I Will
Published by Andrew Esping under on Friday, January 21, 2011
These last several days I've been lost in thought. Pondering the Arminian doctrine of Free Will, and how it relates to Scripture and the Calvinist's opposing doctrine Total Depravity.
While technically Total Depravity was written as a response to Free Will, I do not believe Total Depravity satisfactorily responds to everything that is found within Free Will. Total Depravity responds well to the Free Will's claim that man is still capable of accepting Christ, but there is more at stake.
Free Will is an assault upon the Sovereignty of God. Free Willianites claim that God has released His control over salvation and given man full authority to decide who will be saved and who will not (based entirely on the will and good pleasure of man, not God). This directly defies God's Sovereignty which states that He is in control over all things simultaneously. Of course the Arminian will never say that he denies the Sovereignty of God. In fact he will strongly insist that he does. I don't know how Arminianism defines the Sovereignty of God, but the definition must differ. The most common Arminian definition that I've heard is as follows "God has the ability to be in control of all things, but He chooses not to in the area of salvation." I call this doctrine "Potential Sovereignty" as God could potentially be in control over all things, but somehow "His power is displayed in a better sense when men freely come to Him, instead of when He un-justly forces them to come." I've never gotten a full explanation of how the doctrine of Potential Sovereignty works, and where it is found in Scripture, and I have a feeling I never will.
But as I've been considering these things, one passage keeps coming to mind.
Isa 46:8-11
8 "Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, 'My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
ESV
It's when I see Scripture verses like these that I lament that the fact that Free Will is still a widely accepted doctrine. I see absolutely no mention of man within in this passage, or even a note of respect for what man's will might be. All I see is God stating that He will do exactly what He has purposed (with zero consideration with what man would prefer). The phrase "I will" is used three times in this passage alone (referring to God of course) and is used continually throughout Scripture. And when God says "I will", He makes it clear that His will is the only will that matters, and no other will, will be able to stand before His.
Coram Deo
Soli Deo Gloria
Semper Reformanda
While technically Total Depravity was written as a response to Free Will, I do not believe Total Depravity satisfactorily responds to everything that is found within Free Will. Total Depravity responds well to the Free Will's claim that man is still capable of accepting Christ, but there is more at stake.
Free Will is an assault upon the Sovereignty of God. Free Willianites claim that God has released His control over salvation and given man full authority to decide who will be saved and who will not (based entirely on the will and good pleasure of man, not God). This directly defies God's Sovereignty which states that He is in control over all things simultaneously. Of course the Arminian will never say that he denies the Sovereignty of God. In fact he will strongly insist that he does. I don't know how Arminianism defines the Sovereignty of God, but the definition must differ. The most common Arminian definition that I've heard is as follows "God has the ability to be in control of all things, but He chooses not to in the area of salvation." I call this doctrine "Potential Sovereignty" as God could potentially be in control over all things, but somehow "His power is displayed in a better sense when men freely come to Him, instead of when He un-justly forces them to come." I've never gotten a full explanation of how the doctrine of Potential Sovereignty works, and where it is found in Scripture, and I have a feeling I never will.
But as I've been considering these things, one passage keeps coming to mind.
Isa 46:8-11
8 "Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, 'My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
ESV
It's when I see Scripture verses like these that I lament that the fact that Free Will is still a widely accepted doctrine. I see absolutely no mention of man within in this passage, or even a note of respect for what man's will might be. All I see is God stating that He will do exactly what He has purposed (with zero consideration with what man would prefer). The phrase "I will" is used three times in this passage alone (referring to God of course) and is used continually throughout Scripture. And when God says "I will", He makes it clear that His will is the only will that matters, and no other will, will be able to stand before His.
Coram Deo
Soli Deo Gloria
Semper Reformanda
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