Do I Have Free Will or Is God in Control? Yes!

For centuries people have questions about how much control they really have over their own lives. Some believe in free will in an extreme way that limits God's sovereignty. Others believe in God's sovereignty in an extreme way that limits man's free will. Either extreme is full of dangers and do not follow biblical teaching.

For instance, if you put too much emphasis on free will, you have no reason to hope in the future. How do we know God will win in the end? Or, how do we know that a nuclear war won't start at any moment and wipe out the planet? More importantly, how do you know that the pain and suffering you are going through has any purpose? Maybe bad things just happen, and you have had bad luck. If God is not in control, there is no reason to truly believe that "all things work together for the good for those who love God," (Romans 8:28).

On the other hand, consider what happens when you doubt that free will is real. If God determines every event and every decision, one begins to lose a sense of individuality. Do I really decide what I am going to do? Am I responsible for my actions? If God has decided everything I will do and think, aren't I just a puppet with no influence on others or even my own direction in life?

Consider Romans 9:17-19: For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?"

Paul points our attention in this debate to the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Interestingly, the account about Pharaoh's hard heart in the book of Exodus alternates between saying that God hardened his heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. 

For instance, "The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." (Exodus 4:21)

But, in Exodus 8:15, "But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

These are just two of many examples. I believe they reveal that the Bible teaches God's complete sovereignty and man's freewill work together.

First, understand that God knows everything about the future. He knows what people will do before they do it. This does not mean that he causes them to do things, only that he knows what they will do. For example, imagine you watch a recorded football game with your friend. Your friend saw the game last night, but you haven't. You are excited when your team wins the game with a last second touchdown. Your friend knew exactly what was going to happen, because he already saw the game. Does this mean your friend caused your team to win the game? Should you thank him for giving your team the victory? Of course not. He simply knew what would happen.

However, God's knowledge of the future goes beyond this. He knows more than what will happen. He knows what will happen in every possible scenario. Going back to the football game, God doesn't simply know who will win the football game and how, he knows who would win the game in every possible scenario. Would there be a different outcome if the weather was 10 degrees warmer and the wind was 5mph stronger? God knows the answer to questions like that, and he also has the ability to influence the weather (and an infinite number of other things).

Consider 1 Samuel 23:10-13: David said, "O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant." And the LORD said, "He will."  Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will." So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.

God was able to tell David what would happen if David did not leave the city of Keilah. David did not stay, so these events did not happen, but they would have happened if he did stay.

In this instance we can say that David determined whether or not the citizens of Keilah would hand over David and his men to Saul. It was his choice. If he stayed, the citizens would have done so. Since he left, they did not. David was ultimately in control of their actions. Notice, however, that the citizens of Keilah still acted according to their free will. David did not force them to do anything, he simply knew what they would do in certain circumstances and made choices to bring about the circumstances he wanted. David was able to do this because God told him what would happen in the future in different circumstances.

God's sovereignty works in the same way. The difference is that he knows what would happen in an infinite number of circumstances and has an infinite number of ways of directing those circumstances. 

God knew that Pharaoh would harden his own heart if Moses and Aaron approached him a certain way. God decided to send Moses and Aaron to him. Thus, it is completely accurate to say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God made the decision as to what was going to happen. However, it is also accurate to say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It was his choice to do what he wanted in the circumstances he was in. It is true that God determined the circumstances knowing what Pharaoh would do, but Pharaoh is completely responsible for his choice.

Understanding events this way is helpful when it comes to trusting the Bible. We can have confidence that all events are part of God's good and perfect plan. We can also understand that we are not simply robots that have no control over our lives. We are responsible to obey God.

Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Meme Responses

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April 11-15 was "Meme Week" on Trust the Bible. I have posted 5 memes that challenge whether or not you can trust the Bible. Here are my responses.

The Bible teaches that Jesus' death and resurrection makes payment for our sins. This was planned out and accomplished by God the Father ("It was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer," Isaiah 53:9). Now, the wrath of God that was pointed at us because of our sin is satisfied by Christ, for all who believe in him (John 3:36). 

This basic message of the Gospel is the hope of all true Christians. Yet, it is often ridiculed. Really all the memes for the week criticize some aspect of this teaching, known as "substitutionary atonement," (Jesus is our substitute, taking God's wrath upon himself in our place). 

The problem with all criticisms of the Gospel are that they take part of the Bible's teaching out of the context of all the other things that the Bible teaches about God. They demonstrate that you cannot pick and choose which essential Bible doctrines you will believe in. They all stand or fall together. 

For instance, the Bible does teach that a man cannot die for the sins of another. The context is that human governments cannot execute someone for a crime that only their father committed. This is a basic principle of justice. But Jesus was not only a man, he was also God. Without the Trinity, the biblical teaching that God is three persons in one being, this meme would correctly identify a contradiction in the Gospel. The reason the Trinity is so important is that it demonstrates that Jesus is not a different being from God the Father. When Jesus suffered on the cross, it was in accordance with the Father's will AND Jesus' will. He went to Jerusalem knowing exactly what would happen. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit accomplished our salvation together. 

These memes imply that the Father took some innocent bystander, a man named Jesus, and killed him so he wouldn't have to kill guilty people like us. That is not the Bible's message. In addition, when the Bible says that human governments cannot kill someone for the sins of someone else, the Bible is not talking about atonement. It is saying that the innocent can't suffer because it violates justice. The idea of someone suffering to make payment for someone else's sins isn't addressed at all. But much of the Bible does teach the principle of substitutionary atonement. It is in the sacrificial system, in Passover, and in many of the stories of the Old Testament. Jesus was the fulfillment of these prophetic events. He willingly became our substitute, demonstrating God's love (John 3:16), not his injustice. God the Father did not enjoy causing the suffering of his Son, but he did it in coordination with the Son to display his great love and that he is "just and the one who justifies sinners" (see especially Romans 3:25-26). In short, the problem with all of these memes is that they rip one of the Bible's teachings out of the context of the others, creating an apparent "problem" that is solved by placing the teaching back into the full context.

*Note: I removed the face of God in the second meme because I think any imagery of God violates the second commandment, you shall make no graven images. Images of Jesus are fine because he was a man who walked on earth, but not of God the Father because any human made image will necessarily detract from the glorious appearance of God.

The God of the Bible does kill people. Bible skeptics are often frustrated when they read numerous passages in the Bible that say just that (two examples should immediately come to mind: the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah), but Christians seem to gloss over them and pretend that God is always nice to everyone. I really have two responses to two different groups. 

First, to Bible skeptics: you use this meme to suggest there is something immoral about God, that he is cruel. Once again, the problem is that you have separated one Bible teaching from the others. You are taking it out of context. If God swooped in from somewhere out in the universe, he would be cruel to kill people. But this is not the God of the Bible. He created the universe. No one would exist at all apart from his will. Since we are his creation, he has ownership of us and we reflect his glory (much like a painting reflects the abilities of a painter). God is not out of place when he judges, his own glory is at stake. We cannot ask God, "Who are you to judge?" He is God, he is the judge of all, because we are all his, by definition, because he is our creator. In addition, God himself came to the cross to die for us! God kills people in judgment because he is just, but much more shocking is that God himself actually died for us. The fact that God doesn't kill everyone of us in judgment for our sin is a shocking display of his mercy and love. 

The second group to address is Christians. Do you feel the need to defend God about this? Don't. Sometimes it seems that we are embarrassed by God when someone points out that he kills and judges. We don't need to be. He is demonstrating his justice. We simply need to point out that this just judge has also offered us forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.

Jesus does command love (Mt. 22:37) and will send people to hell (see especially Matthew 25:31-46). But something seems wrong about this meme. Once again, it is out of the context of all the other things Jesus says and does. According to the Bible, people are headed towards hell because of sin. Even if you have an admiring love for Jesus, you have sinned in other ways, and deserve to go to hell. The only people who avoid hell are those who are saved by Jesus. He does not want anyone to go to hell, and his choice to experience the agonizing death on the cross was so that a great multitude would not go to hell. The Bible says that because of Jesus' great love for us, we can repent of our sins and trust in Jesus to save us from hell.

Many do go to hell, because God is just. He cannot simply forget about our sin. That is good news. If God was not just, there would be no perfect being that we would have the opportunity to spend all eternity living with and worshiping.  

Love in the Bible is not a romantic feeling. It is action. It is action that benefits others even at a personal cost to you. Jesus loved us while we were sinners. Being a sinner means you do not obey God's commands - you do not really love Jesus. You actually don't and can't love Jesus until you are already saved and promised eternal life in heaven. Even then, we often fail to love Jesus by our actions, and yet, Jesus continues to love us no matter what!

This one is easy. God will ultimate stop all these things. God is also not responsible for them. God created the world without any of these things, man's sin has brought them into the world. God allows pain and suffering for a time in order to accomplish a greater good that is coming.

In addition, this argument once again leaves out the context of suffering. God is not unfamiliar with suffering, but went to the cross, suffering because of our sins. He could have simply wiped out the world in the flood and left no survivors. He would be perfectly right and just to do so. But his love is far greater than we can imagine. I finish my response to the meme above by remaking it into the meme below:

Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Marriage

Jesus taught his followers that the Bible guides us to true success in life. Down to the smallest detail, if there is something we need to know in order to live a successful life, God has included it in the Bible. Certainly we should expect the Bible to have a lot to say about one of the most important aspects of life, marriage. In an ideal situation, you will spend more time with your spouse than anyone else in your life. Marriage can bring the greatest joys, and also some of the greatest sorrows in life. More importantly, your view of marriage, how strong your commitment to your spouse must be, when to get married, who to marry, what you can and cannot do outside of marriage, and more present some of the greatest challenges to living a life faithful to God's teachings. As a pastor I find people struggle with these kinds of questions more than any other when it comes to choosing God's ways rather than what seems right in our own eyes.

What are some basic biblical teachings on marriage? First, marriage was created by God as a blessing for humanity. God says in Genesis 2:18, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." The Bible says some have a special ability given by God to be satisfied without a "helper," or companion in life, others are prevented from this blessing due to tragic circumstances. However, the normal pattern is that a man and a woman are created to be together.

Second, marriage is for a lifetime. Jesus says, "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." (Matthew 19:19). Why? Jesus quotes from Genesis 2 in his explanation of marriage: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:5-6)

The idea is that a marriage occurs when God joins two people together. A divorce that a government issues does not undo what God has done. Divorce and remarriage in God's view is adultery. Who is guilty of adultery in a divorce? Sometimes both are, sometimes one spouse was faithful and the other spouse left the marriage to be with someone else. That is why Jesus adds, "except for marital unfaithfulness." Only the spouse who broke the marriage vows is guilty of adultery. The point is that even in circumstances that may require a legal divorce (abuse, drug problems, etc.) in God's view this does not free you to be with someone else. Only when the other spouse has abandoned the marriage is the marriage really over. Marriage cannot end without sin on the part of one or both parties.

Third, marriage is between one man and one woman. Although there are many instances of polygamy in the Bible, these relationships are never condoned. Genesis teaches that "the two will become one flesh," and Jesus quotes this as the authoritative teaching on marriage. Jesus also rules out any type of marriage that is not between a man and a woman, once again citing Genesis: "The Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'"? (Matthew 19:4-5). "Male and female" is a quote from Genesis 1. In other words, Jesus goes out of his way to emphasize that marriage is a special relationship designed for a man and a woman. Despite the interpretive gymnastics done by some to suggest the Bible might allow for same-sex marriages, Jesus clearly disagrees.

Fourth, and perhaps most controversial, the Bible teaches that sex is reserved for those in a marriage relationship. "The two will become one flesh," is a reference to the sexual relationship that displays physically what is happening spiritually between the two. Sex is not designed to be enjoyed outside of the bond of marriage. There is an assumption in Israelite law that when sex does occur between two people who are not married, they should then marry (see Exodus 22:16 and Deuteronomy 22:28). While this is the preferred response, it is not absolute (see Exodus 22:17). The implication is that sex is an act that is designed as part of the marriage relationship. Leviticus 18 also gives a rather lengthy list of outright prohibited sexual activities, including homosexuality. The context demonstrates that this list is not simply Old Testament commands that are for the Israelites alone, but for all cultures and times (see Leviticus 18:24-28).

In conclusion, God has created marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman for a lifetime, and sexual intimacy is reserved for the husband and wife who have entered into this covenant relationship.

A number of questions and objections immediately come up. What if I have already broken one of these principles? Paul writes, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Then the question is, what does God want you to  do now? Once you answer that, the next question is, will you obey? Never use the offer of God's forgiveness as an excuse to sin.

Another response is, "Why does God want me to be miserable?" Or, "Why doesn't he want me to have any fun?" Here is where trusting God is so important. You may feel like this is what following God's law will do. In fact, it may require sacrifices. However, following God's law will always be for your good in the long run. God is more concerned with your holiness than your level of happiness right now. God is your creator and knows everything about you - even your eternal future. He is infinitely better equipped to know what is really best for you.

Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html