Divine Sovereignty and Human Free Will Explained

Now, manifestly those two concepts and acts, for example, of sovereign decree of God and a free choice of man pertaining to that sovereign decree of God do synthetically cooperate with each other. I mean, the evidence is indisputable. You’re going to raise a problem about it, but let’s say at the outset, on the basis of what we’ve so far established, that God has revealed Himself. He’s the truth, and He’s revealed Himself in nature, and specially in Scripture, and He makes the fact that He has decreed everything that comes to pass as Jeremiah says, “Who is this that says it comes to pass and the Lord ordains it not?” [00:03:38]

And, as you intimate, He considers these persons who do respond to His decrees as doing so willingly or deliberately as choices of their own. And so the evidence is in and clear, and there’s no real problem, because God says it does come to pass. Now, you suppose that these are mutually exclusively concepts. If God decrees an act, you seem to think that, say, R.C. Sproul cannot decree/choose the same act. Now, it seems to me obvious that, for example, according to this God has decreed you’d be there where you are right now. [00:04:50]

I can see how it’s possible for a sovereign God to decree an action that I similarly decree by my own choice and everything precisely because God has decreed that I choose it. But the operative word here that’s not in your formula, Dr. Gerstner, is the word ‘freely.’ Freely choose the same. Did you not freely choose to come here this evening? What do you mean, freely choose? I had no option but to choose it because God decreed it, and if the Almighty decreed that I should choose it, did I have any choice in the matter? [00:06:32]

If God decreed it and you had no choice in the matter, would you not be aware of the fact that you had no choice in the matter and you’ve been somehow manipulated? As a matter of fact? Is that what you’re – That’s exactly how I’m feeling here. What’s that? That’s exactly what I’m feeling. That’s exactly what you’re not feeling. You just said you chose to come here. I chose to come here because I had no choice but to choose. You chose. That’s my only answer to you that’s necessary. [00:07:42]

You seem to think that if He chose, you didn’t choose; you keep telling me you did choose. I didn’t choose it freely. You did choose freely. You’ve just testified to me. Nobody dragged you here. Nobody’s manipulating your vocal chords so that certain words are coming out. You’re a conscious person just as I am. I’ve agreed to be here. I have no trouble admitting to you I chose to come here. So I came on my own freewill? Is that what you’re saying? Yes. [00:09:48]

You have an idea that this would be a useful thing for – Do you know Bob Ingram? You mean Bob, so far, Ingram? That Bob? That’s the one. That’s the one. Yeah, I know him. He’s one of my closest friends in my domain, of the Devil’s advocate, right? Yeah. When Ingram tells me to be some place, at a certain time, it’s hardly a free decision on my part. Is it not? Could you not have chosen to disobey? Yes, but at my eternal peril. Nevertheless you choose it. [00:11:16]

But even when he puts a gun to my head, do you call that free choice? Sure. Couldn’t you let the gun go through? People have been martyrs time without end. Well, it’s – As a matter of fact, if you were R.C. Sproul and not the Devil’s advocate, I’d be very surprised if somebody said to you denounce the Christian religion or take this bullet through your head, the R.C. Sproul I know wouldn’t hesitate a moment. ‘Shoot me!’ Wouldn’t you? Or do I not know R.C. Sproul? [00:13:21]

I think the R.C. Sproul you know would. I pray that he would say ‘Shoot me,’ in that regard. And, of course – It would be a free choice. But it’s been severely limited. What’s limited? It’s just limited by the gun and your decision. Yes, but it’s still limited down to those, but I grant, yes, even in that circumstance I have an option – not many options. I only really have two options – to take the bullet – The question’s whether you choose and how many options you have. [00:15:11]

Well, it’s – all we mean by our freewill here’s an individual, and he is confronted with a possibility to debate or not debate, for example. It could be anything else to debate, or possibility to debate or not to debate. You’ve got a choice like that before you and you could conceivably have made either one of those choices, and I would know one thing about you. If you chose not to debate, it would be because you thought that would not be a suitable medium for the communication of the gospel. [00:17:43]

If, on the other hand, all the circumstances being given, that would make it seem to you that it would be a useful thing for the propagation of Christian religion to have a debate like that, it would be utterly impossible for you to choose not to debate. And you thinking this is for the advancement of the kingdom of God, a feasible option, it’s utterly impossible for you to have chosen anything other than you did; namely, to debate. Now, what more freedom than you want than that? It could be sixteen other things? [00:20:22]

Now, when Jesus is saying to an unconverted person to choose Christ or not choose Christ, He is saying that an unconverted person, an unconverted person, dead in trespasses and sins, a lover of darkness, hates Jesus Christ, and therefore will have nothing to do with Him. So while he grasps with his mind that Christ is commanding him to repent and believe, and he even knows with his mind that he should repent and believe, because he hates light, and especially the Light of the world, that utterly repels him, and the idea of avoiding it, rather than coming to Him, is what he finds irresistibly attractive so that one can say it is impossible for that individual to choose Christ of his own freewill to choose the darkness which he really loves. [00:23:14]

We recognize ourselves as freely choosing the evil which brings self-chosen eternal judgment, and that what has to happen to us, if we are going to avoid our own eternal self-destruction is to become a lover of good, and that can only happen by our nature being changed. That's out of your power and my power too, and it belongs only to creative power. The thing we must be doing and everybody in the audience who's followed this at all, and sees the cogency of the biblical doctrine and so on, is to ask God (if He hasn't already done it), to make them over again. [00:25:23]