Predestination III

The self-proclaimed Christian *Free Will* crowd do not have a scriptural argument to support their belief in *Free Will.*  There are more verses that support determinism than *Free Will.*  Most of their arguments are of a philosophical nature, which they try to dress in theology.  We could call this *transtheology,* I suppose.  Their #1 *proof* for *Free Will* is their opinion.  Their human opinion.  Their very intellectually limited human opinion.  What is this opinion?

Their Opinion: God created humans with free will so they could freely choose to love Him and do good. Forced love or obedience would be meaningless.

There is nothing in the Bible to support this.  Not a single verse.  The only verses which offer any insight as to why God created is that He did it for His pleasure and His glory (Revelation 4:11 & Isaiah 43:7).

That God created because He wants people to *love* Him is not only not supported by scripture, it's also extremely childish.  And insulting to God.  As if God were an incel who couldn't find a date for the prom, so He created one.

It's also an extremely weak philosophical argument.  If God truly wanted a creation that would freely love Him, He already had it before He created human beings.  Angels.  Why is He repeating Himself with human beings?  Was He bored with the Angels?  Angels are believed by the *Free Will* crowd to have had *Free Will.*  From the Bible record, it appears some angels love and worship God, while some rebelled.  The same pattern as humans.  

In any event, both humans and angels are lesser beings than God, so the idea that God created because He wanted a creation that would *freely* love Him would only make sense if He created an equal being.  How can a weaker creation *freely* love such a more powerful being?  Human beings reject this concept in their own relationships (and write laws against it).  A mentally disadvantaged person is viewed as not capable of consent in such a relationship.  

As part of this juvenile proof of *Free Will,* the Free Willers assert that without *Free Will,* human beings would be *just* robots, as if it is self-evident this would be a lesser or worse condition. But this is FAR from self-evident.  I think I am a robot, and I am perfectly fine with it.  What would these *Free Willers* do if they found out in the life to come that, no, they didn't have *Free Will,* that they were, in fact, robots?  Would that invalidate whatever affection they did or did not have for their life?  Are they going to be angry? Shall the pot say to the potter, 'Why have you made me thus?

 

Here is a greater problem for the *Free Will* crowd: Even if they themselves have *Free Will,* they cannot deny that at many points in human history God clearly over-rode *Free Will.*  Jonah, Moses, Elisha, David, Paul, for example, did not choose their path, God stepped in and chose for them.

A more interesting and more compelling argument against *Free Will* is the extraordinary case of Judas, the most pathetic of all human beings.  The lamentable fate of Judas is most instructive in the *Free Will* discussion, because even the most ardent supporters of *Free Will* have to admit that Judas, at best, had a limited *Free Will.*

The gospel of Luke teaches that before Judas betrayed Jesus:

Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

There is no need to try to calculate how much blame to assign Judas and how much blame to assign Satan for Judas' betrayal of Christ.  All we need to know is Satan entered Judas, and we can therefore reasonably conclude Satan had some influence on Judas.  It would be unreasonable to say Satan entered Judas without consequence.  So it is most reasonable to conclude Judas' *Free Will* was limited, to whatever degree.

Why is this important?  An argument most *Free Willers* never address is this:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Scripture makes abundantly clear, with plentiful examples, not just in the case of Judas, but for every person, that, as the scripture above indicates, all humans are subject to supernatural forces that they are rarely aware of. 

Is *Free Will* really free if we are pushed to a decision?  It's like the pick a card, any card magic trick shown in the video above.    

The *Free Will* crowd would have to deny the Bible's clear teaching of supernatural forces acting in the world to assert *Free Will.*

There are decisions we think we make of our own *Free Will* that have been influenced by supernatural forces (some positive, some negative).  If we deny this, we deny scripture.

Sorry, limited *Free Will* is not *Free Will.*

I have a theory why *Free Willers* are so desperate to hold this view, even though it clearly contradicts scripture.  *Free Willers* are embarrassed for God.  They want to do God a favor by excusing Him of the evil in the world.  This is another sign of the childishness, the immaturity of the *Free Willers.*

The *Free Willers* want to preach to the infidels that the evil in the world is the result of the bad *Free Will* choices of human beings.  *Free Willers* are terrified when the infidel asks if there is a God, why does He allow evil?  The *Free Willers* apologize for God!  Shameful!

We have shown the most wicked act in human history, Judas' betrayal of Jesus, could not have been committed from pure *Free Will.*  The best answer from scripture we can give to the infidel's question if there is a God, why does He allow evil, is to simply state it is part of His plan.  We don't have the authority or knowledge to say anything more.  Let us not be like *Free Willers* and be afraid to provide an answer an infidel would object to.  Let us not apologize for God's plan, and make God a victim of *Free Will* in the eye of the infidel.