Exploring Free Will and Divine Sovereignty

Well, I think we can see, as Christians, how the biblical view of freedom is on a collision course with all pagan notions of determinism that restrict the influences of reality to the natural realm and has no room at all for the activity of God and sees the human person, as far as creatures are concerned, as the supreme being; but even in his supremacy, he is a victim of the blind forces of nature that control his destiny. [00:02:04]

The larger theological question that we face internally, within the household of faith is: How does our free will relate to divine sovereignty? I mean, every time I’ve been engaged in discussions about the biblical concept of predestination – which discussions I have to say I’ve been involved in somewhat frequently – anytime I’ve had the occasion to give an exposition of the doctrine of election or of predestination, inevitably the very first question that people raise in response to that is, “What about free will?” [00:02:56]

The Scriptures teach over and over and over again that God not only creates this universe, but He sustains it by His power, and not only does He keep it going, but He governs it. He rules it, and in the exercise of His rule over His creation, He makes use of His own divine sovereignty and power. The Scriptures are replete with examples of God saying that He raises nations up, He brings nations down, that things occur through the determinant counsel of God, and that we are told, for example, that a man’s days are ordered by the Lord, and that there are certain decrees that God issues that must needs come to pass. [00:03:46]

Now, I’d just like to say to you at the outset that the two concepts of human freedom and divine sovereignty are not inherently contradictory. There may be an abundance of mystery on how the two interact and relate, but they are not inherently contradictory. Let me tell you what is contradictory – these two concepts: sovereignty and human autonomy. If we mean by freedom absolute freedom, or what we call autonomy where the person is a law unto themselves, where there is no overarching, binding authority or power that restricts them from exercising whatever options they choose to exercise – if you mean by freedom absolute freedom or autonomy, then there’s no way in the world you’re going to be able to square these two concepts. [00:09:43]

If God is sovereign, meaning that His freedom is absolute and extends over His whole creation so that He has the power and the ability to choose whatsoever He will – if God is sovereign, then manifestly no creature can be autonomous because to be autonomous is to be a law unto yourself, and to be a law unto yourself, and to be a law unto yourself precludes the possibility of anything or anyone reigning sovereignly over you. So, these two concepts cannot coexist. If God is sovereign, we are manifestly not autonomous. [00:11:30]

But one of the things that we see in the scriptural view of the matter is that the Bible nowhere teaches, or even hints at the idea, that whatever freedom we have is elevated to the level of autonomy. In fact, biblical scholars have been saying for centuries that the chief sin of Adam and Eve in the garden was in their quest for autonomy and that the temptation of the serpent in the garden was that the creatures would be as gods, and that what they were reaching for was more freedom than that which God had given them. [00:14:45]

God did endow His creatures with freedom – freedom that was real, freedom that was far-reaching. “Of all of the trees of the garden,” He said, “you may freely eat.” But that freedom was not absolute. God placed a restriction on that freedom under His sovereignty and said, “Of this tree, you may not eat. You can’t even touch it because the day you eat of it you will surely die.” Sin was the result of man’s attempt to increase the scope of the freedom with which he had been endowed by his Creator. [00:15:35]

If God’s sovereignty is limited by your freedom, then who is sovereign? If your freedom has the capacity or the power to stop God’s sovereignty in its tracks, then you are the one who is sovereign, rather than God. No, no, no. It is the opposite idea that is communicated clearly to us from sacred Scripture – namely, that human freedom is real, but it is always limited by the greater freedom of God. God is free, and you are free, but He is more free than you are. [00:16:31]

And anytime your free will wants to do something that God’s free will doesn’t want you to do, there’s a conflict, and you’re going to lose. And you’re going to say, “Well, what about when I sin?” He permits me to sin. He permits it. He doesn’t sanction it, but even that – you couldn’t possibly sin unless God, in His sovereignty, chose to let you sin. That doesn’t mean He forces you to sin. That doesn’t mean He blesses your sinfulness, but He can stand there and say, “Even though I have the power to stop you in your tracks, to vaporize you by My word and prevent you from doing anything that you plan to do – and I know what you’re planning to do, and I can stop it right now, but I’m just going to let it happen because I have My reasons. [00:17:23]

God works out His supreme freedom in, by, and through the real choices of His creatures. The clearest text that illustrates that is at the end of the book of Genesis, the time when Joseph is reunited with his brothers, and now they know – or that Joseph knows who they are and they know who Joseph is – they’re terrified that Joseph is going to exact the just vengeance that he had every right to exact from them for their treachery, and they are trembling before his power and his earthly sovereignty. And you remember Joseph’s words to his brothers? He said, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” [00:18:52]

That is, that God’s good will worked its way out, in, and through the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers. Now, can they go up to the judgment seat and say, “God, we were just doing your will. We’re just - obviously You meant it for good. Well, that’s what we meant all along, too”? No, no, no. God said, “You acted out of the knowledge that you had, out of the desires that you had, out of the choices that you made that were real, concrete choices.” God didn’t force them to do what they did, but He made use of the decisions that they made to bring about His own purpose. [00:19:45]

Likewise, Judas, whose act of treachery and betrayal led to the crucifixion of Christ – Judas meant it for evil. Yet without his evil decision the greatest event of our redemption would not have taken place. This is the mystery of providence and how God works His will through the real choices of His creatures. [00:20:30]