Arguments Against Free-Will Theology: Part 3

God does not need you! What a way to start an article, right? To be told that God doesn’t need you can be hurtful and insulting. Let me clarify when I say God doesn’t need you, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you. God loves you enormously, but he doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need you to do anything for Him. God is self-sufficient and complete, so He doesn’t need anything outside of Himself. This concept may be new to you, and for obvious reasons, it is not preached or taught anywhere from the pulpit or classroom. It gives off the impression that God doesn’t care or is unloving, which causes some to deny it aggressively.. ‘How dare you tell me God doesn’t need me? That’s not what the Bible says,’ they would say. The Bible doesn’t say directly that God doesn’t need us, but it is implied in His nature and attributes (Acts 17:24-25; Psalms 50:10-12).

God does not need our worship. As created beings, we are obligated to worship the Creator because He is the only Being that was not made. He is the only Creator who must be worshiped. Our worship of God is not out of personal feelings or desires. Our worship of God is obligatory, and as creatures, we are to worship the Creator. He rightly deserves worship from His creation, but He doesn’t need us to worship Him. He is not lacking in attention or respect. He is complete (Acts 17:24-25; Psalms 50:10-12). 

He doesn’t need our service, but He allows us to serve and participate in His works. He rewards us for completing the work He gives us, but doesn’t need us to work. God can use anyone to serve Him if He desires, but He opts to use His children as vessels for service and rewards them for their efforts. It is a privilege and honor to have an opportunity to serve the Lord (Psalms 100:2; John 12:26). 

He doesn’t need us to evangelize, but He calls us to share the Gospel. Even if our mouths are sealed shut, God would use our actions to preach the Gospel to the world. But even if we were disobedient for a moment and resisted sharing the Word, God could still use a stone or a donkey to spread His Gospel message. He chooses to use us so that we can participate in the glorious works of Christ.  God doesn’t need us, but desires to use us for our good (Luke 19:39-40; Numbers 22:27-28). 

You probably get the point by now. To say God needs something is to say God is lacking something, which is impossible. There are no empty spots or missing areas in God. God lacks nothing, neither from earthly creation nor from heavenly beings. God is perfect and complete. He is the great I AM (Ex 3:13-14). Why am I emphasizing that God is not in need? The theological term describing God’s self-sufficiency is aseity. The doctrine of aseity teaches that God is complete and has no need from His creation for His joy, identity, or existence. God has life and is life in Himself (John 5:26). 

A correct understanding of God’s character and nature is a precursor to understanding predestination and free will. We need a clear understanding of God’s essence to accurately comprehend the complex doctrines of predestination and free will. In this article, I will address the misconception that believers may have concerning upholding God’s identity. 

The first argument against free will theology is the believer’s tendency to feel the need to defend and uphold God’s character. Spoiler alert: God doesn’t need you to protect Him. He can defend himself. 

“…for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.”

Isaiah 46:9. 

 

Who Chose Who?

You may ask, what does God’s needs have to do with the doctrine of free will? God’s aseity shows us that salvation does not depend on our decisions or choices. The free will doctrine teaches that God has made a way of salvation, but those who choose Christ will be saved (Hodge 2013). It is the effort and choice of the individual rather than an external selection. The final act that seals the deal is your choice, not the cross, and not Jesus’ resurrection. You make the lasting decision to be with God. God doesn’t choose you to be with Him; He just opened the door. He is waiting for you to walk through the door, free willers would say. He made it possible for you to make a decision. The focus of attention is on you, rather than Christ, who did the work. Free will glorifies oneself. But, to be fair, I will entertain the thought of free will being the reason for my salvation. I would be hesitant to say to Jesus’ face, “Oh Lord, thank you for your work on the cross, but I am so glad I chose to believe in you.” That is what free will ultimately does. You get the credit for salvation, not Christ (1 Corinthians 1:28-29). Free will theology dictates that God is handicapped and wishes you would choose Him. This places God in a position of need. God does not need you to choose Him for salvation. It is a privilege to be chosen by God at all (John 15:16; Eph 1:4-5; 2 Thes 2:13).

 

Defending God

When we learn of God’s goodness and faithfulness, we get so overwhelmed by His love that we would defend and uphold God in all circumstances. Because of the value we place on our salvation, we become troubled when certain doctrines challenge our preconceived understanding of God. We are all in this together because anyone who truly demonstrates love for Christ will stand and defend Christ. There is nothing wrong with that, and it is an honor to be called to defend the faith. Some churches and denominations argue and fight with each other over minor issues and differences, all in the name of God. But God doesn’t need you to protect His honor and Name. He is the One defending us from the powers of darkness (Eph 6:12; Rom 8:38-39; Ex 14:14; Deut 20:4; Ps 18:2).

 

God is Good, All The Time

Free willers disagree with predestinarians about the nature of God’s goodness. They feel that belief in predestination questions the goodness of God, because God looks unjust if God is choosing and selecting those who should be saved. To free will followers, God is randomly selecting people without any standards or rules. They say predestination makes God out to be capricious and arbitrary. Predestinatrians teach that God chooses some to be saved, and others to be damned to hell as Calvinism’s double predestination asserts. Those who hear the call and follow are the ones who were elected, and those who reject Christ with no repentance were destined for destruction. 

Free will theology roots from Pelagianism and Arminianism. Arminianism teaches that God elects people based on what He foresees them doing in the future. However, the Arminian view overlooks the issue that if God elects based on foreknowledge, then God is ultimately subject to man’s primary cause of choice. God’s election results from man’s decision. This leaves God helpless and unable to save. How would God be viewed if He honored the person’s choice to rebel against Him? Would you view God as loving, knowing He is letting that family member of yours continue to fall without intervening? In the free will view, God cannot intervene to save and change someone. Free will decrees that God must honor our rights and choices. To me, this sounds like a teenager rebelling against their parent because they don’t agree with something that was said. It is foolish and ignorant to challenge God (Luke 15:11-32).  

God is not like us. We are sinful, and our minds are corrupted. God does not think like we do, nor does He respond like us (Isa 55:8-9). If He did, then the Free Willers would be correct that God is capricious and arbitrary. Instead, God is the author of all things, and God created our feelings and responses for specific situations. God does not play games and has a purpose for everything that occurs. God can and does save a person despite their rebellion and sinful life. Election in predestination promises this. But you may say, That’s not fair for someone else. Why does God save one person over another? Free will theology forces you to place yourself not as a submissive servant, but as an arrogant child demanding rights. Rather than being grateful for being elected, they try to find fault and guilt in God for not saving or loving someone else. This is how they rationalize their conscience to accept God’s soteriology. Suddenly, we become the dictators of how salvation works. If anything causes us discomfort in any way, we change the Word of God to mean something else that suits our rationality. We have a hard time submitting to and accepting the sovereignty of God because the original sin of Adam and Eve was related to autonomy. Adam wanted to be like God. Eve wanted to be like God. The Serpent fell from Heaven because he wanted to be like God. It is a desire to steal God’s glory and claim independence for oneself. 

 

Freedom To Choose

Free will theology assumes we have more authority and power than we were given. Free willers like to feel they are doing something for God. There must be a reason for their salvation over someone else. They look for some standard or merit they can fall back on as the cause of one’s eternal state. Free will followers need something they can blame as the cause of a person’s fall into damnation to ease their conscience. What upsets them is the control being taken out of their hands. Even if the power is left in the hands of God, they do not trust God, but demand control back to promote free will. Their idolatry is freedom and control. They must relinquish this control to accept predestination. That is the degree to which one can go from one side to the other. It is difficult and painful at times, yet the most glorious experience in understanding God’s grace. When one submits to the theology of predestination, that person experiences a range of emotional feelings. They may sway back and forth as the Israelites did in the wilderness, but eventually, through God’s discipline, they will come to accept and submit to the wonders and freedom that come from believing in predestination.

If I may speak from a personal experience, when I came to believe in predestination, it was as though I’d rediscovered the Gospel for the first time. A refreshing freedom from guilt and shame was lifted from my shoulders, and I felt truly free from sin. Don’t get me wrong. I did continue to sin and fall often; however, the security that comes from knowing you are saved by predestination is overwhelming. Flows of questions will flow through your head, and doubt will creep in over and over again, yet every question and doubt that arises gets answered and clarified by the Holy Spirit in due time. The difference is that you have the assurance of salvation. Free will theology cannot promise that.

Free will places responsibility on one’s ability to choose. That means they must decide to do the right thing in every circumstance. Prolonged misaligned attitude of obligated service will lead to works-based salvation. What that means is a shift in perspective, from grace to service, will lead to self-sanctification. The sanctifying work is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit, not the Church, not people, not even you, but God alone. God may use people to bring to light specific concerns and issues, but we don’t have the power or ability to cause change within ourselves. It requires the power of God to change a person’s heart (Ezk 36:26-27; Prov 21:1; Acts 16:14). 

 

Freedom To Sanctify

When free will followers fall, they blame themselves for the failure, they lose faith in the truth, and they start to doubt Christ and His promises. This chain of events is a consequence of belief in free will theology. Free will places responsibility and sustainability on the free individual. Freedom dictates that you must choose right and choose right all the time. Self-righteous Christianity is no Christianity at all. It is trusting in oneself for sanctification and glorification. It depends on one’s own abilities and actions, and demotes Christ’s cross as just an opportunity. If we have the freedom to choose Christ for our rebirth, then we must continue to choose Him to persevere, because our freedom of choice didn’t go away. We didn’t relinquish our freedom when coming to Christ. We must still have that same freedom, and having this autonomy forces perseverance into our hands. You must keep choosing Christ till your last breath; otherwise, there may be a possibility you could forget and not select Him, which places you in dire straits. Free will means you continue to have free will, for if God would not violate your freedom in choosing Him, why would He violate any other choice you make? 

True freedom belongs to God alone. The freedom we have is always limited and controlled. There is no such thing as a maverick molecule that can live independently apart from God’s control (Col 1:17; Act 17:28). The very definition of God means from philosophical terms, God is the greatest conceivable being, a necessary, self-existent, immaterial, eternal, and perfect being who is the cause of all contingent reality. Anselm, Aquinas, and Plantinga all support and wrote of God in these terms . In essence, God cannot not know. He must know all things because He is God. God, knowing all things (past, present, and future), will act in just and righteous ways, because that is who He is. God revealed Himself as a good, kind, and loving God, as described in Scripture. If God knows all things and causes bad things to happen, then God must have a good reason because He does everything for a good purpose. No creation can ever refute the judgment of God. Even those who reside in eternal darkness cannot claim injustice from God.

The free will theology protects God from being responsible for people’s decisions, allowing them to choose for themselves where they will go. God becomes innocent of their choices, and the blame falls on us. Free will followers feel that this protects God’s innocence. This does not protect God’s character, but handcuffs God. To say that God will not violate our free choice and decisions would be to say that God isn’t good and doesn’t care. How could a good God let people He loves continue to pursue a path leading to destruction? What parent in their right mind would sit back and do nothing knowing their child is in danger of death?  If someone is living in sin, what on earth would cause them to change and give up their sins suddenly? It is anti-biblical to assume God would do nothing knowing people He loves are choosing hell (Matt 7:9-11). 

Free-will followers cite John 3:16 as the go-to passage for supporting their universal views. To them, God opened the doors to let people in. It is up to people to choose to come in. God will not force anyone in. Let me counter this statement by saying that if God left it as an option for anyone to enter, then you have made God into a weakling who cannot save people, but rather, people must save themselves. Ultimately, it comes down to this central point in the doctrine. Did Jesus do all the works of salvation, even choosing you, or did Jesus leave it open for you to decide and save yourself? I don’t read anywhere in Scripture that claims we must save ourselves. If that were the case, then Jesus never had to come or die. We had the ability and option to choose life, yet because of our sinful nature, we chose death. To the free will followers, even in your sinful state, you can conjure up the strength to give up your sin and choose life. If it were even possible to choose life from a fallen state, then Jesus did not have to die. The fact that we could not choose life, nor even were willing to choose life, Jesus invaded our space to free us from captivity to sin. 

The sense of freedom people experience is not freedom. It is an illusion that is necessary for life’s function. If you felt you had no freedom, then you would fall into depression and have no reason to continue living. We fool ourselves thinking we have freedom, but the Bibe tells us we are all slaves to sin. We were never free but captive to continually commit sins. Jesus broke the chains that held us down, and actual freedom comes from following Christ (John 8:36). Our allegiance moves from sin to Savior. We still do not have true freedom, because we are protected under the canopy of Christ. We can experience freedom, freedom from our former captor, to be a child of the Father. Our freedom is in the confines of God’s family. You are not free to leave or reject the family once you are in. If it were up to you, in any situation, you would always choose the evil, self-gratifying path. The path to righteousness and holiness is the cross, and those who were called will follow. It is not an easy road to travel, but it is a road Christ paved for us to walk. You are not creating your path, but following Christ’s footsteps for you. Your freedom is in Christ. The freedom to say no to sin and follow through is a testament to the freedom in Christ. Before Christ, you could not say no, and you always will follow through with your sinful desires. Our sinful nature forces us to sin at all costs. You were a slave to sin, but Christ freed you from that bondage to worship and follow Him. You did not free yourself using your free will. That is like blaming all prisoners for being in prison because they chose to be there. They are not confined to jail, but freely volunteer to be incarcerated. Can you imagine the laughter from prisoners who would hear that claim? True freedom is in Christ and Christ alone. But no one is free apart from God’s sovereign control.

To put it another way, God does not need us to defend His justice, honor, and glory. It is a tremendous privilege to be called and serve the Lord, but He does not need us for anything. So take any pride of autonomy that may linger in your heart, and surrender to God’s sovereignty. Then He will open your eyes to see grace as you have never seen it before. You will gain a deeper understanding of God’s grace and love for you. His election is not something to fear or run from. Come to the Father as His arms are wide open to you. He is waiting.

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