God's Sovereignty Vs. Man's Free Will??

-Jon Irenicus

In this article we will try to answer the question of whether God can create genuinely free beings and yet [sovereignly] render certain all things that are to come to pass, including the free decisions and actions of those beings.

The key to unlocking the problem is the distinction between rendering something certain and rendering it necessary. The former is a matter of God's decision that something will happen; the latter is a matter of his decreeing that something must occur. In the former case, the human being will not act in a way contrary to the course of action which God has chosen; in the latter case, the human being cannot act in a way contrary to what God has chosen. What we are saying is that God renders it certain that a person who could act (or could have acted) differently does in fact act in a particular way (the way that God wills).

What does it mean to say that I am "free"?

What does it mean to say that I am "free"? It means that I am not under constraint. Thus, I am free to do whatever pleases me. But am I free with respect to what pleases me and what does not? To put it differently, I may choose one action over another because it holds more appeal for me. But I am not fully in control of the appeal which each of those actions holds me. That is quite a different matter. I make all my decisions, but those decisions are in large measure influenced by certain characteristics of mine which I am not capable of altering by my own choice.

If, for example, I am offered for a dinner a choice between liver and steak, I am quite free to take the liver, but I do not desire to do so. I have no conscious control over my dislike of liver. That is a given that goes with my being the person I am. In that respect my freedom is limited. I do not know whether it is my genes or environmental conditioning which has caused my dislike of liver, but it is apparent that I cannot by mere force of will alter this characteristic of mine.

There are, then, limitations upon who I am and what I desire and will. I certainly did not choose the genes that I have; I did not select my parents not the exact geographical location and cultural setting of my birth. My freedom, therefore, is within these limitations. And here arises the question: Who set up these factors? The theistic answer is, "The Sovereign God did."

The Potter's hand

I am free to choose among various options. But my choice will be influenced by who I am. Therefore, my freedom must be understood as my ability to choose among options in light of who I am. And who I am (as a pot) is a result of God's decision and activity (as the Potter). God is in control of all circumstances that bear upon my situation in life. He may bring to bear (or permit to be brought to bear) factors which will make a particular option appealing, even powerfully appealing, to me. Through all the factors that have come into my experience in time past he has influenced the type of person I now am. Indeed, he has affected what has come to pass by willing that it was I who was brought into being.

At this point we may conclude that there is actually no contradiction between God's sovereignty and the free will of man. It is God, the Sovereign Potter, who formed us in accordance to his own purpose and will. Our will, therefore, can never go beyond nor contradict what God has already planned from eternity past.

Consider these fantastic Biblical verses describing the sovereignty of God:

• "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.... what I have planned, that I will do." Isaiah 46:10-11 (NIV)
  

• "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
  

• "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD." Proverbs 21:30 (NIV)

• "The LORD works out everything for his own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4 (NIV)

• "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,.." Ephesians 1:11 (NIV)