The subject of free will has been tossed about among believers for a long time. When asking the question about “doesn’t man have free will?” We need to first understand the angle that question often comes from. When approaching from the doctrine of soteriology, briefly the answer is no, but it requires some context. The second angle, concerning the choices man makes, yes, but that too requires context. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith details five statements concerning free will. I will list these and comment further.
We Have Natural Liberty In That We Do Not Act By Force or Necessity of Nature
God has given humans a will with natural liberty and the power to act upon choice. This choice is not forced, and it does not do good or evil because of inherent properties.
Matthew 17:12, “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” 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.”
A man can choose to take a certain road, go by a certain store, or choose which gas station to fill up his car. He chooses what he wants. So in terms of choice, yes, man can choose. Even his choices are not conforming to God’s will, but as God directs his heart, he will come around to what the Lord desires him to do.
Adam Had Power To Choose Good
In their state of innocence, humans had freedom and power to choose and do things that are good and pleasing to God, but this state of innocence was not guaranteed, and they had the ability to fall from this state.
Ecclesiastes 7:29, “Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
True free will to choose good was only in the state of innocence in the garden, where man had the choice to only do good, but ultimately choose to do evil.
After The Fall, Humans Lost the Ability To Choose Good
After the fall into sin, humanity lost the ability to choose anything good related to salvation. In their natural state, they are completely hostile to everything good and dead in sin. By their own power, they are unable to convert themselves or prepare themselves for conversion.
Romans 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 8:7, “Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” Ephesians 2:1, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved.” Titus 3:3-5, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
We can choose to do “good things” such as helping a neighbor or friend. We can choose to go on the highway or back roads. We can choose which baseball game to attend. And even choose to go to church or not. When it comes to us deciding and choosing on our own to stop sinning and follow God, in our unredeemed nature, we cannot.
Conversion Results In The Ability To Choose Good
When God converts sinners and transforms them into a state of grace, He frees them from their natural bondage to sin. By his grace alone, He enables them to freely choose and do things that are spiritually good. However, at the same time, because of their remaining corruption, they do not perfectly or solely choose things that are good, but they also choose things that are evil.
Colossians 1:13, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” John 8:36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” Romans 7:21-23, “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
As Christians, we now can choose freely to pray, minister, avoid sin, and strive towards holiness. Before Christ, we could only choose evil and sin because we had no good in us to choose holiness or pursue it. Now, we can, but the struggle remains, and when we sin, we have an advocate with Christ to receive forgiveness and a desire to please God.
Perfect Ability To Choose God Comes With A State Of Glory
Ephesians 4:13, “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
Perfect knowledge will be attained in the presence of God in eternal glory. No questions, no sin, no suffering, and no ability to choose evil because we will be like Him.
Conclusion
It’s my conviction that free will has two avenues from which the question is asked. First, primarily from the point of choosing salvation. We do not have the capability to choose ourselves to stop sinning and follow God, cf. Romans 3:10-18. We only do what is natural. After conversion, where God redeems us, we now see differently and strive for Christlikeness. He begins the process of sanctification. We find that the chapter Romans 7 reveals the struggle that still remains, but now, we have the ability to choose good, not evil. f. Romans 3:10-18. We only do what is natural. After conversion, where God redeems us, we now see differently and strive for Christlikeness. He begins the process of sanctification. We find that the chapter Romans 7 reveals the struggle that still remains, but now, we have the ability to choose good, not evil.