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Thoughts on Free Will The following is an explanation of something I have said regarding what I believe about free will. I was asked to explain what I meant, so that is what I am attempting to do here. My response is: OKAY, what you partially quoted was me saying this: I enjoy free will, and what I believe about it is: You are free to choose to do what you want to do, but you are not free to choose what it is that you want to do, nor are you necessarily able, to do what you choose to do! I think perhaps the best way to explain this is giving examples of those three aspects of free will which I believe. 1. “You are free to choose to do WHAT you want to do” For example, you may choose to jump out of a flying airplane and flap your arms in an effort to fly. If that is what you want to, then yes, you are free to make that choice that is your free will. 2. “but you are not free to choose what it IS that you want to do” Now you could choose to poke your eye out with a pencil, but you not able to choose to want that. You either want that, or you do not. While some people may actually want that, I doubt they choose to want that, they just want what they want, without even thinking about it. However, most do not want that and they cannot want that, it is outside of their control. 3. “nor are you necessarily ABLE to do what you choose to do!” Going back the airplane illustration, you might make that choice to jump out, flap your arms and fly. However no matter how much you want that, no matter if you choose that, there are factors involved that prevent you from being able to fly in that manner. I believe these three thing are pretty much what can be said about free will, in terms of what you can choose freely (anything you want), what you are unable to choose limited by aspects of your own personality (which could change), and your powerlessness to make your choices happen. Summary: You can choose what you want, You cannot choose what to want, You have limited power to make your choices effective. The above are just in general, but when we begin to discuss theology, it becomes more complicated. Why? Because our will is not the only will involved. Perhaps there is another person (God) who has a say in all of this. For example, many Christians believe that as a free will choice, they decided to have Jesus the Christ as their Lord and Savior. They might even know the time and place they made that decision, and the circumstances surrounding that choice. I myself recall where I was, approximately when, and under what circumstances I made the choice. From the standpoint of my perspective, I made the choice, and I was not forced to, I freely chose. However, What if there is a being, who created me, and by virtue of His creation, He owns me, is sovereign and can do with me as He sees fit, without even asking my permission? Suppose such a One, chose me to choose Him? If He did, would that be free will on my part? What if I was unable to choose Him, because as a sinner, I am not inclined to the things of God, but am hostile and rebellious? My nature as a sinner, dictates to me what I will choose. Everything is limited by it’s own nature (outside of the miraculous). Iron horse shoes will not float in liquid water, where gravity is involved. People cannot flap their arms and fly. Even God is not able to do everything, His nature limits Him. So, what if I am a slave to sin, and it masters me? If that were the case, then I am a captive in need of liberation, though God does not owe me anything. He does not even owe me an explanation for what He does; after all, He is God! How do these things interplay, God and human free will? There once was a man named Jonah. One day, God told him to go preach to the Ninevites about their evil. Jonah did not like the Ninevites, so he thought to himself: “I think I will take a vacation in Tarshish, in the opposite direction. That is how rebellious humans use their free will. In spite of Jonah’s free will, God was not going to just let Jonah just do as he pleased. So God prepared a big fish, to give Jonah a free ride back in the direction of Nineveh. The fish vomited Jonah onto a beach, but he was still a long walk from Nineveh. I suspect that Jonah had some time to rethink this and consider his options. He could choose to do what he wanted to, but that was not working out too well for him. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of going to Nineveh, but the option was not attractive. Now he chose to do what God said. He made that decision. While it was made begrudgingly, I submit that is was STILL his free will. Here is the thing though: God ALSO has free will. In a battle of wills, who will win? In some cases, I think it is true, that some are stubborn, and God lets them have their way. However, that isn’t really winning, that is a tragic loss. God could have, of course, made Jonah go to Nineveh, moving Jonah’s feet, and opening his mouth to make him preach. He used a donkey to speak once; he can certainly use a wayward prophet. However, God does not seem to want to make marionettes out of people. As in the case of Jonah, God does not make people go against their will, but He sure can make them willing to go! There is another thing that is something to think about. Do you believe that God know everything, including the future? I do. So, if God knew that I would someday choose His Son, Jesus, will it turn out to be just as He foresaw it? I think the answer to that question is “Yes”. I am not saying that God chose to save me, based on what he foresaw me doing eventually. After all, He chose me, I did not chose Him. Eph 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. So, I would submit that people might want to ponder: If God knew that I was going to choose Him, and that was definetly how it was going to turn out, predestined, as the verse says, is there any other way it would turn out? If not, what does that mean with respect to our free will? Can we make a free will choice that makes God wrong?

Some Christians have worked to make doctrines. I have seen concepts. What is the difference between a doctrine and a concept? A doctrine may have been a fix set of beliefs. Someone created a doctrine, and tried to make the Bible work around or with their doctrine. A concept is an idea or a thing. John Calvin talked about the Doctrine of Predestination. I see a Spiritual Concept of Predestination which there may have been something to it, and given we get it most right, it fits with understandings in the Bible, and we may be able to see how it has worked by observing humanity. In general, given someone made a doctrine, or referenced the Spiritual......there may have been something to it. God is a creator. Did they get it right? In Luke 20:9-19, we have the Parable of the Tenant Farmers. Mankind is like God's Vineyard. The Tenant Farmers were teachers of religious law. Given the teachers of religious law were off, everyone else would be off? Given the teachers of religious law were not doing the right things, or were corrupt, or hated God, that may mean that many men lived and died in a Matrix of Lies. They lived and died with false perceptions about God, and themselves, and may have had a hard time finding God. God showed me that through space and time, he may have had pieces like on a game board. Through space and time, he may have planned for some people to help bring the rest back. These men and women were Predetermined. It is not that the rest of mankind could not have found God. It was more that they were in a Matrix of Lies. What is an example of a Matrix of Lies or False Perceptions today? I am a certified Social Studies Teacher. In an Introduction to Education class, someone may have learned that there were seven Educational Philosophies. These include Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism, Social Reconstructionism, Existentialism, Behaviorism, Constructivism, Conservatism, and Humanism. Which one of those helps people find and understand God? Any of them? In two years of Education Classes, I was mostly taught about Progressive Education like John Dewey. In Progressive Education, teachers are taught to teach to culture and teach to the students. Given there were ungodly, or pagan, or other negative influences in culture, a teacher would teach to that culture. Progressive Education may have cemented in bad cultural traits and habits, made selfish or feel entitled, and hurt people from finding God. Education that may have been more constructive towards someone finding and growing in Faith with God may have been education focus more on Enduring Spiritual Themes more like a Classical or Perennial Education. There have been Enduring Themes in the Bible as it applies to mankind and history, the present, and the future. To see more someone may need to understand Enduring Spiritual Themes. Progressive Education would be faulty in working to understand God and creation. Progressive Education has created a Matrix of False Perspectives. People who have been taught to think like that may have had a harder time understanding God. John Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination lacks in an understanding of Freewill and The Parable of the Tenant Farmers. The Concept of Predestination.....there may have been something to it. What do you see?

Is predestination a biblical teaching? by Matt Slick 7/29/2009 Yes, predestination is biblical. Predestination is the teaching that God has, from all eternity, freely determined whatsoever shall come to pass. We find this in Ephesians 1:11 which says, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Notice Paul teaches that predestination occurs according to the purpose of God and that God works all things after His will. The "all things" means exactly that, all things. Predestination: "God’s actions in willing something to a specific result; also called “foreordination.” Some Christian theologians, particularly in the Reformed tradition, have seen it as indicating God’s eternal decree by which all creatures are foreordained to eternal life or death. It may also be used synonymously with “election” and indicates God’s gracious initiation of salvation for those who believe in Jesus Christ."1 "The divine determination of human beings to eternal salvation or eternal damnation. The doctrine of predestination is a branch, so to speak, of the doctrine of election; God’s predestinating activity is a function of his existence as the electing God. Though expressed in the Old Testament primarily as the corporate election of the people of Israel (cf. Deut. 7:6–8), some also extend predestination to include God’s having decided in advance the events of each day in an individual’s life (e.g., Ps. 139:13–16)."2 The word predestination comes from the Greek προορίζω, "prooridzo." The word occurs six times in six verses in the New Testament. Acts 4:28, “to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” Romans 8:29-30, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” 1 Corinthians 2:7, “but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory.” Ephesians 1:5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” Ephesians 1:11, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” By looking at these verses, we can see that predestination reveals God's great sovereignty and right to do with His creation as he desires. But also we can see that predestination deals with salvation. Unfortunately, many Christians do not accept the biblical teaching on predestination. Many do not like the idea that God predestines people for salvation, but the fact is the Bible teaches it. We might say that there are two main views concerning predestination. One is the view that God has foreknowledge; that is, he knew who would choose Him, and those are the ones He predestined to salvation. The other idea is held by Calvinists who believe God sovereignly, of His own free will, predestined certain people to be saved, and His choice is not based upon looking into the future to see who would pick Him. Either way, predestination is found in the Bible, and it is a doctrine that we must accept. So, to find which view you think is most biblical, study the above list of verses in their context and see if you think that God predestines according to the expected future human choices or not.