There has been debate over the will of man for centuries. Martin Luther debated Erasmus in a diatribe The Bondage of the Will, and Jonathan Edwards wrote the book The Freedom of the Will. Most of the problem lies with semantics because people don't understand the definitions. No one is saying we are automatons, chatty dolls, or robots, so to speak. But Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hands of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Jer. 10:23 says, "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." Prov. 20:24 says, "A man's steps are from the LORD, how then can man understand his way?" "...Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" (Rom. 9:19). There are numerous passages that seem to indicate that God is in control.
There are two kinds of free will. The will to do the divine and to do the mundane or temporal. We have not lost the free will to do a secular activity. We do not have the desire or inclination to choose Christ apart from a work of grace. "No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44). Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands and He chose us according to His foreknowledge before the world began. (This refers to the doctrines of election and predestination.) Cf. Rom. 9:16, "So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy."
Is His sovereignty limited by man's freedom? The most fanatic Calvinist will admit that man is free to do what he desires to do. God never forces anyone to do anything he doesn't want to do--that would be coercion or determinism. He feels no outside force but God is still able to influence Him to do His will. "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13; cf. Col. 1:29; Heb.13:21).
The will is defined as that by which the mind chooses and is the referee, as it were. Finally, Prov. 16:9 says, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." He is "Lord of all."NB: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORAL/SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND MUNDANE FREEDOM. Soli Deo Gloria!
There are two kinds of free will. The will to do the divine and to do the mundane or temporal. We have not lost the free will to do a secular activity. We do not have the desire or inclination to choose Christ apart from a work of grace. "No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44). Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands and He chose us according to His foreknowledge before the world began. (This refers to the doctrines of election and predestination.) Cf. Rom. 9:16, "So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy."
Is His sovereignty limited by man's freedom? The most fanatic Calvinist will admit that man is free to do what he desires to do. God never forces anyone to do anything he doesn't want to do--that would be coercion or determinism. He feels no outside force but God is still able to influence Him to do His will. "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13; cf. Col. 1:29; Heb.13:21).
The will is defined as that by which the mind chooses and is the referee, as it were. Finally, Prov. 16:9 says, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." He is "Lord of all."NB: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORAL/SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND MUNDANE FREEDOM. Soli Deo Gloria!
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