Discussion

Free-Will / Human Ability

Let us start with the creation of man. What was man like before the fall? The scriptures tell us that “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”* (Genesis 1:27) This image of God is identified in Colossians 3:10, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,” and Ephesians 4:24, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The fall into sin was a change in the moral nature of man. We read, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”* (Ephesians 4:22) Man was not created with this corrupt nature, for “God created man in his own image.”* (Genesis 1:27) “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”* (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Please note that it is possible for this corruptible, fallen nature, according to the deceitful lusts, to be restored to the original purity. “Renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” The prophet David, looking ahead to the grace of God that bringeth salvation, stated, “He restoreth my soul.”* (Psalm 23:3) Thank the Lord for the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness!

We can see immediately that the old nature is not obliterated or annihilated, but it is corrupted. Just as physical death is not obliteration or annihilation, but a separation of the inner man and the outer (1 Kings 17:21; Genesis 35:18), so spiritual death is not obliteration or annihilation either, but the separation of the soul of man from God by sin. Adam and Eve died inside that day in the Garden of Eve, for their sin separated between them and God. “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear.”* (Isaiah 59:2) As long as there was no sin in Adam and Eve, there was no separation (death) between them and God, and they walked and talked with God day after day. But when they died, spiritually, by sinning, an awful change took place in them. They were aware of what happened to them, and they feared the presence of the Lord. Far from being insensitive to the voice of God, they remembered it all too well and hid. The problem was not that they were not aware of God anymore; it was that they were out of harmony with God in their now defiled natures.

The conscience of Adam bothered him, and the conscience of Eve bothered her. Even though their natures were defiled by sin, and they were dead in trespasses and sins, they hid. Here the words of Paul speak with great authority: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”* (Romans 2:14-16) The consciences of Adam and Eve accused them. The conclusion is inescapable: God has preserved a certain thing in the hearts of fallen men, namely, “the work of the law written in their hearts,” which was not eradicated by the fall. Their consciences bear witness, their thoughts accusing or excusing one another, even though they are dead in trespasses and sins.

Now, no man has ever yet been saved by his conscience or ever will be, and it is possible to sear the conscience so that it is very weak and ineffective (1 Timothy 4:2). But note that not all who are dead in trespasses and sins have seared their conscience. Again, the conclusion is inescapable: sinful man has a mechanism in him, placed by God, which produces an awareness of right and wrong and condemns or approves accordingly. The conscience may not be accurate as is necessary for holy living, but it goes about its God-appointed task as best it can. When an individual is saved, and their nature is changed, their conscience reflects the change, as well. “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience.”* (1 Timothy 1:5) “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”* (1 Timothy 1:19)” “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.”* (2 Corinthians 1:12)

We see this God-given capability (given to all men) working in the folks who accused the woman of adultery before Jesus. “They which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one.”* (John 8:9) You may say, “Well, it was God talking to them, and that made the difference.” Yes, but He was speaking through that way that He had placed within them—the conscience. They were convicted by their own conscience. These men were some of the Lord’s opposers, who did not have ears to hear. But, they were convicted by their own conscience. The problem was not that they did not see. The problem was that they did not yield and act according to their conviction. Instead, they went out, one by one. Their thoughts were accusing them and telling them that they were wrong and needed help, but they left.

“Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”* (Acts 14:16-17) The reader can see at a glance that the nature of fallen man, dead (separated) in trespasses and sins, still has a certain sensibility toward the workings and doings of God. A man in sin can experience a certain gratitude for God’s goodness, the rain and fruitful seasons, and these can fill his unsaved heart with food and gladness, for God has not left Himself without witness. When we read the words of the Psalmist, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard,”* (Psalm 19:13) we realize that God is continually talking to all men, everywhere, and the appointed voice is heard by all. It certainly is not understood correctly all the time, yet God has not left Himself without witness. It all nudges man in the right direction, if he will hear it. All mankind is surrounded by the goodness of God. Men are not oblivious to these divine influences in their lives; they are greatly hindered from getting a hold on them because of sin. But they all bring a merciful influence to bear.

Note the understanding of the Apostle Paul as he preaches to the folks at Athens, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”* (Acts 17:24-28) Notice first the universality of Brother Paul’s statements. He includes all who are given life, breath, and everything else; yes, all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. Could words more emphatically express the fact that Paul was speaking of all men? And what was he stating about everyone? “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.” Could words more accurately express what Brother Paul knew, that God has made a way for all men to seek after Him and find Him? That God has given unsaved men, who know Him not, the capacity to feel after Him? Brother Paul knew that the Spirit of God strives with all men everywhere and that God was not far from every one of us, therefore he was encouraging all who would to start feeling after God that they might find Him.

Now this fact has great implications. Every time the Lord deals with us, we are either the better for it (if we yield) or the worse (if we resist). Therefore, God can control how hardened we are or not, by how He deals with us. Because He knows all about us and reads the condition of our heart as an open book, He understands what will happen to us if He deals in such and such a manner with us in any given way. Therefore, without arbitrarily overriding our given ability to choose, He can, by the manner and frequency of His dealing, affect our heart’s condition indirectly. It is rather like dealing with a child with a certain disposition. Because you are a discerning adult, and can project fairly accurately what his/her reaction will be, you can deal with the child in such a manner as to calm him or make him mad. And this can happen without you actually taking away from him his ability to choose how he responds.

The Lord spoke in parables to those who were outside in complete accordance with the choice that they had already made to reject truth and light. Their response to God’s prior dealings with them put them in a fearful situation, namely, “that seeing, they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”* (Mark 4:12) “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”* (Mark 4:25) “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”* (John 9:39) How dangerous it is to reject or trifle with God’s dealings with you! It can cause you to lose what perceptiveness you have (as a result of God’s mercy to you), and you can end up being unable to perceive at all and to find forgiveness, the dealings of the Lord becoming a perfect mystery to you and your doom certain!

But note that this condition was a stage in a progression of their rejection of God’s dealings with their heart. They had not always been in that condition, but had reached it by hardening themselves through resistance to the Holy Spirit striving with their heart. Truly, “Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”* (Proverbs 28:14) God has given to man the fearsome and weighty responsibility that comes from the ability to harden our own heart, and He, by His dealing with us, can take advantage of that fact to indirectly harden our heart by the way that He deals with us, while still leaving us with the solemn responsibility of giving account for our own choices.

Truly, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”* (John 6:44) Both our brother of the opposing position and ourselves believe that our need is such that God must help us, else we are lost. Where we differ is this: we believe that the Bible teaches that God deals with all men, sufficient to fix responsibility, and that He hath allowed all men the right to choose, to accept life or death, by either yielding to His entreaties or rejecting them. Here the scriptures speak with great authority, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”* (2 Peter 3:9) And lest we should think that this applies only to a certain group of mankind, the inspired record states “that all should come to repentance,” yea, “now commandeth all men every where to repent.”* (Acts 17:30) “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”* (1 Timothy 2:4) Who can read these plain declarations of the desire and will of God without realizing that God loves everybody, wants everybody, and is doing all He can within the limits that He Himself has imposed on Himself and His creation to get everybody to repent, be forgiven, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth? Nor have we scarcely begun to even touch on the multitude of scriptures that bear on this point, for “that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”* (Hebrews 2:9) “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”* (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) He died for all, so that all could be saved, but the Apostle Paul readily recognized that only a certain number of the all for whom the blood was shed would live, because only a few would choose to walk the narrow way.

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Total Inability / Total Depravity

There are many facets and implications of the view some people call “the predestination view.” For those that haven’t had the opportunity to ponder at length upon these theological issues, I think it most profitable to start by saying that all believers must believe in predestination by some definition. The scriptures use this word, “having predestined us to adoption as sons”* (Ephesians 1:5)NKJV; “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined.”* (Romans 3:29)NKJV We cannot deny the term, but proceed to define what we mean as accurately as possible. Two of the most common views might say this: First, God predestined individuals. Secondly, God predestined either the means of salvation or believers in general, not in particular.

I think the very crux of the issue between “Calvinism” and “Arminianism” is our presuppositions regarding our understanding of God and man. These two positions, as they unfold, start using terms that most are familiar with, “The Sovereignty of God” and “The Free-will of Man.”

Before entering into the “Sovereignty/Free-will” realm, I must begin with my view of what the scriptures say about man’s condition. I see that we are Dead: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”* (Romans 5:12)NKJV For, as God commanded our first parents, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”* (Genesis 2:17)NKJV We know that they did not die physically “that day” but that they did spiritually. We do know however, that their bodies did start dying that day, but that is because of the effects that sin had upon their bodies.

We are also Blind and Deaf: “And he said to them, ‘To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that, “Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven.” ' ”* (Mark 4:11-12)NKJV This “limiting” statement follows what Jesus had just said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”* (Mark 4:9)NKJV This shows the general call to repentance and belief, but only the “hearing” or “seeing” will be forgiven.

This leads into the next point, we are Uninstructable: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”* (1 Corinthians 2:14)NKJV Paul, in his letter to the Romans, quotes from the Psalms to give us his understanding of the unregenerate man, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”* (Romans 3:10-12)NKJV Paul here is not saying that all men are as evil as they can be, but is saying that man is evil in all areas of life. Even “good” men are at enmity against God. Even many men that prophesy in His name, or cast out demons in His name, or do many wonders in His name are never known of God, and are still viewed as practicing lawlessness (Matt. 7:21-23).

The question then becomes, where do we go from here? Can we save ourselves? “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one”* (Job 14:4)NKJV! “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”* (Jeremiah 13:23)NKJV

God’s blessed response, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… but God who is rich in mercy… even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”* (Ephesians 2:15)NKJV “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”* (Romans 5:10)NKJV “[Our Lord] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”* (2 Timothy 1:9)NKJV

Space forbids any full treatment of God’s sovereign choice of His people, but the scriptures are quite clear:

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you.”* (John 15:16)NKJV

“Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?”* (Romans 9:21)NKJV

“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”* (Matthew 11:25-26)NKJV

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”* (Matthew 20:16)NKJV

“And He said to them, ‘To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that “Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven.” ' ”* (Mark.4:11-12)NKJV

“Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’ ”* (John 12:39-40)NKJV

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”* (Ephesians 1:45)NKJV

“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”* (1 Thessalonians 5:9)NKJV

“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”* (2 Thessalonians 2:13)NKJV

“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”* (Romans 9:15-16)NKJV

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”* (Ephesians 1:4-5)NKJV

The matter comes down here to our view of what salvation really is. Romans 8:7-8 states, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”NKJV Can one who is “Dead,” “Blind,” “Deaf,” or “Uninstructable” believe? Wouldn’t “believing” or “having faith” “please God”? Can a person “please God” before he is saved? Isn’t it true that we are a child of God or a child of the devil? Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do…. He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”* (John 8:44,47)NKJV Are not God’s words, “Believe in Me”? Are not God’s words, “Have faith”? But only His sheep hear His voice (John 10:3). The call goes out to all, but all will not come. Only His sheep, or His children, will follow Him and do His works.

John 3 gives us the beautiful illustration of this. Many may point to 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”* (John 3:16)NKJV But, the context is completely ignored. Verse 18 says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”NKJV From this statement we can go two different directions. One, all we have to do is start believing and we will “get saved.” Or, “Believers” are not condemned, and those that are condemned have been condemned all along because they have not believed.

This is a very subtle difference but becomes very clear in verses 19 to 21, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”NKJV We are either attracted to the light or repulsed by it. Coming to the light is a “good thing” and can only be done in the Spirit (Romans 8:9). No one seeks after God that is repulsed by the light (Romans 3:10-12). God raises the dead and makes the blind to see. We “believe” because and after we are made alive and see. Then we follow the Great Shepherd.