Probably the hardest question to ask is "Is life predetermined," and if so, "How can man be held responsible for his actions?" This is the dilemma of the ages and to no one’s satisfaction has it be sufficiently resolved. This is because most people do not think in abstracts or philosophically. Man believes that he has say in things and yet he is dependent upon God’s air to sustain life. At every turn man finds himself helpless.
Man is very simply, derivative. He can do nothing primarily, only secondarily. This is hard for man to accept. He wants to determine his future. He will not allow God to do so. He thinks himself as transcendent. He, however, cannot transcend having a bowel movement. This was predetermined for him. He has no say in this. Man’s life has been predetermined in every fashion. Break the law, and you are predetermined to obey the dictates of others, whether you like it or not.
Parents determine many things for their children. They determine where their children live, what they eat, what they wear, their friends, where they go etc. No one can do everything that they desire. Rather, they must conform to the predetermined law. If they do not, they must suffer the predetermined consequences. Paul said it this way in Galatians 6"7-8, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." The "God is not mocked" is the key here. In other words, God determines what mans sows and what he will reap for his actions. It has already been determined without the advice and consent of man. This galls man. He desperately believes that he can create an utopia. He has tried numerous times, only to fail over and over. Why?
Application
As with all philosophy, one must begin with origins. To begin anywhere else is to begin at the wrong point. God created the heaven and earth. This act was a predetermined act to which man had no say. (This, of course, makes man livid. He wants to determine. He will not allow God to do so. He has substituted himself as god). In this creation, God determined the way things would be and the way that things would operate.
Here is a true statement, "Only God has free will." Only God does as He pleases. This is the concept of sovereignty. We do not live in a world of polytheism. There is only one God and He has predetermined the way things will be. We cannot come unto Him unless He says we can as John 6:44-45, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." The desire to come unto the Lord has to come from the Lord. Unless, the Lord gives us this desire, we are lost because we control nothing.
It is true that man was created in the image of God. Because of the fall of man, this has become a determent. Man now thinks that he is god. He believes in his warped mind that he has free will. He fails to realize that he is a creature, subject to limitation. This does not stop him, however. He loves to follow delusion. He does not want to be subject unto the law of God. He wants to make the law upon his own terms. This is why a man apart from God will become a socialist i.e. utopian.
Man apart from God is characterized by Romans 8:7, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The carnal mind of man actually deceives itself into believing that he can disregard the law of God and that he will never be subject to it. He is always subject to it, whether he likes it or not. God has set up the rules and man breaks them at his own peril. All those characterized by the carnal mind are living in a fantasy world. They are the epitome of false prophets and they are constantly breaking the ninth commandment by bearing false witness against their neighbors.
No murderer is free to do whatever he pleases. We have the right of self defense. The law of God gives us this right in Exodus 22:2, "If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him." Thieves breaking into people’s homes at night are up to no good. In my book, as well as the good book, they are dead. We get the opportunity to determine whether this thief lives or dies. He does not. Where is his free will now? In my book, he is dead. I have a family to protect. If it is between family and this clown, the clown dies on the spot. I would have no remorse. He has none. Why should I have any for him? Simply put, people do not understand the concept of the punishment fits the crime or an eye for an eye. This is because they want to determine primarily and not secondarily.
We do not determine because we did not come first. Precedence is always the controlling factor, in this regard. We simply do not have the power nor control to do so. We can only occupy our minds with one thing at a time. We do not have the capability to explore and know all possibilities of each and every situation. We cannot know anything exhaustively, only truly. Exhaustive knowledge is beyond our realm. There are realms beyond our comprehension just as the stars, sun, and moon are beyond our grasp.
The mind of the natural man is delusional. He actually believes that things are not determined, that he can essentially effect the outcome. He believes that he can control the forces of nature when he cannot even control his own temper. How utterly delusional is this? Man was made in the image of God. He, therefore, confuses the image with the reality. The image is but a reflection of the true. Nothing more and nothing less.
Man does not keeping in his place. He is never happy nor content. He is restless. He is continually on the go (where to?). He, however, is running in place. All life is a concentric circle. It is one the that we do not control. Everyone knows that when he goes to work, he does not know what will befall him that day. This is because man does not determine the circumstances of his existence. This had been predetermined for him. All things in an indirect way are beyond his control.
This being the case, in regard to determination, man still retains the image of God and in this he possesses the right of choice. His heart condition, however, determines his heart’s choices and someone else determined his present heart condition. I did not chose to be a sinner. It was already chosen for me and I did not have any say in the matter and as long as I stayed a sinner, I was destined for the lake of fire. I did not get to pass go because I rolled some dice. My condition was a predetermined one. I did not set the rules. They were set for me.
The natural man hates the word humility. He prefers to be arrogant. The truth of the matter is that he does not know his butt from a hole in the ground. He is deceived by his own predetermined heart condition. The devil never could tell the truth. He is a liar and the father of them as the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." His main characteristic is one of a perpetual liar. His is a fixed state or condition and it can never be altered. It is the proverbial set in stone.
Everyone’s success is determined by someone else. Every business only stay in business because their customers or clients determine that they will. They can provide the product or service but ultimately someone else determines their success. While we build up the successful and sing their praises, we fail to see those who are ultimately responsible. It was other people who defined their success and yet we build up those who are successful as if they determined their own future. This is nonsense. We want to keep our blinders on as if Genesis 3:5 was actually true.
We often find ourselves giving in to the whims of others desires. We may want to punch someone else in the nose but we know the consequences of such actions and thus, the vast majority refrain from such reactions.
Here is one for the ages. Man does not control his own bowel movements. This has already been determined for him. When you go to go, buddy, you better find the nearest rest room. Did we determine this? Man thinks that he can transcend this universe. How can he, when he cannot even transcend bowel movements? No, man is a limited creature living in a predetermined world. His is to do, not to make policy.
The Lord Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:36, "Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." The Lord Jesus denies any free will here. We do not determine our hair color, our sex, our date of birth, our place of birth, our parents, where we live (the list is endless) and yet, man has the audacity to claim free will. All that man possesses is limited choice in a predetermined world. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10:30, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." God knows how many hairs are in our heads. It could not be that this was determined beforehand, could it?
When it comes to election, who does the choosing, God or man? Most are humanistic in their presuppositions. They are man centered rather than God directed. Notice these verses. John 15:16 reads, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." Where is the disciples free will in this verse? They were chosen. They did not chose for themselves. Further, they were ordained of the Lord. They did not and could ordain themselves. This had to take place outside of themselves. Even the direction of their lives has been predetermined for them. Their control is zilch. In other words, their free will amount to the same amount as nothing.
What about the apostle Paul? Acts 9:13-16 gives us the following narrative, "Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake." Ananias was concerned about Paul. The Lord reassures him, however, by telling him that Paul was a chosen vessel. Obviously, Paul did not do the choosing. This should be obvious. The Lord did the choosing, not Paul. For God to do this, would mean that He had predetermined it. Paul’s election did not depend upon himself, but upon God.
While this is all so obvious, facts are stubborn things, man still claims that he decides his future. The definition of "elect" is an interesting one. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines this word as, "1. One chosen or set apart; applied to Christ...2. Chosen or designated by God to salvation; predestinated to glory as the end, and to sanctification as the means; usually with a plural signification, the elect..."
This same dictionary renders the word "predestination" as, "The act of decreeing or foreordaining events; the decree of God by which he hath, from eternity, unchangeably appointed or determined whatever comes to pass. It is used particularly in theology to denote the preordination of men to everlasting happiness or misery. Predestination is part of the unchangeable plan of the divine government; or in other words, the unchangeable purpose of an unchangeable God." If God allows anything, then it was His determination that such should be because He alone has the power to alter any and every given situation. In other words, He alone possesses free will.
Scripture is replete with this concept of God’s free will. One is found in Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." To be unchangeable would imply or presuppose that God has already predetermined the way that things are to be. He did this by virtue of creation. He set up the way that things would be. He established the His unalterable law. This law is the a predetermined law. Man believes that he can legislate. He cannot. God has already done it and it cannot be altered at all. The Lord Jesus expressed it this way in Matthew 5:17:18, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The Lord Jesus did not come to destroy what had been preordained but to fulfill the demands of the unalterable law. Every jot and tittle has been preordained. This galls man. He wants an utopia of his own creating. In other words, he wants to create the world, not God.
God’s free will is best expressed in Psalm 115:3, "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." To be able to do whatever one wants to do is the essence of free will. In other words, God does whatever He wants to do and no one has the ability to stop Him. This is because He alone possesses the power of predetermination. I can see rebellious man being totally furious at this point. He wants the power that only belongs to God alone.
Conclusion
To be exhaustive is not in the realm of possibilities of man. While examples could be multiplied, I believe the point has been sufficiently made. God, Himself, is the only one that ultimately possesses free will. We have to much determined for us, for us to claim such a lofty position. In fact, it is the height of vanity. We are limited creatures that control so little of our lives.
We confuse the image of God in our hearts with the reality. In other words, we delude ourselves into believing that we are in control of our lives i.e. future. This is the epitome of foolishness. Only by man humbling himself can he ascertain his true condition in this present world. This is something the natural man will avoid at all costs. He does not want to face the reality of his circumstances.
The natural man only understand Genesis 3:5 and Romans 1:19-25, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." It is either worship the creature or the Creator. There are no other options because there is no neutrality. God has so determined it to be thus!
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