Clearing Some Fog On The Freedom Of The Will

I want to attempt what feels like the near impossible with this post. We were talking about the freedom of the will in Sunday school and it became clear again that this is a sticky subject. There are multiple reasons for this, but I want to deal with the most problematic feature of it: confusing words.

We know that communication is hard. It is even harder when there are theological issues at play that don’t sit well with the sinful heart. But we are shooting a 12 gauge slug into our collective foot when we use words in poor ways. Words need to be distinct and words need to be well defined; and it’s unfortunate that neither of these needs are happening when we are talking about the freedom of the will. So I want to try to clear that up and hopefully give traction for better discussions.

What are the problem words? They are, sadly enough, the central words in the whole discussion: freedom and will. These have to be far more defined if any discussion is going to make progress. So let’s define what we are talking about.

There are three different ways that people talk about “freedom.” When using only the term freedom without any other qualifier, we are left struggling to know what is really being talked about. I will define freedom with qualifiers:

• Freedom of choice – This is the freedom to make real and actual choices. These choices make a person culpable of sin because they are being made by a moral agent who is accountable for sin. Everyone has this freedom. Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,”
• Freedom of Holiness – This is the freedom to choose righteousness. The born again believer can now do this because of a regenerated heart indwelt by the Spirit. Unbelievers do not have this freedom. They are slaves to sin and Romans 8:7 says the unbeliever “does not subject itself to the law of God and is not even able to do so.”
• Freedom of Determinism – This is the ultimate freedom to make the decisive decisions concerning oneself. People claim that we don’t have true freedom unless we have this kind of unrestrained freedom. But the Bible does not give us this kind of freedom. Only God has this freedom. Believing and unbelieving kings alike, endued with all imaginable earthly power and ability, do not have this freedom. Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Born again believers do not have this freedom. Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” No one has this freedom. Proverbs 20:24 “Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way?” Only the Lord has this freedom. Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” This is where the sovereignty of God is seen in fullness and where mystery is felt in fullness. Somehow God is this totally sovereign, and yet man still has responsibility and accountability for choices for which judgment will come in perfect justice.

When it comes to our will, the difficulty has to do with what aspect of the will we are speaking about. When we talk about the will of man are we talking about its nature or are we talking about its actions?

• Nature of the Will– When we are talking about the nature or the status of our will, we are talking about something that is locked in place. The will of a person is one thing or another thing, but not both. It is locked into one status, or it is locked into the other status. What are the two options? The Bible speaks of this in different ways: Christ or self; spiritual life or spiritual death; in the Spirit or in the flesh (Romans 8:5-8); light or darkness (1 Thess. 5:5). The will of the unbeliever is bound to sin. It is a slave of sin. It is dead. It cannot love the truth or obey in true love to God. The will of the believer is bound to Christ. It is a slave of righteousness. While sin can happen, it can never happen with fullness of joy. The believer has new heart, indwelt by the Spirit and will be in such a state forever.
• Agency of the Will– When we are talking about the actions of the will we are talking about the active responses that the will makes, either of believer or unbeliever. The will of both believer and unbeliever makes choices that accord with the nature of their will. The unbeliever loves and acts according to its loves, but it loves darkness and autonomy ultimately. The unbeliever can love other good things only when he thinks they can be fit into his ultimate loves. The believer loves and acts according to its loves, but his love is ultimately to the Lord. The believer’s love for sinful things is done as an inconstancy arising out of his fallen state that will be one day be perfected in fullness to the conformity of Christ.

So when people are talking about these things, you never know which one of these they have in mind. And as you can see now, there can be a whole jumble of possibilities. Depending on which freedom you are talking about, it is going to affect things, but it will affect things differently depending on which aspect of the will is being spoken about. Perhaps a chart may be helpful.

Let’s keep the discussions going with an open Bible, with patience and with zeal, but let’s also do it with an aim for precision. We will move ahead faster and farther when we are wise with our words.