5c. Do we really have Free Will now?
Some serious Christians, Calvinists in particular, truly believe that we humans do Not have any free will regarding our moral decisions. I call this “moral free will”. They may feel that we can make certain decisions such as, which way to walk or which color to choose. (Some won’t even allow this.) Since they believe we do not have moral free will, they conclude that we are predestined to inherit heaven or to be lost, from our birth, regardless of anything we could initiate. This makes us robots as I see it. Nevertheless, these sincere Christians feel that the Bible is the absolute Word of God and it should be used to determine the truth in this position. However, they will interpret the same passages as other Christians and conclude the opposite about our free will. These opposite positions cannot both be correct. Is the Bible clear enough for all to identify the correct one? Unfortunately, there is room for misinterpretation of the Bible in the “small pictures” dealing with these subjects. We’ll need to go to the Big Picture view, if we are to resolve it.
In his booklet, “God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan, Harold Camping’s (HC) position is stated as: “No one of their own volition will turn to Christ because there is none that seeketh after God (Rom 3:11). If any person does turn to God, on His terms, it is because God is saving them. A gospel program that promotes the idea that anyone has a free will to choose God is contrary to the Bible. Likewise the idea that God will never impose His will on those who reject Christ and those who thus remain lost of their own free will, is a Biblical impossibility” (p 23-24). “We are dead and our actions cannot contribute to our salvation. There is no such thing as free will insofar as the Bible is concerned(p20).”
Some related biblical texts are: Rev 22:17 “Whoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” and
Rev 3:20 “I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” These definitely indicated that God is calling everyone. It certainly sounds as though everyone has the option to respond for or against God’s offer. What does Mr. Camping say about this?
HC p18 says that these verses only mean that God’s gracious offer of salvation is available to the entire human race. However, the entire human race is spiritually dead and thus unable to accept this offer, so it falls on deaf ears. “So depraved are we that we would never seek Him of ourselves.”
My read is that we have the free will to accept or to reject God’s offer. For me, the parable of the Sower of the Seed clearly explains that humans have a choice to make as to how they will respond to the Word of God when they hear it.
HC sites John 6:44, “No man can come to Me unless the Father draw him: and I will raise him up on the last day.” I counter with, “When I am raised up I will draw all men to myself (John 12:32)”
HC p8 says “ Before God created the world, in sovereign righteousness and justice, He chose those who He would save (Eph 1:4). … it is totally God’s sovereign will that He saves one by grace and leaves another under His wrath (Rom:11-15)” For those who God saves, He must pay the penalty that is required by His perfect justice. And so, Jesus became sin. He took upon Himself the sins of all those whom God, in His elective decree, planned to save (from before the world was created). Therefore, as a matter of fact, Christ did die only for those who were elected of God, for only the elect will obey God’s command to believe in Christ. This includes the Old Testament believers (who lived before Christ’s time).” “He shall save His people (ie only His chosen people) from their sins (Matt 1:21)”.
HC p 8 further says that John 3:16 means that in all the world, Christ is the only possible sin-bearer. “It does not mean as we think, ie that Christ was prepared to pay for the sins of anyone in the world throughout time, who would turn to God in faith and accept the offer of forgiveness.”
I would say that God does not wish that anyone be lost. “Everyone who believes that Christ is the Son of God will be saved.” (John 6:40) This cannot be if the Plan of Salvation is only for a pre-elected group.
HC says, “even though man is dead in his sins he remains accountable to God. Anyone can be saved, but the only ones who will be saved are those whom God has chosen. Not one person facing the final judgment will be able to say, ‘I wanted to be saved on God’s terms but I am not saved because I am not one of God’s elect.’” I would agree with this, but HC goes on to say that “This is because in reality he did not want to be saved on God’s terms, but on his own terms. So, he must answer for his sins (ie burn in hell forever after).”
Here are a few related verses with contrary interpretations:
- John 1:11, 13: He came to those that were His own, but His own received Him not. Yet to all who did receive Him, (to those who believed in His name) He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God.
I say that the imparting of the gift of God is dependent on the individual accepting it.
HC p 35 says that verse 13 is a qualifying statement indicating that only God does the electing
- John 6:37 I know My sheep and mine know Me.
HC p 41 says His people are those who were given to Him by the Father. He did not lay down his life for all, but only for those whom the Father elected to be saved from before the world was created.
I would say that God knows which of us have chosen to have a relationship with Him and which have not. Many will come saying Lord, Lord, but He will not acknowledge them.
- John 17:9-10 Christ prays, “not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. All mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them.”
HC p 42 says verse 9 refers to the apostles, whom He chose, but verses 17-20 refer to those whom He is saving. “Neither do I pray for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word.
I would say that this still refers to everyone, since everyone has the chance to believe on Christ. I say He is praying that those who are becoming His apostles will represent Him to all mankind eventually throughout the coming ages, so that He will be glorified through their work. To me this means that all who hear will have the option to choose.
P81 HC says,” The doctrine of election does not frustrate the Gospel call in any way. It is rather the insurance program that guarantees that the Gospel call will be successful. When saved, you will yield to God as He turns you from your own salvation program and makes you part of His salvation program. If your will has been broken in repentance to God through Christ, as God empowers you this will be the evidence that God has saved you.”
So, what do you think? Do we have free will or not? Are we just robots, predestined for eternal life or to be lost, with no way we can affect that outcome of our own free will? The best way to find the truth in these arguments is to see what really fits into the Big Picture Plan that God has described in His Word. If you have too many mysteries in your interpretation of the Word, then you don’t have any Big Picture plan to use. If you have a consistent Big Picture Plan, then the answer becomes clear on how to correctly interpret all the biblical tests.
I suggest that Mr. Camping’s position is the doctrine of a man, and it indicates that God is creating people who will never be saved. HC then further indicates that those unsaved are not just lost, but they will burn in hell forever, after they have been created and finish their human lives. Hence HC is saying that this God, Who has a salvation plan that does not apply to every human, is creating many humans to burn in hell forever, ie He wants many humans just to burn in Hell forever. This is not the kind of God indicated by the Life of Christ, Who says there is no greater love than to give up one’s life for their friend (Jn 15:13). This would be exactly the kind of God that is proving Himself to be “unfair”.
Rather than such a conclusion, I consider that the opposite is really true. Man is created with free will and he is in fact the only one who can make his personal decision to choose Life or Death. Christ dies to open the door to salvation for as many as will choose Life, but that decision is up to each of us. Then I would add this: Because this “Death” (ie the Second Death of Rev 20:5,6 & 14) is actually the cessation of any kind of life, there is no permanent burning in a hell after that point. You cannot be living in hell forever and not have everlasting life, so you either have Life everlasting in heaven or the Lake of Fire, which is symbolic of ceasing to exist in any form.
If Man has no free will then there is no purpose to this existence at all, for Mankind. God could have made more animals instead of humans. This would have been consistent with evolutionary theory. God could have avoided the entire scenario and created thinking, feeling beings in a torturous situation at the start, but what kind of God would that be? Surely not the kind of God that was seen in the life of Christ. Hence, in view of the “Big Picture of the character of God that has been revealed to us by the life of Christ, we can believe that He is a loving God, a Father figure, and not a vindictive dictator. This view is more consistent with the God revealed in the Bible and all the texts, which HC sites can be interpreted to fit perfectly well inside it. There is no justification for thinking that God can be loving and yet create thinking beings only to suffer torment forever.
22 August 2001
For a copy of Mr. Camping’s booklet to review yourself, call 1 800 543 1495
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