Revisiting the Doctrine of Free Will
The topic of the doctrine of free will has resurfaced quite a bit in conversations over the past few days, so I thought it might be a good idea to revisit it for those who are standing for marriage restoration and still have questions about it.
Sadly, I couldn’t even begin to count the times men and women have told me that their pastors have quite forcefully counseled them that their spouses have free will and that God will never force them to do anything they don’t want to do; thereby encouraging them to abandon their marriage vows and “get on” with their lives. I honestly don’t mean any disrespect to those who teach or believe that, but I can’t help wondering how much Bible study they’ve done, because I simply don’t see how anyone who has read the Bible can possibly reach that conclusion. Yet many respected Christian leaders apparently do. But to believe that, we also HAVE to believe that God needs OUR permission or approval BEFORE He can do anything in our lives! And that’s just outrageously preposterous on its very face!
But it makes a whole lot more sense when we consider the obvious origin and goal of such a doctrine. And Satan’s fingerprints are very clearly all over this one; because by his very nature, he is anti-Christ, as is ANYTHING that attempts to exalt its knowledge, power and authority over the knowledge, power and authority of God, which is exactly what the doctrine of free will attempts to do.
One verse that simply defies the belief that it is man who determines what God does or doesn’t do is Isaiah 46:11, which says From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. And then there’s Proverbs 21:30, which simply says There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. Then Ephesians 3:4-6 says For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. And I just don’t know how it could be any clearer than Ephesians 1:11-12, which says In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And there’s certainly a problem with how the doctrine of free will squares with Romans 8:29:31, which says For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
As stated earlier, this is not the first time the doctrine of free will has surfaced, so here’s a link to a Seeds Of Faith post I wrote about it over a year ago, when the FAM Fellowship was for women only, titled The False Doctrine Of Free Will.
And in response to recent conversation on this topic, one of the FAM Fellowship members sent me the following article, There Are Only Two Religions in the World!, written by John Reisinger. It’s a wonderful article and really goes into great detail about the choice we all have to make concerning whether we believe in the free will of man or the grace of God, because it’s not possible to truly believe both! And this is an article I strongly encourage anyone standing for marriage restoration to read, even though it’s quite long.
The reason it is SO important to have a Bible based understanding and grasp concerning the fact that God and God alone determines the steps and directions of our lives and that God does in fact have the ability and desire to change the hearts of our prodigal spouses, is so we have the faith and confidence we need to pray with conviction and great expectation that the Lord will change our spouses hearts and turn them back home and to Him. In fact, after reading the above article, I concluded that we all need to rededicate ourselves to simply praying that God will turn our husbands’ and wives’ hearts and minds back to us and that he will turn their hearts and minds away from NCPs and NCPs’ hearts and minds away from them. And since there’s no dispute or doubt that God hates both divorce and adultery, we know that when we pray for that, we are praying in accordance with the will of God and we can count on Him exercising His supernatural power to bring about answers to those prayers by doing exactly what we have asked Him to do, and He will do it all for the glory of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. And when we really and truly understand that, we will certainly be blessed and encouraged as we stand in faith and obedience WITH God for the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families!
I think the easiest way for me to dispose the idea of free will is to look at myself. I had no idea what standing was – God placed it on my heart and in my soul by presenting His Word to me in so many different ways and through so many different people; even when I was not cooperating with Him. He clearly is having His way with me. I couldn’t abandoned my stand for marriage restoration if I wanted to; hence – no free will for me! I thank God for that and give Him honor and glory for all He has done in me.