Jesus was a free agent

JESUS WAS A FREE AGENT
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Free Agency Of Christ BY SPURGEON
“And He came to Bethsaida;and they brought a blind man to Him, and
beggedHim to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led
him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His
hands on him, He askedhim if he saw anything. And he lookedup and
said, I see men as trees, walking. After that He put His hands again
upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw
everyone clearly.”
Mark 8:22-25
THERE is a very wonderful variety in the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the variety is apparent even in the way in which men come to Him to
partake of His blessing. With regardto the blind men to whom our Lord gave
sight, we read of some that they were brought to Christ by their friends, as in
the case ofthis man at Bethsaida, who was almostpassive all the way through.
His friends appear to have had more faith than he had and, therefore, they
brought him to Jesus. There were other casesin which the blind men cried to
Christ and, as far as they could, came to Him of themselves. Some of them
even came to Him in the teeth of stern opposition, for, when the disciples
upbraided one of them for crying out so loudly, he cried out the more loudly,
“Sonof David, have mercy on me.” So that, you see, some were brought to
Christ by their friends and others came to Him in spite of much opposition.
Then there is that notable case whichmany of you must remember, of that
remarkable blind man who had been blind from his birth, to whom Jesus
came uninvited. Jesus saw him and anointed his eyes with the clay which He
had made, and then bade him go and wash in the pool of Siloam. “He went his
way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”Thus, from the very
commencementof our Savior’s earthly ministry, there were differences in the
way in which one class ofcharacters, the blind, came to Jesus Christ.
1. The lessonfor us to learn from this undoubted fact is just this–that
THERE ARE GREAT DIFFERENCESIN THE WAY IN WHICH

MEN COME TO JESUS CHRIST–anddifferences evenin their first
desires. Some will begin to seek the Savior like merchantmen seeking
goodly pearls and when they have found Him, He will be the Pearlof
GreatPrice to them. Others will be like the plowman whose plow struck
againsta crock ofgold–they will know Christ’s value as soonas they
stumble upon Him, as it were, and will be ready to sell all that they have
and buy the field so that the treasure may be theirs. Some of you who
are here may get a blessing instantaneously, though you have not come
especiallyseeking it. Others of you may have come here for months and
years, seeking the Savior–andyou may now find Him.
Some may begin to seek evenwhile the sermon is progressing, but may not
find Christ for a while–while others will no soonerseekJesus thanthey will at
once find Him. Some will be brought by the example of the godly. Some by the
preaching of the minister. Some by a kind word from a friend. Many by
parental exhortations. Some by a holy book. Some by no outward means at
all. Some simply by their own thoughts in solitude, or at the dead of night–all
led by the one gracious Spirit of God–but eachone brought to Christ in a
different way and by different means from all the rest.
I think that the same differences will be found, not only at the beginning of the
Christian life, but also all the way through that life in all who are the subjects
of Divine Grace. All Christians are like eachother in some respects, but no
one Christian is exactly like another in all points. There is, often, a great
family likeness in the children in one family. Sometimes, you might go where
there are 10 or twelve, and you might pick them all out and say, Yes, we are
quite sure that they all belong to this family–there are certaindistinctive
features which evidently show that they belong to these parents.“ After you
have noticed that resemblance, take the 10 or 12 children, one by one, and
look at them individually. Perhaps, at first sight, you might saythat you did
not know one from the other, but those who see them day by day will tell you
that there are distinct differences of countenance and contour about eachone–
and idiosyncrasies ofcharacterwhich distinguish them from one another–so
that there is not one of them who is exactlylike the rest.
Now, it would be a greatpity if they should all begin to wish that they were
exactly like someone in the family whom they set up as a model. It would be a
right and proper ambition that every sonshould wish to be like a godly father,
and that every daughter should seek to imitate a lovely and gracious mother,
but that one girl would wish to be just like her sister, or a boy to be exactly
like his brother would be absurd. Yet I have often seenthat absurdity in the
Church of God! One is depressedbecause his experience is not quite like his

neighbor’s. Another because he sees thatthere are points in his experience
that are unlike anybody else’s–andI have even knownthem go and try to
remove their names from God’s registerand “unchristianize” themselves!
And, what is worse, sometimes unchristianize one another because they are
not all exactly run into the same mold–like so many shot, preciselyalike in
form and shape–asmanufactured articles are when they come quickly from
under the die! No, we fall into grievous error when we entertain this kind of
idea! God’s ways are diverse–from the beginning to the end, God the Father,
God the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ act sovereignlyand do not
choose to follow one particular mode of actionin every case.
That lessonI wish to teach, first, in reference to our prayers. We must not
attempt to dictate to God with regardto His answers to our prayers. Let us
learn that lessonfrom the incident before us–“Theybrought a blind man to
Him, and beggedHim”–to open his eyes? No–thatwouldhave been a very
proper prayer, but they, “beggedHim to touch him.” But Christ did not do
His work according to their request–“He took the blind man by the hand, and
led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands
on him, He askedhim if he saw anything.” Now, with regardto our prayers,
we may bring our children, friends and neighbors to Christ–and we may ask
that they may be saved–but we must not dictate to Christ the methods by
which salvation is to come to them, for it is very usual with Him not to follow
those means which we would prescribe!
That plan of touching the sick personwas a very common one with Christ
and, therefore, the people beganto expect that He must always heal by a
touch. Naamanthought that the Prophet Elisha would come out to him, “and
stand and call on the name of the Lord, his God, and strike his hand over the
place and recoverthe leper.” But he was mistaken, as were those folk at
Bethsaida. It was a sort of understanding among them that Christ’s touch was
the usual method by which His cures were worked, so they beggedHim to
touch their blind friend. But He would not give any support to that notion. If
they thought than He workedHis miracles by putting His hands upon the
sick, then He would not put Hishands upon them–He would let them see that
He was not bound to any particular method. If He had allowedthem to
cherish such an idea, probably their next step in error would have been that
they would have said that it was an enchantment, a kind of performance by
certain passesand touches, as by a wizard or conjurer, through which Christ
went in order to heal the sick.
Superstition can be very easilymade to grow, and you and I, mark you, may
think ourselves perfectly free from superstition, yet, all the while, it may only

have takensome other form from that in which it appears in other people. For
instance, if the Lord is pleasedto bless a certainpreacher to the conversionof
souls, you may settle it in your mind that if you getyour children to hear him,
they will assuredlybe saved. Yet it may not be the case,for the Lord has a
thousand ways of saving souls and He is not tied to any one man as His agent
or instrument. It may getto be a kind of superstitious notion that in some one
person, alone, the powerof converting others may rest. Or it may be that you
say to yourself, “I was convertedby reading such-and-such a book. If I get my
boy to read that book, it will convert him, too.” Yet it may have no influence
whateverupon him, for the Grace of God is not tied to any book, nor to any
way of working that you choose to prescribe!
I would not wonder, my dear Friends, if some of you have tried to tie the Lord
down to your wayof working. Forinstance, in your class in the Sunday
school, it was the reading of a certainchapter in the Bible that brought one of
your scholars to Christ. So, in order to bring the rest of them to the Savior,
you getthem to read that chapter. That may be all right, for the Lord can
bless it to them if He pleases, but, at the same time you must remember that
He is a Sovereignand, therefore, He will probably use other means in other
cases. You preached, dear Friend, in the street, or in a Chapel, and God
blessedthat sermon. So you have made up your mind that you will preach it a
secondtime. I recommend you not to do so, for very likely it will hang fire if
you do. If you begin to confide in the sermon, God will not bless it. I think it is
often well to do with a goodsermonas David did with Goliath’s sword–he said
that there was none like it, yet he did not keepit by him for constantuse, but
he laid it up before the Lord–then it was ready for the specialoccasionwhen it
was required. When God has blessedany sermon that I have preached, I do
not make it a rule to preach it again, lestI might be led to put my trust in that
sermon, or to have some confidence in the way in which I set forth the Truth
of God, rather than in the Truth itself–thoughI never hesitate to preach the
same sermon againand againif I feel that the Spirit leads me to do so. We
must not, in our prayers, tie the Lord down to any particular means, for He
can use what means He pleases and He will do so, whatever we may say. We
may ask Him to open the blind man’s eyes, but it is not our place to beseech
Him to touch the blind man in order to effectHis cure!
Notice, also, thatChrist did not answerthe prayer of these people in the place
where they presented it. They brought the blind man to Him and they
evidently expectedthe Lord Jesus Christ to open his eyes there. But Jesus did
not do so. “He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town”–
right awayfrom the place where the people wantedto have the miracle

performed! The Savioractedas though He could not do anything in the
matter until He was out of town–andHe would not speak a word to him till
He got him quite awayby himself. Well, now, it is very easy, in our prayers, to
fix upon a certainplace as the one where God will give His blessing, and to
think, “The friend I am praying for must be convertedin the Tabernacle, or
must be converted in the little meeting that I hold in my house, or must be
brought to Jesus Christ in the Church where I attend, or in the Chapel where
I worship.” But our Lord may, perhaps, never convert that young man in any
of the places you have mentioned–He may meet with him behind the counter,
or on board boat, or walking by the way, or on a sickbed. Do not be
disappointed, therefore, when your place does not prove to be God’s place!
Take your friend to the House of God, for Christ’s miracles on a Sabbath and
in the synagogue are frequent–but do not try to tie Him down to the
synagogue, forHe must be left at liberty to work His miracles in His own way.
Neither, dear Friends, must we, for a moment, try to tie the Lord Jesus Christ
down to work in our particular manner! I have no doubt that these people
meant to prescribe to Christ that He should open that man’s eyes directly. He
had done so before and He was able to make the sightless one see in a single
moment. And they, therefore, naturally expected that He would do it. But the
Savior did not do so–He did not work an immediate, but a progressive cure.
He opened the man’s eyes a little and afterwards openedthem more fully.
This was a very extraordinary miracle–there is no other case like it in
Scripture. All the other cures that Christ workedwere immediate–but this
one was progressive.So, my Brother, the Lord may hear and answeryour
prayer, but it may not be by a conversionin the way you expected. You
thought that, all of a sudden, you would hear that your dearfriend had been
turned from darkness to the Light of God. You have not heard that, but you
have heard that he begins to be more thoughtful than he used to be, and that
he attends the means of Grace more regularly than he formerly did. Perhaps
the Lord intends, in his case, to work salvationby degrees.
Do not go and run the risk of spoiling it by trying to run faster than God
guides you! The daylight does not always come in a moment. I am told that in
the tropics there is but slender notice of the rising of the sun–he seems to be
up and shining in full glory in a few seconds!But here, in England, you know
how long a time of twilight and dawn we have before the sun has fully risen.
No doubt there are conversions thatare just like the tropical morning–in a
moment the greatdeed of Grace is done! But there are many more
conversions that are slow and gradual, yet they are none the less sure! The
genialsun is up when he is up–even if he takes anhour in the operation of

rising–quite as effectually as he is up when he seems to leap out of the sea into
meridian splendor! So, if the Lord should see fit to bless your friend in a
different manner from that which you had thought of, do not you quarrel with
Him. WhateverHe does is right–so let us never question any of His actions.
One other point, in which we must not dictate to God, is this. He may hear our
prayer and grant our request, yet wemay not know that it is so. I do not think
that these people who brought the blind man to Christ ever saw him again
after his eyes had been opened. Mark tells us that Christ “led him out of the
town”–thatis, awayfrom his friends. And after He had healed him, “He sent
him awayto his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in
the town.” I suppose they found it out afterwards, but then and there, at any
rate, they did not see the man’s eyes opened. If he did as Christ commanded
him, he went straight awayhome and kept the matter quiet, so far, at least, as
the generalpublic and, perhaps, these friends of his were concerned.
Now, it is quite possible that God may hear your prayer for some dear friend
in whom you are interestedand yet you may never know of it till you get to
Heaven. The Lord has promised to hear prayer, but He has not promised that
you shall know that He has heard your prayer! A godly mother may be in
Glory long before her supplications have been answeredin the conversionof
her son. A Sunday schoolteachermay go Home to be with Christ before the
boys, over whom he has agonized, are brought to the Savior. Our farmers
know that earthly harvests are sometimes late and it is the same in spiritual
husbandry! Divine Grace ensures the crop, but even the Grace of God does
not guarantee that the crop shall come up tomorrow, nor wheneverwe please.
So, dear Friend, keepon sowing the goodseedof the Kingdom of God, water
it with your tears and your prayers, and then leave with God the question
whether you shall see the harvest or not. He may, in your case,fulfill that
gracious promise, “He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come againwith rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Or He
may simply choose to make you the sowerand another the reaper. It is for you
to believe that your petitions shall be granted, even if you do not live to see
them!
There have been many instances in which men’s prayers have prevailed,
although they themselves have never lived to see that happy result. I think I
have told you, before now, the story of a godly father whose unhappy lot it
was to see his sons grow up without the fear of God in their hearts. This was a
very heavy burden upon the goodold man’s spirit. Day and night he wept and
prayed about it before God. At last, the time came for him to die and he had
not, then, one sonwho had found the Savior! It had been the old man’s prayer

that his death might be the means of the conversionof his children if they
were not brought to Christ in his lifetime–and so it was. Yet the scene at his
death was very different from what he had hoped that it might be, for it was a
very gloomy departure. His faith was grievouslytried–he did not enjoy the
Light of God’s Countenance–he wasput to bed, as God often puts some of His
best children to bed, in the dark. He died humbly trusting in Jesus, but not
triumphing, not even rejoicing–he was in great pain of body and deep
depressionof spirit–and his last thought was, “This experience ofmine will
only confirm my sons in their infidelity. I have borne no witness for Christ as
I had hoped to do. And now they will say that their father’s religion failed him
at the lastand so, my heart’s desire will not be granted to me.”
Yet it was granted, though he did not live to see it, for, after they had put him
in the tomb and had come home from the funeral, the eldestson saidto the
others, “You noticed, brothers, what a struggle our father seemedto have on
his dying bed and how hard it went with him. Now, we all know that he was a
man of God. His conduct and example were such that we have no doubt about
his being a true Christian, yet, if he found it so hard to die, what will it be for
us when we come to the day of our death and have no God to help us, and no
Christ to look to in the hour of our extremity?” It was remarkable that the
same thought had struck all the goodman’s sons–andthey went to their own
homes deeply impressed by their father’s gloomy death–to seek their father’s
God and to find Him!
Could the old man have knownwhat was best, he would have chosenjust such
a death in order that he might, thereby, be the means of bringing his children
to Christ! In like manner, you may not be sure that you will see, here, the
answerto all your prayers, but you will see it when you getup yonder–when
God shall bid you fling up the celestialwindows and you will look down and
see the harvests which you never reaped, but for which you sowedthe seed!
You will see, springing up from the soil, the rich result of your labor, though
you saw it not while here on earth–andyour Heaven will be all the sweeter
because, then, you will know that the Lord has heard and answeredthe
prayers that you offered in your lifetime here below.
II. Secondly, I learn, from this narrative that WE MUST NOT ATTEMPT
TO TELL THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HOW HE IS TO WORK, for He has
various ways of working in the blessing of men.
For instances, whenthis blind man was brought to Him, He did not open his
eyes with a word. Often, when the sickwere brought to Him, He spoke and
they were at once cured. He might have done so in this case. He might have
said to the blind man’s eyes, “Be opened!” The ancientfiat might have been

repeated, “Light be!” and there would have been light in his darkness. But
there came out of Christ’s mouth–not a word–but spittle! Christ spaton the
blind man’s eyes. Ah, but if anything comes out of His mouth, it does not
matter much what it is–whatevercomes outof the mouth of the Christ of God
means healing and life to those whom it reaches!He has His own ways of
working. Usually, He is pleasedto save men by the preaching of the Word
and, sometimes, the greatchange is brought about through very feeble
testimony. Yet, nevertheless, it is the Word of the Lord that is spoken, and it
comes from the mouth of God, so He blesses it to the opening of blind men’s
eyes.
In this case, too, Christdid not work upon this man all at once. As I have
already reminded you, He workeda gradual cure upon him. So, dear Friend,
you must not dictate to Jesus Christ as to how you will be saved. I know that
some of you do. One said to me, in my vestry, that she believed she had found
Christ, but she was half-afraid it could not really be so. “Why not?” I asked.
And she answered, “Myold grandfather told me that it took him three years
before he gotpeace and he was lockedup in a lunatic asylum most of the time.
I thought it was an awful affair altogether.” Ienquired where she could find
anything in the Word of God to support that idea and then told her to simply
believe in the Lord Jesus Christand not to trouble about what her
grandfather did. I have no doubt that he got to Heaven even through a lunatic
asylum, but there are other and better ways of getting there!
Mr. Bunyan tells us that his pilgrim went through the Slough of Despondand
did not pick the steps well, so he floundered, and it was with difficulty that he
got to the other side. Mr. Bunyan pictures Evangelistas bidding the poor
seekerfly towards a certain wicketgate and keephis eyes on the light within
that gate. Now that was a mistake on the part of Evangelist–andit was
through that mistake that the poor pilgrim got into the Slough of Despond.
The Gospeldoes not tell you to look for wicketgates, norto keepyour eyes on
any light! You remember how, at last, the poor pilgrim did getrid of his
burden–it was at the Cross that the burden rolled from his shoulders and
disappearedinto thesepulcherso that he saw it no more! And, dear Friends,
that is where your eyes have to be turned–to the Cross ofChristand to the full
Atonement He has made for all who trust in Him! As for wicketgates and the
Sloughs of Despond–the less you have to do with them, the better. “But is
there no Sloughof Despond?” someone asks.Oh, yes! Twenty of them, but it
is far easierto go through that Slough with the burden off rather than on your
shoulders! The best thing you can possibly do is to go to Christ, first, for then
you canbetter go whereveryou have to go. As for me, I would rather avoid

the Sloughof Despond altogetherif I could–and keepmy eyes always upon the
Cross–forChristCrucified is the one and only hope of sinners!
You must not, any of you, say, “Bunyan went through the Slough of Despond.
According to his ‘ Grace Abounding,'he was there for years. And there is our
Pastor, I have often heard him say that he was a long while in that Slough.”
Yes, I am sorry to say that he was, but that is no reasonwhy you should go
there. If, when I was a youth, I had heard the Gospelof Christ preachedas
plainly as I have preachedit to you, I feel certainthat I would never have been
in the bog so long as I was. But I heard a mixed sort of Gospel, a mingle-
mangle–a mixture of Law and Gospel–a muddling up of Moses andChrist–
something of “do” and something of “believe.” And, therefore, I was for so
long a time in that sad state of bondage!In fact, the good sound doctrine
people that I used to hear, said, “You must not come to Christ, for you do not
know whether you are one of the elect–andyou must not come until you do.” I
know perfectly well that nobody can possibly tell whether he is elect, or not,
till he finds it out by coming to God! And that no one ever comes to God the
Father, who makes the election, exceptby Jesus ChristHis Son! So we have
first to do with the Son and afterwards with the Father. That I did not know
when I was seeking the Savior. I needed an angelto tell me that I was one of
the elect, but I was obligedto come to Christ as a poor, guilty sinner and just
trust in Him, and so to find peace in believing. That is the plan that I
recommend you adopt if you want to be saved!
Do not say, “I shall not come to Christ till I stick in the mud of the Slough of
Despond. I shall not come to Him till I get laid by the heels in Giant Despair’s
Castle!I shall not come to Him till I getwhipped on the back with the
tenthonged lash of the Law.” If you really want to have that lash, perhaps you
will getit, and I hope you will like it–but the Gospelsays, “Come and
welcome!Come and welcome!Come to Jesus just as you are!” Never try to
lay down rules and regulations for Christ, but let Him save you in His own
way and be you content, just as you are, to take Him just as He is!
There is one more point about this man in which the singular Sovereigntyof
Christ is seen, and that is, He did notmake use of the healed man, though we
would have thought that He would have done so. If this miracle had been
workedin the presentday, we would soonhave seenthis man in the Salvation
Army, or in some other public position. Nowadays, the rule seems to be send
off a paragraph to the newspapers, “So many in the enquiry-room! So many
convertedon such-and-such a night! Blow the trumpets! Beatthe drums! Let
everybody know!” But that was not Jesus Christ’s wayof working–He told
this man not to go into the town. And when he did get home, not to tell

anybody what had been done to him. Why was he not to tell anybody? Well,
first, because the Lord wanted to do goodand not to have a noise made about
it. And, secondly, because there was no need to tell anybody. Suppose I had
been for years a blind preacherand that my eyes had been opened–would
there be any need for me to tell you, next Sunday, that my eyes were opened?
You would see it for yourselves–everybodycansee when a man’s eyes are
opened. And, often, the best way in which a man cantell that he is converted
is simply by letting other people see what a change there is in him because, if
his eyes are not really open, it is of no use for him to stand up and say, “Bless
the Lord! My eyes are open,” while he is still blind! I have heard people say
that they were convertedand I have thought that if the work were done over
again, it would not hurt them much and that, indeed, six or sevensuch
conversions would not amount to much! Oh, give us a conversionthat speaks
for itself! Give us a new heart that shows itselfin a new life! If a man is not
able to control his temper, or to speak the truth–if he is not a goodservant, or
a goodmaster, or a goodhusband–do not let him think it necessaryto
proclaim what Christ has done for him, for, if he has done anything that was
worth doing, it will speak for itself!
Now I must close by just noticing one fact about this man as to the early steps
that Jesus Christ used with him. There is one point I want to dwell upon for a
minute. Our Lord, before He did anything else with the blind man, took him
by the hand and led him out of town. There are some of you here, perhaps,
with whom the Lord has been thus working. You have begun to come to listen
to the Gospel–throughyour wife, perhaps, or through some Christian friend. I
am very hopeful concerning you, for, although you cannotyet see, the Lord
has takenyou by the hand. All the faith that this poor man had was a yielding
faith–he gave himself up to be led–and that is a saving faith. My dear Friend,
give yourself up to be led by Christ! If you have come under gracious,
heavenly influences, yield yourselfup to them!
The Masterled this blind man right awayfrom other people and it will be a
goodsign when you begin to feel that you are getting to be lonely. Sometimes,
when the Lord means to save a man, He lays him aside by illness, or, if not, He
takes him awayfrom the company he used to keepby some other means. Or,
if the man is allowedto go into the same company, he gets to dislike it. He does
not feelat home with those who were once his companions–he goes in and out
of the shop as if he were one by himself. He has the Lord’s arrow sticking in
him and, like the wounded stag, he tries to getaway to bleed alone. You feel,
sometimes, as though nobody understood you. You read in the Book of Job, or
the Lamentations of Jeremiah and you say, “This is the kind of experience

that I am passing through. I have a broken heart and a troubled conscience,
and I feelthat I am all alone.”
Well, dear Friend, that is the Lord Jesus Christleading you out of town,
getting you away from everybody. And, mark you, the place of mercy is the
place where a man stands alone–awayfrom everybody excepthis Lord. Do
not draw your hand back from the hand that is leading you away! Perhaps
ungodly company has been your ruin and it is through solitude that God
intends to save you. Be much alone. Think over your own case. Makea
personalconfessionofsin. Seek for personalfaith in a personalSavior. You
were born alone–youwill have to pass through the gates of death alone.
Although you will stand in a crowd to be judged, yet you will be judged as a
separate individual–and even though myriads perish with you, your loss will
be your own if you are lost!
Therefore, look into your own affairs. Castup your own accountand, before
the living God, stand separate from all your fellow men! I believe that if any
of you have reachedthat point, you are where the deed of Grace shall be done.
May the Lord enable you to yield yourself up completelyto Him, for your
safetylies there! We rightly put faith before you as a look, but now I will put
it before you, if you have not even an eye to look with, as the yielding up of
yourself to the guidance of the Savior. Be nothing and let Christ be
everything! Give yourself entirely up into His hands and He must and will
save you! For, though it is faith in its passive form, it is, nevertheless, a real
and saving faith! And blessedare all they that have it! May God grant it to
everyone of us now, for Jesus'sake!Amen.
FREE MORAL AGENCY
We believe God has createdus as free moral agents.
We are free to live and think and actaccording to our ownwill (Joshua 24:15;
John 1:12 ; John 6:67). These Scriptures clearlyindicate that we have
freedom to acceptor rejectGod, to obey or disobey. God does setboundaries
on human behavior, however. We are not free to be God as some persons
would like (Genesis 3:1-6). We are creature, not Creator.
We believe every individual is accountable to God for choices made.
All persons experience inner tension betweenthe desire to do right and the
pressure to do wrong. This was true for the rich young ruler whose story is

told in Mark 10:17-22. He freely chose his course ofaction and was
accountable for his decision. This is true for all of us. "So then every one of us
shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12 KJV).
We believe that since believers were free to make the decisionto acceptChrist
as Savior and Lord, they are not less free at any time to turn awayfrom God
and be lost.
If Christians refuse to acknowledgesinand the need for forgiveness, rejectthe
Savior and Lord they had accepted, no longer follow Jesus (John 10:27), push
Christ out of their lives, the salvationthey once knew is no longer theirs (John
15:6). Petertells us, "If they have escapedthe corruption of the world by
knowing our Lord and SaviorJesus Christ and are again entangledin it and
overcome, they are worse offat the end than they were at the beginning. It
would have been better for them not to have known the wayof commandment
that was passedonto them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to
its vomit, 'and 'A sow that is washedgoes back to her wallowing in the mud' "
(2 Peter2:20 -22 NIV).
This does not mean that Christians have to live in constant fearof being lost.
Relationshipwith God is not broken every time the Christian fails. John says,
"I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have
one who speaksto the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One" (1 John 2:1 NIV). Christians are also promised, "if we confess oursins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 KJV).
We believe God provides power for living a victorious Christian life.
As Christians abide in Christ, he abides in them (John 15:4). The Lord has
said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5 KJV). We may
forsake God. Godwill not forsake us.
"Godis faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up
under it" (1 Corinthians 10:13NIV). Because"itis God who works in you to
will and to actaccording to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13 NIV), God's
people canapproach life with a sense of victory.
How could Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven,” before He died on the cross?

Question:"How could Jesus say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ before He died on
the cross?"
Answer: We know that God forgives sins on the basis of Jesus’shedblood on
the cross (Ephesians 1:7;1 John 1:7). Yet, before He went to the cross, Jesus
told two people that their sins were forgiven. This fact puzzles some people.
How could Jesus forgive sin before the sacrifice was evenmade? After all,
Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Let’s identify the two people to whom Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven,”
before He died on the cross. The first is the paralyzed man who was brought
to Jesus by friends and loweredthrough a roof to be healed. “When Jesus saw
their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’” (Luke 5:20). The second
person is the sinful womanwho came to Jesus while He ate at Simon the
Pharisee’s house. Seeingher reverence, the Lord contrastedher love with
Simon’s lack of love. “ThenJesus saidto her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’” (Luke
7:48). In both cases,Jesus’words causedquite a stir among the hearers (Luke
5:21; 7:49).
When Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”—evenbefore He died on the
cross—He was notspeaking empty words. He had the powerto forgive sin,
just like He had the power to heal paralysis. In fact, Jesus usedthe physical
healing to confirm His authority to dispense spiritual healing: “‘I want you to
know that the Sonof Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he saidto
the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, getup, take your mat and go home.’
Immediately he stoodup in front of them, took what he had been lying on and
went home praising God” (Luke 5:24–25).
Turning to the Old Testament, we find other people whose sins were forgiven
before Jesus died on the cross. Davidprayed for forgiveness (Psalm51:2) and
receivedit. “Blessedis the one whose transgressions are forgiven” (Psalm
32:1). As he touched Isaiahwith a coalfrom the altar, an angel declaredthe
prophet’s forgiveness:“Your guilt is takenaway and your sin atoned for”
(Isaiah 6:7). The atonement provided by the animal sacrificesresultedin
forgiveness (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35).

The principle found all through the Bible is that forgiveness is God’s business.
“With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared” (Psalm130:4, ESV).
“You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5, NASB). “To the
Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness”(Daniel9:9, ESV). When Jesus
displayed His power to forgive sins, He clearly showedthat He was the Son of
God wielding God’s authority in this world. “Who can forgive sins but God
alone?” (Luke 5:21). No one;Jesus is God Incarnate.
Forgivenessofsin in every dispensation has always been basedon Jesus’
death on the cross (see Hebrews 9:15). In the Old Testament, sins were
forgiven on the basis of Jesus’death on the cross, ofwhich the animal
sacrifices were but a foreshadowing. During the life of Christ, sins were
forgiven on the basis of His yet-future death on the cross—the benefits of that
sacrifice were grantedto those who had faith in Jesus. Now, by faith, we look
back on the death and resurrectionof Christ and receive God’s forgiveness.
The goodnews is as Paul preached, “My friends, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness ofsins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38). When
we trust Christ, the word to us is the same as that spokento the forgiven
woman in Simon’s house: “Your faith has savedyou; go in peace” (Luke
7:50). https://www.gotquestions.org/your-sins-are-forgiven.html
Is God Sovereignover My Free Will?
00:00

Episode 774 January 18, 2016
Interview with John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org
Subscribe
Apple
Spotify
Google
Audio Transcript
Welcome back to the Ask PastorJohn podcast, and we begin the week with a
question from Tyson. “Hello, PastorJohn. We met a couple of months back at
a conference in Dallas. Very happy to have met you. My question for you is
how do we know that God is sovereign? How does Goduse his sovereigntyfor
the greatergood, whenour free will is in place? In other words, will God use
his sovereigntyto override our free will at times to exemplify his perfectwill?
If so, do we truly have free will?” PastorJohn, how would you explain it?
Who Decides?
I am not sure what Tyson means by ‘free will.’ So I may not be able to answer
the question if he means something by free will that I don’t believe in. Let’s
try out a definition and let the Scriptures shed light on this tension. I think
Tysonwill get the answerhe is after, at leastthe best I cangive it.
The definition of free will that creates controversieswith those like me who
believe in the sovereigntyof God overthe human will — not just a general
statementabout the sovereigntyof God, but God’s sovereigntyover the
human will — that definition is this: man’s will is free if he has the powerof
ultimate self-determination.

“No one cancome to Jesus, no one canbelieve, unless God grants him the
faith.”
Tweet
Share on Facebook
What I mean by ultimate self-determination is that no power outside of man
himself has ultimate or decisive controlover what a man chooses,atleastnot
when he is acting as a moral agentwho must give an accountto God. This
excludes other people, influences, and Godhimself. None of them would have
decisive control over a person’s choices.
God and man and nature may have some influence, but this influence cannot
be decisive. They may have a kind of causality, but not ultimate causality or
decisive causality. Otherwise, the man would not be free on this definition that
I am unfolding.
Wesleyans andArminians insist that for a personto believe on Christ and be
saved, divine influence is necessary. Theycall it prevenient grace — grace that
has come before our faith and thus influences us towardChrist.
But this influence on the Wesleyanand Arminian understanding cannot be
decisive. The final, decisive, ultimate cause ofour believing Christ is not the
Holy Spirit. It is not divine grace. It is our own input.
God may getthe process ofconversionstarted, but the decisive influence is
provided by ourselves. This is what is meant by free will on this definition. It
is ultimate or decisive self-determination.
Judas and God
Now if that is what Tyson means in his question, I can’t answerhis question
because I don’t think such a thing exists anywhere in the universe, exceptin
the will of God. Only God has free will in the sense ofultimate self-
determination. Here are a few of the reasons whyI think that, because I don’t
know whether Tyson agrees withthat or not.
Jesus talkedabout why Judas did not believe on him: “(Jesus knew from the
beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would
betray him.) And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one cancome to me
unless it is granted him by the Father’” John 6:64–65.

In other words, no one cancome to Jesus, thatis, no one can believe, unless
God grants him the faith. Judas did not come to Jesus decisively, fully,
savingly because it was not granted to him, as Jesus said, by the Father.
Jesus takes thattruth and generalizes it to all of us and says in this very verse:
“No one” — not just Judas — “cancome to me unless it is granted” — unless
the decisive coming is granted — “by the Father.” No one has the powerof
ultimate self-determination to get themselves to God. God gives or withholds
the powerto come. Nudges to come will not save anybody. What is given by
God is the coming.
Flip of a Coin
Another reasonI don’t think ultimate self-determination exists in human
beings is 2 Timothy 2:24–25, where Paulsays that the Lord’s servantshould
correct“his opponents with gentleness. Godmay perhaps grant them
repentance leading to a knowledge ofthe truth.”
“We make choices. We have a will. Our will is active. We are genuine moral
agents.”
Tweet
Share on Facebook
Repentance is the flip side of the coin of faith. Faith is on one side of the coin
and faith embraces Christ. Repentance turns from embracing other false
reliances. The gift of repentance is the gift of the coin. It is the gift of rejecting
self-reliance and embracing Christ. It is a gift of salvation. Without the gift of
God to cause us to repent and believe, none of us would be saved.
New Birthrights
Another reasonis that John says in 1 John 5:1, “Everyone who believes that
Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Self-willed faith does not bring
about the new birth. Justthe opposite. The new birth brings about faith. Faith
is, therefore, not the result of human self-determination but of the new birth.
One more reason(among many, many more) is Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s
heart is a stream of waterin the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he
will.” No king anywhere on earth has the power of ultimate self-

determination. So I don’t think such a thing exists, except in God. God is
ultimately self-determining, but man is not ultimately and decisively self-
determining.
Free People
Nevertheless — and I think this gets at what Tyson is asking about. We are
responsible, accountable, forour preferences andour choices.
“We do not have ultimate self-determination, but we will all give an account
to God for our choices.”
Tweet
Share on Facebook
If God is sovereignover the human will, are we responsible? Yes, we are. The
Bible says so over and over againthat we are. Our choices are our choices.
They are true choices.We have a will. Our will is active. We are genuine
moral agents.
We will, as Jesus says, “give accountfor every carelessword” (Matthew
12:36). Indeed, we will give an account, according to Romans 14:12, of all of
our preferences andchoices and behaviors. Eachof us will give an accountof
himself to God. Human beings do not have ultimate self-determination, and
we will all give an accountto God for our preferences and our choices.
So instead of speaking of the will as free or not, I prefer to speak of people as
free or not because thatis the way the Bible does. “ForfreedomChrist has set
us free,” Paul says in Galatians 5:1. Christians are free from the bondage to
sin and from the oppressive demand of having to perform our own salvation.
Maybe the best way to end would be to quote this greatliberation from
Romans 6:17–18:“Thanks be to God.” That is so important. And that is the
way we should live as believers, with a heart brimming like this. “Thanks be
to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the
heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having
been setfree from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
Individual Responsibility in Salvation

Must EachIndividual PersonallyChoose to Be Saved?
Is eachindividual personally responsible to choose forhimself whether or not
to acceptsalvation? Some teachthat babies or infants can be baptized on the
basis of the faith of the parents. Others actas though they should be treated as
righteous because they have family members who are godly or because they
are members of a faithful localchurch. Others think their relationship to God
is hopeless if they come from a sinful family.
Is eachperson a free moral agentbefore God?
Click here to listen to this study as a free MP3 recordedBible message.
Introduction:
Ezekiel18:20 - "The soul who sins shall die. The sonshall not bear the guilt of
the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness ofthe
righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickednessofthe wickedshall be
upon himself."
This passageteachesthe principle of individual responsibility in salvation.
Eachperson is accountable before Godfor His ownlife.
No one else can be savedfor us, and no one else candecide whether or not we
will be saved. Eachperson's eternal destiny will be decided by his/her own
personalchoices and conduct.
Some people do not completely believe this. Some defend infant baptism by
saying the child can be baptized on the basis on the parents' faith. Some
believe that the father in a family can decide for his whole family - wife and
children - that they will all be baptized.
Let us considerBible teaching about individual responsibility, then later we
will later discuss applications in which some people do not appear to believe in
individual responsibility.
I. Passagesthat TeachIndividual Responsibility in Salvation
A. GeneralPassagesaboutIndividual Responsibility
Eachperson's conduct is his individual responsibility.
Ezekiel18:20 - The sonshall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father
bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness ofthe righteous shall be upon

himself, and the wickednessofthe wickedshall be upon himself. A father and
son are eachresponsible for his own wickednessorrighteousness. [1 John 3:4]
Matthew 7:21-28 - For everyone (individual), not just one who confessesJesus
will enter the kingdom, but he who does (individual) the will of the Father.
Whether or not a person's spiritual house stands or falls is determined by who
hears and does (or does not do) what Jesus teaches. This is true for "whoever"
(v24) or "everyone" (v26).
Matthew 16:24,25 - Anyone (an individual) who desires to come after Jesus
must deny himself (individual), take up his cross (individual), and follow
Jesus. Whoeverloses His life (individual) for Christ will find it. Jesus here
discusses the basic issue of whether or not one is His disciple. That choice is an
individual choice. Note:This applies to "anyone."
Acts 10:35 - In every nation whoever(individual) fears Him and works
righteousness is acceptedby Him. Note that the person who is acceptedis the
same person who fears God and works righteousness.This is true for
everyone (whoever) in every nation. V34 - No partiality; this is the same for
all.
James 1:23-25 - If anyone (individual) hears God's word and does not do it, he
is like a man (individual) who observes himself (individual) in a mirror but
then forgets what he saw. But he who (individual) looks into the perfect law of
liberty and continues doing the work, this one (individual) will be blessedin
what he does (individual). Note that the one who is blessedis the same one
who continued doing what he saw in the word.
This is individual responsibility.
[John 14:21-24;15:5,6;Matt. 12:30,50;24:13; Acts 2:21; 1 Tim. 2:9; Heb.
6:11; 1 John 2:4-6; 3:7,10;2 John 9]
Eachperson's eternal destiny is basedon individual responsibility.
2 Corinthians 5:10 - At judgment eachone (individual) will receive the things
done in the body, according to what he has done (individual), whether goodor
bad. The one being judged will be rewardedaccording to what he did, not
what someone else did. This applies to "all."
Romans 14:12 - Eachof us (individual) shall give accountof himself
(individual) to God. No one else - only you - will be judged for what you did.
Romans 2:6-10 - God will render to eachone (individual) according to his
deeds (individual - v6). Tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who
does evil (individual - v9), but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works
what is good(individual - v10).

Galatians 6:7,8 - Whatevera man sows (individual) that he will also reap
(individual). He who sows to the flesh (individual) will reap corruption. He
who sows to the spirit (individual) will reap everlasting life. What you
personally reap will be determined by how you personallylived.
Note:"Do not be deceived. God is not mocked." When people think they can
avoid being punished or rewarded for how they lived, or when they think
people will reap according to how someone else lived, they are deceivedand
are attempting to mock God!
[Revelation20:13,15]
B. PassagesaboutIndividual Responsibility in the Steps to Salvation
Now considerhow this individual responsibility in salvationrequires each
individual to personally take eachof the steps that the gospelsays are
necessaryto salvation.
Hearing the gospel
John 6:44,45 - No one can come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father(by
teaching). Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to Jesus.
The one who comes is the one who must first hear and learn, and no one can
come unless they do it.
Mark 7:14 - Jesus commanded "everyone ofyou" to hear and understand His
teaching. Eachindividual must hear and understand.
Mark 16:15,16 - The gospelshould be preachedto every creature in the whole
world. "He who" (eachindividual) believes and is baptized will be saved. The
person who is savedis the same personwho must first hear, understand,
believe, and be baptized. This applies to "every creature" in the whole world.
No one can learn the gospelfor you, and you cannot learn it for anyone else.
We may teachothers and help them learn. But learning God's word is
individual responsibility.
[Luke 10:16; Acts 3:23]
Faith
Mark 16:15,16 - Again, the one who is savedmust first hear, believe, and be
baptized. But note also that he who (individual) does not believe will be
condemned. Whether one is savedor condemned is determined by individual
choices.
John 3:16,36 - Whoever (or "he who" - an individual) believes should have
everlasting life. But he who (individual) does not believe will receive wrath,
not life. The individual who seeks eternallife is the same one who must

believe. If he does not, he will have wrath. Again, this applies to everyone in
the whole world.
Acts 10:43 - Whoeverbelieves in Him will receive remissionof sins. The
individual who wants remissionis the same individual who must believe.
Romans 10:9-11 - With the heart one (an individual) believes to righteousness,
and with the mouth confessionis made to salvation. "Whoever" (individual)
believes on Him will not be put to shame. Eachindividual has his own heart in
which he must believe and eachindividual has his own mouth with which he
must confess Christ.
Hebrews 11:6 - He who (individual) comes to God must believe that He exists
and rewards those who seek Him. The one who wants to come is the one who
must believe. What if he does not believe? Then he cannot possibly please
God.
Faith is an individual responsibility. No one canbelieve for you, and you
cannot believe for anyone else.
[John 5:24; 11:25,26;Romans 1:16; 3;26]
Repentance
Acts 2:38 - "Everyone of you" (each individual) should repent and be
baptized for remissionof sins. But the same individual who seeksremissionis
the one who must repent. Both repentance and baptism are individual
responsibilities.
2 Peter3:9 - God is not willing for "any" (individual) to perish but wants all
to come to repentance. To avoid perishing, eachindividual must repent.
Repentance is an acknowledgementof guilt and a need to change ones life. No
one candecide for you to change your life, and you cannotdecide for others.
By nature it is inherently an individual responsibility.
Confession
Romans 10:9,10 - Again, the individual ("one")who seeks to be savedmust
first believe in his heart and confess Christwith his mouth. Just as each
individual has his own heart in which he must believe, so eachindividual has
his ownmouth with which he must confess Christ.
Matthew 10:32 - Whoever (an individual) confesses Jesus, Jesus willconfess
him (individual) before the Father. Note that the same individual who is
confessedbefore the Father is the same one who must confess Jesus before
men. [1 John 4:15]

No one can confess Christfor you, and you cannotconfess foranyone else.
The convictionof your own heart must lead you to confess.Confessiontoo is
an individual responsibility.
Baptism
Mark 16:15,16 - "He who" (eachindividual) believes and is baptized will be
saved(after hearing the gospel - v15). Baptism is an individual choice made by
one who first hears, understands, and believes the gospel. The personwho is
baptized is the same person who must first believe. Baptism is an individual
responsibility, just like learning and believing.
Acts 2:38 - "Everyone of you" (individual) should repent and be baptized for
remissionof sins. The individual who repents should then be baptized. The
individual who seeksremissionofsins must be baptized. Baptism is an
individual responsibility, just like repentance.
John 3:3,5 - Unless "one" (individual) is born of water(baptism) and the
Spirit, he (individual) cannot enter the kingdom. The same one who seeks to
enter the kingdom must be baptized. If he is not personally baptized, he
cannot enter the kingdom.
Eachstep to conversionis an individual responsibility. No one canlearn for
you, believe, repent, confess, orbe baptized for you. And you cannotdo any of
these for anyone else. We can encourage one another, but eachone must make
up his own mind and actfor himself.
II. Applications of Individual Responsibility in Salvation
https://www.gospelway.com/salvation/individual_responsibility.php

A Beginner’s Guide to ‘Free Will’
Article by John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

Before the fall of Adam, man was sinless and able not to sin. For God “saw
everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
But he was also able to sin. For God had said, “In the day that you eat of it
[the tree] you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
As soonas Adam fell into sin, human nature was profoundly altered. Now
man was not able not to sin. In the fall, human nature lostits freedom not to
sin.
Why is man not able not to sin? Because onthis side of the fall “that which is
born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6), and “the mind of the flesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot, and those who are
in the flesh cannotplease God” (Romans 8:7–8, my translation). Or, as Paul
says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural persondoes not acceptthe things of
the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand
them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Notice the word cannot twice in Romans 8:7–8, and the words “is not able” in
1 Corinthians 2:14. This is the nature of all human beings when we are born
— what Paul calls the “natural person,” and what Jesus calls “bornof the
flesh.”
Too Rebellious to Submit to God
This means, Paul says, that in this condition we “cannotplease God,” or, to
put it another way, “we are not able not to sin.” The basic reasonis that the
natural personprefers his own autonomy and his own glory above the
sovereigntyand glory of God. This is what Paul means when he says, “The
mind of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit . . . ”
“Believing is not just affirming the truth of Jesus, but is also seeing the beauty
and worth of Jesus.”
Tweet
Share on Facebook
Glad submission to God’s authority, and to God’s superior value and beauty,
is something we are not able to do. This is not because we are kept from doing
what we prefer to do. It is because we preferour own authority, and treasure
our own value, above God’s. We cannotprefer Godas supremely valuable
while preferring ourselves supremely.

The reasonfor this idolatrous preference is that we are morally blind to the
glory of Christ, so that we cannot treasure his glory as superior to our own.
Satanis committed to confirming us in this blinding preference. “The godof
this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keepthem from seeing
the light of the gospelof the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). So when the
natural personlooks at the glory of God, whether in nature or in the gospel,
he does not see supreme beauty and worth.
To Believe We Must See Beauty
This is the basic reasonthat the natural personcannot believe in Christ.
Believing is not just affirming the truth of Jesus, but is also seeing the beauty
and worth of Jesus, in such a waythat we receive him as our supreme
treasure. The wayJesus expressedthis was to say, “Whoeverloves father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoeverloves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). There is no saving
relationship with Jesus where faith does not consistin treasuring Jesus above
your dearestearthly treasures.
Where this wakening to the supreme glory and value of Jesus (called“new
birth”) has not happened, the fallen human heart cannot believe in Jesus.
That’s why Jesus said to those who opposedhim, “How canyou believe, when
you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from
the only God?” (John 5:44). In other words, you cannotbelieve in Jesus while
you treasure human glory over his. Forbelieving is just the opposite.
Believing in Jesus means receiving him as supremely glorious and valuable
(John 1:12).
This is why the natural person cannot please God. Forhe cannotbelieve God
in this way. He cannot receive him and his Son as supremely valuable. But the
Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please him [God]” (Hebrews
11:6). Or, as Paul says, even more dramatically, in Romans 14:23, “Whatever
does not proceedfrom faith is sin.”
The GreatRenovationThrough Christ
The stark reality, therefore, is that human beings, as we are born — with an
ordinary, fallen human nature — are not able not to sin. We are, as Paul and
Jesus both affirm, “slaves ofsin” (John 8:34; Romans 6:20). The remedy for
this condition is the free and sovereigngrace ofGod bringing about a root
change in our fallen nature.

This miraculous, blood-bought, Spirit-wrought change in what we perceive
and prefer is described in severalways in the New Testament. Forexample:
God’s creationof light in our hearts:“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness,’has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge ofthe
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
God’s causing us to be born again: “Blessedbe the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has causedus to be born
againto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead.” (1 Peter1:3)
God’s raising us from the dead: “God, being rich in mercy, because ofthe
greatlove with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive togetherwith Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)
God’s gift of repentance:“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to
a knowledge ofthe truth, and they may come to their senses and escapefrom
the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy
2:25–26)
God’s gift of faith: “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you
should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”(Philippians 1:29)
The effectof this miraculous, Spirit-wrought change is that we are no longer
blind to the supreme beauty and glory of Christ; we no longer prefer our own
autonomy overGod’s sovereignrule; we no longer love God’s creationmore
than the Creator;we embrace Christ as supremely valuable; we trust his
promises;we are setfree from our bondage to unbelief and sin, and are finally
able not to sin. “Forsin will have no dominion over you, since you are not
under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
A Definition of ‘Free Will’
Now, where does “free will” fit into this biblical picture of our condition in the
world?
To answerthat question we need a cleardefinition of “free will.” It may be
helpful to offer three definitions — one from popular usage, one from
common biblical usage, and one from the more technicaldiscussion.
A Popular Definition
Popularly, what do most people mean when they wonderabout free will? I
think most people mean something like this: Our will is free if our preferences

and our choices are really our own in such a way that we can justly be held
responsible for whether they are goodor bad. The opposite would be that our
preferences and choices are not our own, but that we are robots or puppets
with no meaningful acts of preferring or choosing.
On that definition, free will exists both in fallen and redeemedhuman beings.
For what the fall brought about was not that we ceaseto be authentic
preferring and choosing persons, but that our rebelliousness inclines us to
prefer and choose badly. Everyone prefers and choosesin accordwith his
nature. If the nature is rebellious and insubordinate, as Paul describes in
Romans 8:7–8, we prefer and choose accordingly. If our nature is being set
free from its rebellion, it begins to prefer and choose whatis truly beautiful.
In either case, ourpreferring and choosing are “our own,” and we are “held
responsible” for whether they are goodor bad.
A Biblical Definition
A seconddefinition of free will reflectedin the language ofJesus and Paul is
this: The human will is free when it is not in bondage to prefer and choose
irrationally. It is free when it is liberated from preferring what is infinitely
less preferable than God, and from choosing whatwill lead to destruction.
The opposite of this view would be that such irrational preferences and
suicidal choices shouldbe called“freedom.”
Basedon this definition, only those who are born again have free will. This is
the wayJesus saw the idea of freedom in John 8:32: “You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” And this is the wayPaul talks about freedom
in Romans 6: “Thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have
become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were
committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of
righteousness”(Romans 6:17–18).
A TechnicalDefinition
The more technicaldefinition of free will that some people use is this: We
have free will if we are ultimately or decisively self-determining, and the only
preferences and choices thatwe canbe held accountable forare ones that are
ultimately or decisivelyself-determined. The key word here is ultimate, or
decisive. The point is not just that choices are self-determined, but that the self
is the ultimate or decisive determiner. The opposite of this definition would be
that God is the only being who is ultimately self-determining, and is himself

ultimately the disposerof all things, including all choices — howevermany or
diverse other intervening causes are.
“Let the Bible speak fully and deeply. Trust that somedaywe will no longer
see in a mirror dimly, but face to face.”
Tweet
Share on Facebook
On this definition, no human being has free will, at any time. Neither before
or after the fall, or in heaven, are creatures ultimately self-determining. There
are greatmeasures ofself-determination, as the Bible often shows, but never
is man the ultimate or decisive cause ofhis preferences and choices.When
man’s agencyand God’s agencyare compared, both are real, but God’s is
decisive. Yet — and here’s the mystery that causes so many to stumble — God
is always decisive in such a way that man’s agencyis real, and his
responsibility remains.
But Isn’t This Inconceivable?
I say that many stumble at this because theyregard it as inconceivable. My
own view is that the Bible does teachthis — the compatibility of God’s
decisive sovereigntyand man’s responsibility. If this seems inconceivable to
you, I would plead that you not let that keepyou from believing what the
Bible teaches.
But it might be helpful to draw in one attempt to help make sense ofthis. Can
a person’s acts be justly regardedas praiseworthy or blameworthy if those
acts flow from a goodor evil nature that inclines him in only one way?
Here is part of John Calvin’s answerto this objection:
The goodnessofGod is so connectedwith his Godheadthat it is not more
necessaryto be God than to be good; whereas the devil, by his fall, was so
estrangedfrom goodnessthat he can do nothing but evil.
Should anyone give utterance to the profane jeer that little praise is due to
God for a goodness to which he is forced, is it not obvious to every man to
reply, “It is owing not to violent impulse, but to his boundless goodness, that
he cannot do evil”?

Therefore, if the free will of Godin doing goodis not impeded, because he
necessarilymust do good; if the devil, who can do nothing but evil,
nevertheless sins voluntarily; can it be said that man sins less voluntarily
because he is under a necessityof sinning? (Institutes, II.3.5)
So much more can be said. Questions abound. My plea is that you focus on the
actualteaching of the Scriptures. Try not to bring philosophical
presuppositions to the text (presuppositions like: human accountability cannot
coexistwith God’s decisivelyworking “all things according to the counselof
his will,” Ephesians 1:11). Let the Bible speak fully and deeply. Trust that
somedaywe will no longersee in a mirror dimly, but face to face (1
Corinthians 13:12).
ill we have free will in heaven?
Question:"Will we have free will in heaven?"
Answer: The fact that Adam and Eve had a choice to make in the Garden of
Eden shows beyond all doubt that mankind was createdwith a free will. The
first couple chose to sin, and that choice has plunged the entire world into
spiritual darkness leading to our need of salvation. Through it all, mankind
has retained his free will, and we will retain free will in heaven. Is it possible
that people in heavencan exercise their free will to sin againand get kicked
out of heaven? No, it is not possible.
To back up a bit, we need an acceptable definition of free will. We have free
will, but not in the way most people think. Our freedom consists in the fact
that we are free to choose according to our desires. As long as we have a
minimum of two available options, we must make a choice, and we will always
do so according to our strongestdesire. But, in the case ofa fallen sinner, he
or she is not at liberty to choose according to righteousness. This is what Jesus
means when He says that the one who sins “is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). This
is not the language of “free will” as people typically think of it. The
unregenerate personhas a sinful nature; he is not just inclined to sin but
driven by sinful impulses. It is perhaps helpful to say, “We are free to choose

what we want but not free to want what we ought.” This greatly limits our
“freedom” because the list of things we want (as sinners) coincides with
whateverpleases our sinful impulses. Our choices are for things that will
ultimately destroyus (Proverbs 14:12). As Paul says, “Oh, what a miserable
person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and
death?” (Romans 7:24, NLT).
When we are saved, we are liberated from our natural bondage to sin. The
Holy Spirit sovereignlyregenerates us and in grace gives us the ability to want
what we ought to want, namely, forgiveness, salvation, and the lordship of
Christ. When we trust in Jesus for salvation, we begin a moral progression, a
journey toward holiness in which we put to death daily the sinful impulses
that reside within us and strive toward godliness. In heaven we will be
completely devoid of sin; our only desires will be for the things of God—things
that bless us, fulfill us, and give us life. This is true liberty (see Romans 8:21).
We will retain our free will in heaven, but our will is sanctifiedthere. The sin
nature will be gone.
In heaven we are completely conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28–
30). Our sanctificationwill be finished; we will not even want to sin. Also, in
heaven there is no temptation to lure us and no devil to deceive us. Unlike
Adam and Eve, we will face no test; our moral state will be secure. No one will
get kickedout of heaven. Just as our Lord Jesus has a truly free will yet is
without sin, so will we retain a free will yet be without sin. We will be like Him
(1 John 3:2).
Before salvation, our free will on earth is limited by our inability to choose
what is right. After salvation, our free will struggles betweenchoosing whatis
right and what is wrong. In heavenour free will is limited by our inability to
choose whatis wrong. In our glorified state, we will exercise our free will to
choose whatis true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (see Philippians
4:8).
https://www.gotquestions.org/free-will-in-heaven.html

Jesus was a free agent

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Jesus was a free agent

More from GLENN PEASE

Recently uploaded

Jesus was a free agent