Free Will or Predestined?

Do we really have free Will?

There has been a debate in religious circles about Christian salvation; whether salvation is by choice or if salvation of the chosen was predetermined. There are a number of scriptures which seem to support both positions. For example, one of the first verses most churched people learn about salvation is 1 John 1:9.

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but whosoever believe on him shall not perish but have eternal life”

But at the same time the scripture seems to support a predetermined condition, where we read also another passage:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

(Romans 8:29–30)

There are a number of other verses which seem to bring us back to the table on this particular debate. However, there may be a way to embrace both predestination and free Will without contradiction. What I would like to offer through a clear representation is a possible answer to this matter.

Necessary Principles

To begin with this approach there are three points which must be established as foundational.

1. We are absolutely free to choose to accept salvation or deny it.

We are told that God is love. He desires us to love him. If we are not free to

choose to love, then it would contradict the very nature of our relationship with him. Also if we are preprogrammed to behave and decide to serve God, then we would be living like robots without any range of decision-making. If the decision was not up to us it would remove us from any responsibility. The greatest point of arguing for Free Will, is the level of sacrifice required, that God sent his only son to die for us in order to be saved. If salvation was not a matter of choice, It would be unnecessary for God to sacrifice his only son, where he could just dictate who would be saved. But that was not the case. His son, Jesus had to die for us in order to offer the opportunity to be forgiven and restored in a relationship with God.

2. God is not only a God of love, but also a God of immeasurable grace.

When you consider how frail we are in our walk of faith, there is no way we can expect any salvation based on our efforts. Consider the models we have in scriptures, with prophets, priests and kings. There was no perfect follower, no perfect person that would be worthy of following God, except for the love and mercy God so readily poured out upon those who followed after him.

3. God is timeless and all-knowing

God has always existed. There was no beginning or ending for our creator. Since he does not operate within the boundaries of time, he is able to transcend time. If God can transcend time, everything is known to him from beginning to end. In fact we read in Psalms 139:

“He knows all our days before we had lived a single day”

God is intimate and knows us completely. I remember a quote from a science class I attended long ago. The quote goes something like this:

“If we knew everything about one square inch of earth, we would know all answers of the universe”.

Imagine if you knew everything about one square inch of ground; how pressure, temperature, the nature of soil, its potential to promote life in plants, the way light is converted to the air we breathe, the organization of cellular matter, how molecules can organize and communicate to each other in order to scaffold life. It is proposed that if we knew everything about that small region of matter, we would be able to unlock all secrets to the very universe.

More simply, imagine if one could just know how any flipped coin could land on heads every time, no matter the height of the toss, the force of flip, the way the muscles in the arm are used and the posture while flipping the coin. Guesswork is not required when one is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of physics, anatomy and physical sciences in order to have a "heads" come up each time. Even our creator has this level of familiarity about all of his creation. Now if we hold all of these principles to be true and foundational, we can move to the next section without any reservation.

Our freedom to choose

In order to understand how predestination and Free Will can coexist without out contradiction, let us consider the following example. Let us say, we enter a room that has a large table and we are handed a jump rope like the one below.

Let us imagine that the Master hands you the rope with an instruction. You are told to stretch that rope from one end of the table to the other. You are permitted to decide on any variation you choose as you make any design or pattern out of the rope along the table. You are free to arrange that rope as you wish, as you wanted without any other instruction. Let us say that I completed the task requested and you see the result below.

As you can see, the handles are over each end and I was free to arrange the

rope to my liking. If I am asked, “Were you free to choose the design you made?” My answer would be, “Yes, I was free to arrange it without any other influence, according to my liking”.

Now, I step back to the doorway of the room, and the Master steps up to the table. Let’s say he wants to add some of his own items to the table.

Without disturbing my pattern, which was a product of my choice, he adds a couple of shakers and a candle, where he chooses in order to accent my chosen pattern.

So now, after the Master finished placing items within the rope pattern, he

returns to my side. What the Master has done is he used my rope placed by my decisions and incorporated his own accent by the items he contributed to the table after my choice.

The rope here is representative of my life, from beginning to end. I had the freedom to choose any pattern or points of decision during life’s course.

Christ gave me freedom to choose and it was only after I made my decision, did he choose to add items to the table. All the items the Master added after my decisions, contributed a decorative quality to the glory of God.

There will be days of salt, of healing and preservation. There will be days of pepper, when pain and trials come my way. There will be days where I will find a candle, when insights, repentance and rededication will restore my footing. The things the Master adds, despite my choices in life serve to glorify our Father in heaven. Even for the sinner, or by wickedness and wrongful acts of evil people, God can still use such free acts to fulfill his purpose, revealing his authority to his glory. God can be revealed in every choice made by man.

Our God is already aware our decisions and he knows the choices made by others in our lives. God often reveals himself to us through relationships that interface with our lives, reassuring his divine coordination in the background. Those that walk in God's salvation are often reassured of God's presence by those he has orchestrated to connect with us at significant moments. God is glorified and magnified by such blessings with those who share a common faith.

Believers often encounter others that "show up" in their lives at crucial times in life. We will often acknowledge that how many encounters we have with others in our lifetime is not by accident. The fellowship of believers is a very special addition to the table of our lives. In great wisdom, the Master has a way to bring glory to our Father by the people we encounter on life’s journey. It may be a church member, a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a neighbor, a pastor. Only an intimate Savior can know how to negotiate our life in such a way that would not disrupt the free Will of others we encounter in life.

The Start of the journey

Now, as the Master has returned to our side, he prepares to take the lifelong journey with us.

Knowing that our Master is aware of our free choice, knowing the Father already knows our path in life and the way God will be glorified, knowing that there are no surprises for God, who is our companion and guide; we can walk in confidence that not only does he walk with us in the journey, he will also perfect us in all things, no matter what we encounter, until the journey is complete.

Now, consider, did I have Free Will? Was I predestined before I began?

I hope this helps to bring some clarity to what I imagine is the best way to answer the debate. I hope it also brings both assurance and confidence in your journey.

Greg