Does God Give Us Free Will?
Sermon Notes
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. At this time let’s go ahead and dismiss the children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get a chance to check your child in, please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back and they’d be more than happy to assist with that...Before we get into today’s message I want to say thanks to everyone who helped with our Easter service and all the activities before the service. I also want to thank those who served in children’s ministry during the Easter service, because you not only helped the children experience the love of Jesus, you helped their parents learn about Jesus. I keep praying for the day we’ll have two services so our volunteers can attend 1 serve 1 and nobody has to miss a service. I keep praying for us to grow by 70 people, and last week was a glimpse of that because our attendance was over 180 people. But more important than the numbers are the stories behind the numbers, and a lot of people were impacted by our Easter service. But the message and mission of Jesus continues even after Easter. So let’s keep inviting, praying, reaching people, reaching the world with the gospel.
Now as for today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Romans, and it’s a series about renewing your mind for the transformation of your life. What we’re talking about specifically today is the doctrine of election, which is a topic that brings up all kinds of questions. It’s questions like how much control does God have over history? How much control does God have over our lives? Does God give us free will, or does he overrule our free will and predestines us to accomplish his will? The doctrine of election brings up way more questions than I’ll have time to answer, so my goal isn’t to address all the questions or differing Calvinist and Arminian views of election. My goal is to simply preach the flow of today’s text, and let our small groups handle the rest. In fact this is such a difficult topic, that you can always email me at Zack@cityawakening.org...Okay my real email is Louis@cityawakening.org...
But regardless of the difficulty of this topic, I think both skeptics and believers would agree that if humanity truly has free will, we don’t always make free will decisions that are good for us, our relationships, our world. Instead we often make self-serving free will decisions, that lead to things like greed, conflicts, wars, even the destruction of natural habitats and the extinction of species. I recently saw a documentary that said humanity’s taken over 70% of the earth’s land. It said within the last 50 yrs human expansion, consumption, natural habitat destruction, has led to an 83% decline in freshwater species, and a 69% decline in global species. Our self-serving free will decisions aren’t just causing destruction to us and our relationships, it's causing destruction to all creation! So if we truly have free will, we need to admit we’ve abused that free will, and our only hope in turning things around is for God to overrule, restore, redeem our free will in ways that are good for us, our relationships, all of creation. But the question is will God do that? Will God overrule our free will? Let’s turn to Romans 9 and check it out. You’ll find Romans in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Romans 9:1-29. Title of today’s message is Does God give us free will? The big idea is God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection...God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection...
Here’s your context. Romans was written by the Apostle Paul who was a skeptic and enemy of Christianity, until 35 A.D. when he has an interaction with Jesus that changes his life, and he becomes a Christian. He writes this letter to teach others about Jesus, and the very gospel that transformed his life. In ch 8 he shares an incredible promise that God is working all things for the good of those who love him. God’s working all things for our good, his glory, according to his plans and purposes. But in ch 9 Paul’s asking if we can trust God will keep that promise? It's because the Jews were considered God’s elect, God’s chosen people, but many rejected Jesus as their messianic savior. So Paul’s asking if God will overrule their free will rejection to keep his promise, or will God break his promise because of their free will rejection? Let’s find out.
Romans 9:1-29, “I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ, for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.” Paul’s expressing great sorrow and unceasing anguish, over the Jews rejecting Jesus as their messianic savior. These are his very own friends, family, flesh and blood, fellow Jews. He loves them so much he wishes he could suffer in hell for their rejection of Jesus, so they could know the joys of heaven with Jesus. He’s like a Christian parent trying to do everything they can to raise their child to love Jesus, but their child grows up to later reject Jesus. My greatest fear isn’t dying, economic collapse, or even spiders...Spiders are in my top 5...My greatest fear isn’t even losing the people I love!...It’s losing the people I love for all eternity!... My greatest fear is losing the very people I love for all eternity, which is exactly Paul’s greatest fear! He’s in great sorrow and anguish, over the Jews rejecting Jesus as their messianic savior.
Vs. 6, “Now it isn’t as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants...8 That is, it isn’t the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.” The question Paul’s addressing, is if God’s failing to keep his promise to the elect Jews? Since many of the Jews reject Jesus as their promised messiah, is God failing to keep his promise for their salvation? Paul says no, because God never promised every Jew would receive salvation. He also says in vs 8-13 that God never promised salvation through physical decent, meaning physical birth. He uses the example of Abraham’s two sons where Isaac received the promise of salvation, but Ishmael rejected it. He also uses the example of Isaac’s two sons where Jacob receives God’s promise, but Esau traded God’s promise in for a bowl of soup. The point is God never promised every Jew would receive salvation, or that salvation would come through physical decent and good works. He promised those who receive his promise through faith would receive salvation. So God isn’t failing to keep his promise, instead he’s keeping his promise with those who receive it through faith in Jesus.
Vs. 14, “What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he tells Moses, ‘I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ 16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.” The question Paul’s addressing here, is if God’s unjust and unfair for not saving everyone? If salvation’s up to God, then isn’t God unjust and unfair for not saving everyone? Paul says absolutely not, because God can show mercy to whomever he wants! Justice is God giving us the punishment we deserve, but mercy is God giving us the salvation we don’t deserve. So if we really want to talk about justice and fairness, then God shouldn’t show mercy to anyone, since we’ve all abused our free will in sinful destructive ways like I said before. What everyone deserves is God’s justice not his mercy, and we should be thankful he’s willing to save anyone. But we also need to be careful of thinking we’re more merciful than God. We need to be careful of thinking “Well if I was God I’d give everyone mercy.” No you wouldn’t, because you aren’t even doing that now! Are you giving everyone who wrongs you mercy? Are you giving everyone mercy, or some people mercy? You can’t accuse God of being unjust and unfair when you aren’t giving everyone mercy either. The truth is we’ll lay down the horn over little things like people cutting us off in traffic, but Jesus was willing to lay down his life even for those who crucified his life. He’s far more merciful than us! He’s far more just, merciful, fair than we’ll ever be.
Vs. 17, “For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, ‘I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.’ 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” Many people struggle with this because they think it isn’t fair that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But we have to look at the many times God showed Pharaoh mercy. He was patient and merciful toward Pharaoh, before he hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God sent Moses to warn Pharaoh many times to let the Israelites go and turn to God or else plagues were coming, but he refused to listen. After the 5th plague Exodus 8:15 says, “Pharaoh hardened his own heart!” So the first to harden Pharaoh’s heart wasn’t God, it was himself! God’s rejection of Pharaoh was consistent with Pharaoh’s rejection of God. He showed Pharaoh mercy, before he showed Pharaoh justice. God didn’t have to show him any mercy, but he did. God doesn’t have to show us any mercy, but he does. It isn’t God’s fault if we reject his mercy, it’s our own faults. So we need to be careful of saying God isn’t fair, when fair should entail God giving all of us justice instead of any mercy.
Vs. 19, “You will say, ‘Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” The reason God still finds fault, is because we are at fault! Nobody can say they’re without sin, so we’re all at fault! God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection like Pharaoh was. We can praise God for his merciful salvation, but we can’t blame God for our sinful rejection. See there’s 3 primary views when it comes to God’s will vs our free will. The 1stis the doctrine of random contingency, which believes our free will decisions are random and don’t have any purpose. The 2nd is the doctrine of fatalistic determinism, which believes we don’t have any free will, because everything’s already been fatalistically determined. The 3rd is the doctrine of concurrence, which believes we make free will decisions, but those decisions aren’t above God’s sovereign decisions. It’s the belief that God’s 100% in control, while at the same time giving humanity 100% free will, and both are working at the same time to accomplish God’s sovereign will. This can help make sense of why God’s allowing evil to exist. It’s because God’s mercy is allowing us to make free will decisions, which sometimes leads to evil actions. God doesn’t do evil, but he does allow evil, and his plan is working through our evil decisions for our good and his glory. The doctrine of concurrence also helps us to view God more like a director in a play than a puppeteer. God isn’t dangling us around like puppets on a string, he’s directing us like a director in a play! He’s such a great director, that he allows us the freedom to ad-lib, while at the same time making sure the play ends according to his plans.
Now there aren’t any examples of random contingency or fatalistic determinism in the bible, but we have numerous examples of concurrence. We have numerous examples of God working his sovereign plan through the free will decisions of humanity. For example, we see it in the book of Esther where God’s name isn’t mentioned once, but the entire time God was still working behind the scenes to save Esther and the Jews from genocide. We see concurrence in an interaction Jesus has with Peter. Jesus as the director knew Peter would deny him 3 times, he allowed Peter the free will to deny him, but he also made sure the play ended with Peter being restored. We also see concurrence in the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus as the director knew he’d be crucified, he allowed the evil free will decisions of humanity to crucify him, but it was all a part of his plan for the forgiveness of our sins. So we aren’t hopeless victims of random contingency or fatalistic determinism. Instead we’re hopeful participants in God’s sovereign will, working concurrently through our free will, to accomplish his perfect plans for our good and his glory. God’s 100% responsible for our salvation, but we’re 100% responsible for our rejection.
Vs. 20, “Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Paul’s saying God’s our creator and we’re the created, so who are we to question our creator? We aren’t co-creators, co-equals with God. We aren’t at the same level as God. We’re like a toddler trying to challenge their parent’s decisions. The wisdom gap between a toddler and their parent is so much greater, it’s impossible for the toddler to comprehend all the reasons for their parent’s decisions. But if their parent says no to something, they start challenging that no with tantrums crying it isn’t fair! Well just like there’s a huge wisdom gap between a parent and toddler, there’s an infinite wisdom gap between us and God! The wisdom gap between us and God is so infinitely greater, that it makes us even more foolish than a toddler if we challenge God’s decisions. In his infinite wisdom he could have infinite reasons for certain decisions, even if in our finite minds we can’t comprehend any. When we’re throwing tantrums crying it isn’t fair, we need to remember our finite place and wisdom compared to God. It’s okay to ask questions about God’s decisions, but we need to do it from a place of humility, remembering we aren’t co-creators and co-equals with God.
Vs. 21, “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? 22 And what if God wanting to display his wrath and make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy he prepared beforehand for glory?” Notice it says in vs 23 that he prepared some for glory, meaning God prepared some for glory. But in vs 22 it doesn’t say God prepared some for destruction, it says God endured with patience those prepared for destruction. The implication is that God prepares us for spiritual glory, but we prepare ourselves for spiritual destruction. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was an incredible 20th century medical doctor and preacher. He says the potter in Romans 9 is clearly God. But God isn’t preparing new clay like in the beginning of creation, he’s preparing already existing clay that came after the fall of humanity. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states, “Many think God deliberately made some people to go to hell. That’s a lie!...God created all things good, and no one has ever been forced to sin. After creation humanity rebelled against God and sinned...So what Paul’s dealing with is what God does with humanity in light of that. He has the right to do as he wills…with such a hopeless mass of clay, which could all be given to perdition. But instead because of his grace, glory, and purpose, he's chosen to elect and form some out of that mass unto glory and honor.” The point is the doctrine of election is about believing God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection. It’s about believing we deserve God’s justice instead of God’s mercy, but God’s so loving he offers us mercy instead of justice.
In vs 30-33 Paul says God’s method for salvation has always been the same. We’re saved by faith not by works. We’re saved by faith in our messiah Jesus who did the greatest work by dying for our sins on the cross. Paul concludes that God isn’t failing to keep his promise to the elect, instead he’s keeping all his promises to anyone who puts their faith in Jesus. He says in 2nd Corinthians 1:20, “All the promises of God find their yes in Jesus!” God’s plan has always been to offer us mercy, salvation, the fulfillment of all his promises through faith in Jesus. The good news is Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” D.L. Moody says, “The elect are the whosoever wills, and the non-elect are the whosoever wont’s.”
The big idea of the message is God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection...The good news of all this is that it means God’s love for us is an unconditional love that isn’t based on any human conditions. People in the world will love you conditionally, but when God loves you, he loves you unconditionally. God doesn’t give you mercy because you are good, he gives you mercy because he is good! He doesn’t love you because you are loveable, he loves you because he is loving. How can you know God loves you? By looking at what Jesus did for you on the cross. Romans 5:8 says, “But God proved his love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That’s how you know he loves you. If he didn’t love you he wouldn’t have died for you, but he died for you because he loves you. If he loved you enough to die for you, he’ll love you enough to fulfill every promise he ever makes to you. He promises salvation through faith in Jesus, and he’ll do it. He promises to work all things for the good of those who love him, and he'll do it. He promises we’ll be more than conquerors, and he’ll do it!
The question is will you trust Jesus for your salvation, or be responsible for your rejection like Pharaoh? Will you trust in Jesus’ infinite wisdom to guide your life, or trust in your finite wisdom to guide your life? Will you trust your marriage, family, career, your entire life in the sovereign hands of Jesus’ will, or keep trying to hold it all together with the finite hands of your free will? Remember he’s the potter and you’re the clay, so let him mold you according to his will and his way. His will and his way, will always be better than your will and your way...Let’s pray.