Free Will?

"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Romans 9:17&18

"But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said." Exodus 8:15

"And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go" Exodus 8:32

"And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses." Exodus 9:12

"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:" Romans 1:24

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness"
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance" 2 Peter 1:5-13

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion". Some verses make it appear that God chooses every outcome, even our choices about right and wrong. I believe this is true to a point, in light of scriptures such as the one at the beginning of this paragraph (read the devotional entitled "Predestination" to understand a bit more of the position I have taken on this). But make no mistake, we are to take the scripture as a whole. I have heard people say that God wouldn't be sovereign if He didn't choose everything, so it just appears we have a free will but we really don't. I feel they are blending two different schools of thought into one that make this topic very muddled, so much to the point that they get relaxed with their sin. I say this because I have seen what this belief does to people, it causes an upset in their pursuit of holiness. I was recently told about a guy that has a leadership role in a ministry that does not believe we have a free will and is looking at pornographic material on the internet. It is one thing to struggle with a sin, it is far another thing to give yourself heartily to it and have a theological argument to back it up. Wouldn't that be convenient? "God choose anyways and He knew I would come to Christ and I would still sin". It is something subtle that can end up crippling us spiritually if we do not have a proper grasp as to how all of this works. Did Pharaoh have a choice? Does anyone have a choice? Let's break these scriptures down.

I think one thing we must understand is that God allows us to be aware of His sovereignty through His foreknowledge in predestining people but some of us have taken it a step farther and have believed because He chose the over-all route for things He must have controlled our wills as well. So let's look at what Paul said. Paul mentions that God hardened Pharaohs heart. Now it is interesting to note that Genesis says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Why wouldn't Paul make mention of this? I think he didn't because he wasn't debating this issue of free will. Because Paul knew the scriptures even better than we do, right? So for this piece of information to escape Paul is a little astounding IF he were merely arguing for man's choice. What I believe Paul is illustrating is that God makes decisions through His foreknowledge BASED upon HIS FORESIGHT OF THE CHOICES WE WOULD MAKE! God places us before the foundations of the world but we are the ones who have to acted out in REAL TIME! "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" Now note this verse isn't saying make sure you "prayed the prayer" and then once you have confirmed that you have "prayed the prayer" you have now made His calling and election sure. That doesn't take alot of DILIGENCE, the very word Peter has chose to illustrate this point. The Apostles had an understanding of the reaping and sowing principle so much that they believed this is how one endured to the end by "SOWING INTO THE SPIRIT TO REAP ETERNAL LIFE!" Now some of you may think I have jumped off topic but I have not, I am using this to illustrate your CHOICE to MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE UNTIL YOU SEE JESUS IN HIS GLORY! Anything less than this is not standing firm until the end which WAS NOT GOD'S CHOICE FOR YOU! How do we know this though?

Ok, so back to Pharaoh, Paul and Genesis say that God hardened Pharaohs heart, but in Genesis before it says God hardened Pharaohs heart it says Pharaohs hardened his own heart. Ok so now what, is the scripture contradicting itself? NO WAY! Look in Romans 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2. It suggests a person can CHOOSE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS SO MUCH THAT GOD ENDS UP FINISHING THE JOB! This should not be foreign to us. Just as God has chosen our current active repentant faith in Christ to be the means by which He completes us for our good, so the inverse happens as well. Think about it, you respond in obedience and you reap knowing God better.(remember the law...sow to the spirit to reap eternal life...sow to the flesh and reap corruption) Respond in disobedience and reap corruption. WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWS THIS WILL HE ALSO REAP. Or it could read this way, "Whatever a man CHOOSES to do, whether good or bad, is what he will get back spiritually".

So what is the answer Chris? Do you choose or does God choose? The answer in my estimation is clearly both. FOR WHOM HE FOREKNEW HE ALSO PREDESTINED! What is that foreknowledge about? Has to be about seeing what we would choose to base His decision on the where, when, and how. In my mind, if we had no say so in our matter the scripture would merely read, "He predestined." Why put the word foreknew in there? He was evaluating what we would decide if we were offered His grace. Also, look at Romans 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2. "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the LUSTS OF THEIR OWN HEARTS, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:" Romans 1:24 Now does that say the "LUST OF GOD'S HEART?" NO! YOUR HEART! Now look at 2 Thessalonians 2, "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" What does it say? THEY CHOOSE NOT TO RECEIVE WHEN PRSENTED, and because of the reaping and sowing principle we will always have a cause and effect. In this case the cause is written like this, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" WE NEED TO GRASP THIS REAPING AND SOWING PRINCIPLE! It is really the foundation for everything!

Now some of you may still be locked into the mindset that God cannot be sovereign if He didn't choose everything for us, even to the point of us being unrighteous but follow me really quick. I was talking with a believer on the phone once who was telling me a pastor (whom I respect greatly) made the comment that God could not be sovereign if we had a choice in anything. This statement has never sat well with me as I had heard it before in some variations. What came to me next to respond to this person blew me away as I had never even thought about it before (which told me it was God answering for both me and this brother). Wouldn't ultimate sovereignty be giving us a free choice and STILL being so brilliant as to accomplishing things the way He wanted? I mean come on, would you be more impressed if I bossed you around to accomplish my will, or I was able to manipulate things in such a way that I made you CHOOSE what I set out to accomplish anyways. You had your choice, I just knew what you would choose, which makes God the ultimate "chess" player of the universe. I don't know about you, but that old argument that says God is not sovereign if He doesn't make every decision for us, whether for the good or for the bad, pails in comparison to giving us a free choice and still being MAGNIFICENT ENOUGH TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL! What a mighty and amazing God! So what's the official answer in a nut shell? It's both! God will finish the job either way YOU CHOOSE TO GO, whether to the righteous side or the unrighteous side! Thats why we must be a people who constantly sow into the Spirit! This way we are bound to make our calling and election certain! Because be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man (or woman) sows, this will he also reap! You have a choice to make! GIVE INTO THE SIN OR NOT GIVE IN and make no mistake, if you are running headlong into wickedness it was not God's desire for you, but He is also not mocked. Remember the scripture says "He resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble." Humility is obedience, obedience is to cease from sin, ceasing from sin gives you even more power to stop the things you always thought you were bound to! But, He resists the PRIDEFUL! ALL SIN IS PRIDE! You are telling God with your actions "Other people may need to do that but not me." PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE! The Bible says if we are PRIDEFUL He will RESIST US. That word resist means "TO STAND AGAINST; TO OPPOSE." I don't know about all of you but I do not want the God of the universe opposing me! Let's stay connected to the vine! Let's reap ETERNAL LIFE!

Lord continue to reveal your truth to us! Thank you giving Your Spirit to us for revelation and guidance! I pray for everyone who will read this that it will prove profitable for them, grant all of us repentance I pray!

Thanks brothers, and sisters!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff