“The Question of Free Will” (1 Cor. 2:14)

Series: “Reformation Day Sermons”Text: 1 Cor. 2:14

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: October 27, 2024

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

Recently, Elon Musk introduced “Optimus,” humanoid robots designed to integrate into every life, handling mundane or even complex tasks by themselves. These robots rely on sophisticated artificial intelligence, giving them the appearance of independence. Yet, each action they take, each choice they make, is entirely controlled by algorithms. They mimic human movements, process commands, and adapt to new information, but in the end, their “freedom” is limited to what they’re programmed to accomplish. Their “will,” if we could call it that, is ultimately governed by lines of code written by their creators.

Now, some consider a universe where a Creator God is sovereign places us in a position like those robots — we merely operate according to His predetermined code. But is that truly the case? If God influences our choices, or if sin affects our desires, does that mean we are without freedom?

This is actually an issue that has well predates modern electronics and computing. Folks in the past have read Bible verses like the one we just read, and they began to debate. Of course, today being Reformation Sunday, we want to consider how the Reformation period affected how people answered this question in Scripture, perhaps learning a bit ourselves along the way.

It just so happens that one of the very first written debates of the Reformation was on the nature of man’s will. The German Reformer Martin Luther challenged the understanding of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus on what God described concerning man’s will. Luther captured this debate in his book, The Bondage of the Will, combing Scripture for definitions, while also combing the learned Erasmus over the coals.

This is our topic for our Reformation Day services, with a related question for tonight. What should we think about man’s free will? Are we simply controlled by God or by baser instincts within us? What affects the choices you make — did you choose your clothes this morning? Did you choose to become a Christian?

We see here Scripture says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” We will see today that men and women, in their fallen state, cannot accept divine truth because they won’t — they see it as foolishness. They won’t choose God. Is that what the rest of Scripture says, and is it how Christians in the past have read it? We’ll consider that last question first:

How Christians have discussed the will

This debate was one we find in the church fathers. A bishop named Pelagius took umbrage with a prayer that Augustine had prayed, “Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire.” That prayer asked God to grant us help to keep His commandments. Offended, Pelagius argued that people are perfectly able to obey God, for God wouldn’t command us to do what we could not.

As a debate resulted, Pelagius revealed his wrong premises. First, he said that Adam’s sin only affected Adam, not the rest of us. He explained that we’re each born morally neutral, only falling from grace when we first choose to sin. He went on to state humans can choose to live sinlessly, without the grace of God, and that salvation in Jesus Christ is only necessary for those who cannot live righteously on their own. With these as underlying premises, we can see why he believed the human will could choose God.

Augustine demonstrated what we’ve already read, that the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.” He explained original sin affected our will, using the Latin phrase to describe us, non posse non peccare, not able not to sin. In other words, we are not able to freely choose God or His ways on our own. The wider church believed Augustine’s argument demonstrated biblical fidelity and condemned what then came to be called Pelagianism and even semi-Pelegianism later.

Ironically, Rome still adopted some semi-Pelegianism tenants. The Reformation revealed this in the debate between Luther and Erasmus. Rome thought Erasmus a good match for Luther, for he was educated and they both spoke of their desire for reforming the sin and abuses allowed within Roman Catholicism (though Erasmus remained loyal to the Pope). Yet, the debate revealed Luther outmatched his opponent concerning Scripture, for the German monk had spent years in biblical meditation while Erasmus’s forte was the humanities.

What did Erasmus claim about the will? On page 137, Luther quotes him as thus: “Moreover I consider Free-will in this light: that it is a power in the human will, by which, a man may apply himself to those things which lead unto eternal salvation, or turn away from the same.” I wonder how many of us might have a similar view of the human will — that a person can either choose salvation or turn away from it. Yet, Luther argued that slaves of sin cannot rightly be called free, nor can the servants of the Most High. Unfortunately, the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent rejected the biblical view for a semi-Pelagian one.

Today, most Protestant Evangelicals would agree more with Rome on this issue. For instance, one apologetic dictionary describes Luther’s work as theistic determinism, akin to the atheistic determinism of the psychologist B. F. Skinner. In short, any teaching denying the complete autonomy of man must be fatalistic and rejected. Of course, determinism certainly is not biblical, but that’s not what Luther and others espoused.

There does exist a kind of free will, but it’s bound by our fallen principles and preferences. An illustration might help here. James Montgomery Boice explains:

In the animal world there are animals which eat nothing but meat: carnivores. There are other animals which eat nothing but grass or plants: herbivores. Imagine then that we have a lion, who is a carnivore, and place a beautiful bundle of hay or a trough of oats before him. He will not eat the hay or the oats. Why not? Is it because he is physically unable? No Physically, he could easily begin to munch on this food and swallow it. Then why does he not eat it? The answer is that it is not in his nature to do so. Moreover, if it were possible to ask the lion why he will not eat the herbivore’s meal and if he could answer, he would say, “I can’t eat this food; I hate it; I will eat nothing but meat.” We are speaking in a similar way when we say that the natural man cannot respond to or choose God in salvation. Physically he is able, but spiritually he is not. He cannot come because he will not come. He will not because he really hates God.

That helps us to make more sense of the matter — we as sinners make choices, but they always seem against God in some way. Another term Christians have introduced is helpful to describe this state: free agency. Because unbelievers are free agents, they have the choice but not the ability without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. This inability is a moral one.

To make it more personal, you can still choose between differing sins, even choosing to define some as “good” by the world’s standards. In fact, you may choose the highest good at times, laying down your life for others. Your faculties may be able in some sense to obey God, and you can read the Bible with understanding. Yet, there is still intrinsic to your natural will a moral inability to turn to God, repent for your sins, and live a life of devotion to Him. This bondage of the will requires the freedom Christ alone brings.

This is why so many unbelievers share a scoffing response to a biblical presentation of the gospel, no matter how well reasoned and argued. They love their sin, so the message of the cross is foolishness to them, and they cannot understand it because it’s spiritually appraised. Still, we must start with His Word, for the truth sets us free.

What the Bible says about the will

In one sense, this has all been introductory, but we already know much of what’s to come. We’ve considered one verse, but let’s see what else God’s Word says about this anthropological question. I was at a luncheon a few years ago with some other Reformed pastors, and as we were talking about this topic, I jotted down some of these points from there. I hope you’ll do the same.

Our free will is dead in sin (Eph. 2:1)

Scripture says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” This is a familiar passage to us since we’ve been through Ephesians together and we commonly cite this during our corporate prayer times. We are completely separated from the life of God.

Now, what works could a dead man do to become alive? The answer is none! New life requires a miracle, and we see gospel hope in vv. 4–5: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” Salvation is by grace here, and we see that underlined in vv. 8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This is completely monergistic regeneration, worked by Him alone, a process to which we that dead cannot contribute.

Consider again our condition, this time in Romans 8:6–7 (and I’ll just read this one from my notes): “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 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, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” This passage gives us a description of the death we experience. We are separated from the life of God, meaning we cannot ever please God. This is a way of saying we will live lives in hostility toward Him, opposed to His will. That brings us to the next point.

Our free will is opposed to God (Rom. 3:10ff)

Again, this is a familiar passage. Consider it, though, while considering your human will apart from Christ. Can you choose to be righteous? We read, “There is none righteous, not even one.” Can you choose to fully comprehend the things of God? We read, “There is none who understands.” Can you choose to seek God on your own? “There is none who seeks for God.” We must conclude our natural will is opposed to God.

In fact, we continue, “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” This describes professed but unconverted believers and atheists alike. On the sliding scale of the world’s morality, we might in ourselves do some decent act, but we cannot do true good as God defines it.

What do we often choose to do? We continue, “Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” Our mouths demonstrate the bondage of our will to sin, and it continues: “Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known.” Our fallen condition will lead us toward sin and even toward the worst kinds of sin, hurting others in violation of God’s command to love.

This is us walking according to our own devices, even if we sometimes pick up Bibles or occasionally attend church. The passage ends with this explanation: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Outside of Christ, we may perhaps fear what others think of us and, occasionally, eternal damnation. Yet, when we don’t know God, fear of God won’t be a defining reality, and our lives will be opposed to Him. Why? Because:

Our free will is inclined to sin (Gal. 5:19–21)

We read here of just some of the deeds of the flesh. For instance, in our porn-saturated and hyper-sexualized society, we find people engaged in “immorality, impurity, sensuality.” Cheating spouses, lustful activities, prideful embraces of the LGBT lifestyles, and all other manner of debauchery evidence just how the will is inclined to sin.

You might say, “Wait a minute! I control myself from these baser passions.” That’s fine, but something more from this list may describe your inclination. For instance, you might seek religious fulfillment in something other than God (“idolatry”). Some people get on the “WitchTok” channels of TikTok to dabble in sorcery; of course, the term for sorcery is pharmekia, and maybe you trust in pharmaceuticals to work magic, maybe through something like Ayahuasca. We must beware violations of the first table of the law.

Not offended yet? It may also be that your baser passions come out “enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying.” Some people love drama, so they like to take stories they’ve heard about others and maybe amplify them. They want to tear down, letting sinful anger and thoughts take root as they lash out at others. Some just know nothing but shouting at the world.

Something else here might describe you. Other debaucheries include “drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” Partying until you black out? Why — for fun or to drown out guilt and anxiety with excess?

Of course, none of these are exclusive categories, and you might see your will inclined to more than one of them. In fact, this isn’t an exhaustive list, which we can see with the words, “things like these.” Paul continues here by warning us “that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” That’s another way of saying we inherit hell.

We choose this willingly because we’re inclined to it. We might comfort ourselves with drawing lines in the sand, thinking that we won’t go too far or that we won’t engage in that activity. Yet, this horizontal thinking, doesn’t include God, keeping us from gazing upward because we’re bound to the earthly. That’s because:

Our free will is enslaved to sin (Rom. 6).

We’ve essentially already evidenced this point, but let’s see it in Scripture. In v. 6, we read that Christians are crucified with Christ “so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” This means that those who don’t put their faith in Christ are slaves to sin. The Christian, however, has a new reality; look at v. 12. We read, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.”

Christians can choose to live in a way that unbelievers can’t, and that is the choice not to allow sin to reign; Christians have a new master. Yet, how do Christians become free? Is it that they choose one day to rise up against their lusts, throwing off the shackles of sin for the glory of God? No, for their bondage is a welcome one, a pleasant one, a slavery to every pleasure and desire of the heart. That leads to the final point.

In summary: our free will cannot be free (John 8).

Consider what Jesus said: “If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God” (John 8:46–47). He’s not saying that they have a hearing problem. It’s not that they are confused and lack education. They hear but they cannot hear because they are in spiritual bondage.

Look just a few verses above that to v. 44. We read there, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Jesus is challenging their nature by discussing the nature of Satan — they want to do his desires and embrace his lies. Again, they are inclined to sin because they are enslaved to it.

Lest we think that this only describes the scribes and the Pharisees, remember where we started: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” We need a work of God or all is lost.

Conclusion

The bondage of your will isn’t external; it’s self-imposed. You choose freely to sin each and every time, but in your natural, fallen state, you would choose to do nothing but sin. God is under no obligation to help you, and since you have the natural ability of choice, God will hold you culpable even for your lack of moral inclination.

If that troubles you, then there is no conflict between everything we’ve said and these next words — you need to repent of your sins and turn to Christ for salvation. This is where the good news of the gospel enters in. We don’t deserve God’s grace, but He gives it through the promises of the gospel.

He regenerates us, giving us new life with a new will. He opens our eyes to the fact that we sin, and He gives us the freedom and ability to exercise faith in Him. He does all the work, so we know that our faith in Him isn’t something we created on our own. So, if you repent and turn to Him, you know that He has helped you do this — in fact, He worked it entirely by Himself.

If you are a Christian, this may lead you to wonder about something else. This good news should prompt you to want other people set free from sin, but you may wonder how best to witness to the truth. If the human will be in bondage to sin naturally, then how do you tell people about the gospel? We’ll talk about that tonight.