, one would argue that God could be against Himself, but God is essentially good. He cannot sin and does not tempt anyone to sin (Heb. 6:18 / James 1:13).
The Origin of Evil
One of the things God gave His good creatures was a good power called free will. God said to Adam: “You are free … “(Gen. 2:16). Therefore, the power of moral free choice entails the ability to either choose the good God designed for man or to reject it. The latter is called evil. It is good to be free, but freedom makes evil possible. In short, free choice is the origin of evil.
Reward and Punishment
God is morally accountable for giving the good thing called free will, but He is not morally responsible for all the evil man does with his freedom. Praise or blame as man sees it in scripture, but also from common moral wisdom, makes no real sense unless those praising or blaming were free to do otherwise. The Bible clearly shows, that God holds humanity morally responsible, both prior to and after the Fall of Adam. From this viewpoint, the writer concludes that man must have a significant free will. Without a functional will, man’s moral agency would perish and he would be reduced to a sham, a mere chimera with no substantive reality.[9]
Free Will and Divine Sovereignty
The writer briefly demonstrated that God is sovereign over all things, including human events and free choices. On the other hand, the writer has concluded that human beings, even in their fallen state, have the God-given power of free choice.[10] The writer is convinced that the mystery of the relationship between divine sovereignty and human free will, will not be solved by sacrificing human responsibility in order to preserve divine sovereignty (strong Calvinist position); nor by scarifying God’s sovereignty in order to hold on to man’s free will (left wing Arminianism). One must simply assume that from God’s perspective total divine control and human responsibility are compatible.[11] To conclude otherwise would place human understanding above divine revelation. However, relating the essay question, the writer concludes, thus far, that Gods sovereignty does not exclude a significant free will.
[...]
[1] Chad Owen Brand, ed. Perspectives on Election: 5 Views (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 342.
[2] R.C. Sproul, Willing to believe: The Controversy over Free Will (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 28.
[3] Normen L. Geisler, Chosen but free: A Balanced view of divine election (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing
Group, 2001), 14.
[4] See exemplary: Eph. 1:11, Rom. 8:29-30, Eph. 1:4, Acts 2:23, Acts 13:48, John. 1:13, Romans 9:16, Isaiah 8:14, 1 Peter 2:8, …
[5] Speaking about strong Calvinism one refers to the theology summarized in: “total depravity, unconditional predestination, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints.”
[6] Geisler, 20.
[7] Ibid, 21.
[8] Ibid, 21.
[9] Sproul, 28.
[10] The effect of the fall see page 5-7.
[11] David Basinger and Randall Basinger, eds. Predestination & Free Will (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 11.
- Quote paper
- Immanuel Haller (Author), 2010, Chosen But Free, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/196284
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