Predestined Free Will
What if, a thousand years from now, two men look up what a penny looks like in two very old text books. One man pipes up that it has the picture of a building with pillars on it, but the other says “No, you are wrong.” He says that the penny has Abraham Lincoln’s face on it. An argument ensues. Would it be a contradiction for them both to be right? We know with absolute certainty today that it would not.
Now let me highlight an argument that has been raging for over a millennia. Within God’s absolute Sovereignty, is everything determined, or is there free will? The Bible says God has predestined us, but without free will how could we justly be held responsible for our actions? There is biblical evidence for both predestination and free will, so would it be a contradiction for them both to be right? I believe that in the end we will see that it is not.
What is the biggest dilemma conflicting the cohesion of predestination with free will? It is the idea that if something is set in stone then where does our choice come in? If we have not made the choice yet, and yet God has predestined it, then have we really made the choice? That is the head of it.
This is how I cleared the argument... This may help you, it may not, though I hope it helps you the way it helped me.
God has created time and space. He is not limited by time. He sees the end before the beginning. So many say that if the end is known then there is no choice. I say that is hogwash. If the end is known, then it is not because God chose for us that He knows what we are going to do, but because we already made the choice that He knows what we are going to do. He knows what choice we are going to make in the future because He can see ahead into the future what we are going to chose.
As far as the doctrine of predestination, God has predestined who His children are, God does not predestine someone because of some luck of draw, but because God knew us fully and exhaustively before we were even born. He chose us because He knew what was in our hearts, He chose us because He knew we would be receptive to Him and we love Him because He first loved us.
This is something hard to fathom for a being held in the sway of time and space. It is like a 2D object trying to fathom what depth is, for us to imagine what it would be like to step out of the 4th dimension, time. It is mind-boggling, but it is comprehensively plausible.
God has determined us to have free will. In His absolute sovereignty He has orchestrated everything according to His will without superseding the free will of His loved ones. This same free will allows us to love Him who first loved us, and it is a beautiful picture. Far from being a contradiction, determinism and free will are two sides of the very same coin, one completing the other. Determinism without free will makes us automatons who have no choice to love, while free will without determinism makes God obsolete. It must be both, the Bible says that it is both, and it is logical that it would be both. God has predestined us for Himself, and we chose to love Him back for it. It is what makes the world go round.
Jared Williams
Now let me highlight an argument that has been raging for over a millennia. Within God’s absolute Sovereignty, is everything determined, or is there free will? The Bible says God has predestined us, but without free will how could we justly be held responsible for our actions? There is biblical evidence for both predestination and free will, so would it be a contradiction for them both to be right? I believe that in the end we will see that it is not.
What is the biggest dilemma conflicting the cohesion of predestination with free will? It is the idea that if something is set in stone then where does our choice come in? If we have not made the choice yet, and yet God has predestined it, then have we really made the choice? That is the head of it.
This is how I cleared the argument... This may help you, it may not, though I hope it helps you the way it helped me.
God has created time and space. He is not limited by time. He sees the end before the beginning. So many say that if the end is known then there is no choice. I say that is hogwash. If the end is known, then it is not because God chose for us that He knows what we are going to do, but because we already made the choice that He knows what we are going to do. He knows what choice we are going to make in the future because He can see ahead into the future what we are going to chose.
As far as the doctrine of predestination, God has predestined who His children are, God does not predestine someone because of some luck of draw, but because God knew us fully and exhaustively before we were even born. He chose us because He knew what was in our hearts, He chose us because He knew we would be receptive to Him and we love Him because He first loved us.
This is something hard to fathom for a being held in the sway of time and space. It is like a 2D object trying to fathom what depth is, for us to imagine what it would be like to step out of the 4th dimension, time. It is mind-boggling, but it is comprehensively plausible.
God has determined us to have free will. In His absolute sovereignty He has orchestrated everything according to His will without superseding the free will of His loved ones. This same free will allows us to love Him who first loved us, and it is a beautiful picture. Far from being a contradiction, determinism and free will are two sides of the very same coin, one completing the other. Determinism without free will makes us automatons who have no choice to love, while free will without determinism makes God obsolete. It must be both, the Bible says that it is both, and it is logical that it would be both. God has predestined us for Himself, and we chose to love Him back for it. It is what makes the world go round.
Jared Williams
