#187 $2 Pizza & Free Will

Unfortunately, conjecture and vagueness abound in conversations on the topic of freedom, free will.
Because there is no universally shared definition of “free will.”

One just has to visit the site Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy to know that the topic of free will has
many dimensions, expressions, and departures.

“The Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most
important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou
mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“When a man cannot chose, he ceases to be a man.”
― Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

Free Will Illustration A. W. Tozer attempts to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s freewill:

I believe:
• That God is all-powerful but it does not mean God exercises all power, it means he is the source of all
power…
• That God is unchanging in his character but thankfully the cross reveals Gods loving character respond
to changes…
• That God’s ability to change his mind in response to man is not a defect but a glorious virtue.
• That God’s purpose in creation was to see creation embody the love found in the community of the
Godhead, to invite man into that union.

But love cannot be demanded, God did not force love he wanted his creation to choose to stay in union, to
enjoy the same glory that the trinity enjoys.

– He could have created a world where we would have to do his will but that would be a creation
devoid of love.
– God created out of love with a goal of love
– Love must be chosen
– Therefore a creation in which love is the goal must incorporate risk
– The risk man being free can choose love or reject his overtures of love

In the beginning God furnished the will of man by nature with liberty and power to choose and act upon
his choice.

Will 1
1. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action:
2. A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority:
3. Deliberate intention or wish:
4. Free discretion; inclination or pleasure: wandered about, guided only by will.

The Spiritual Man, CFP, Vol. 3, Part 9 THE ANALYSIS OF THE SOUL-THE WILL, Ch. 1, by
Watchman Nee

A MAN’S WILL is his organ for decision-making. To want or not to want, to choose or not to choose are
the typical operations of the will. It is his “helm” by which he sails upon the sea of life.

The will of a man can be taken as his real self, for it truthfully represents him.

Nee Further asserts that our will acts for the entire man. Our emotion merely expresses how we feel; our
mind simply tells us what we think; but our will communicates what we want.

Hence, the will it is the most influential component of our entire person. It is deeper than emotion and
mind.

Because the topic of free will has been debated for centuries and by those more astute than I for the sake
of time we will structure the sermon about free will by discussing the three stages of man’s free will.

Each stage is distinct, and the freedom possessed within each is subsequently distinct, as well.
1. The Created Free Man – Human beings as created had both true freedom and freedom of choice.
2. The Fallen Man- Human being as fallen forfeited true freedom but retained freedom of choice.
3. The Reborn Man- Human beings as reborn have regained true freedom while retaining freedom of
choice.
(Geoff Ashley http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/do-we-have-free-will/)

1. The Created and Truly Free Man – furnished with true Freedom and Freedom of Choice.

First it is imperative that we understand that God never intended man to be his puppets that he would
control, but free agents who possess significant control of their own lives, and can either cooperate with,
or resist, the will of their sovereign Creator. (Greg Boyd)

He made us truly free and free to choose.

He gave us FREE WILL

The Spiritual Man, CFP, Vol. 3, Part 9 THE ANALYSIS OF THE SOUL-THE WILL, Ch. 1, by
Watchman Nee

A Free Will
“…Man is sovereign, in that he has a sovereign will. We are not a mechanical toy to be run by others. He
is responsible for all his actions; the will within controls all matters both inside and outside him.

We are not governed automatically by an external force; rather, we house a principle within him which
determines our actions.

Such was the state of man when created by God. God said to him: “You may freely eat of every tree of the
garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it
you shall die” (Gen. 2.16-17).

The tree represents Gods openness to man’s free will, in fact Jesus act represents that God was truly open
to man’s free will.

Such is the case through out the bible

John 7:17 ESV
If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am
speaking on my own authority.

Luke reports that, “by refusing to be baptized by [John], the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s
purpose for themselves” (Luke 7:30, emphasis added).

In Mathew 23:37 we find Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem make any sense: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city
that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I have desired to gather your
children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matt. 23:37)

Revelation 3:20 ESV
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him
and eat with him, and he with me.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
No temptation has overtaken you that are not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may
be able to endure it.

John 1:12-13 ESV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

Romans 10:9-10 ESV
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one
confesses and is saved.

Mark 8:34 ESV
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
curse. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live…

However we did not remain in that created state, we relinquished it.

What of Free Will and the fallen Man?

2. The Fallen Man- Human being as fallen forfeited true freedom but retained freedom of choice.

Illustration- $2 Pizza

In like manner Adam in the Genesis account took a wrong turn and because of that we all ended up where
we did not want to be… instead of living the life in the garden he chose to fall into Satan’s rebellion and
we have all been prisoners since… we were children stuck in a POW camp.

From that point on as Paul says, we were born prisoners of sin…slaves to sin.

(Sin not a list; it is a station in life)

Romans 3: 23 “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God… sin Harmatio missed the mark what
mark… the glory of God… Sin- a propensity towards sin…

Our station is a propensity is toward sin…

It is not that we were born bad we were born slaves, born on a sinking ship and Adam put us there.

As we procreated according to our station…

Genesis 5:1-3 when God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male
and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”[a] when they were created.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him
Seth.

So in Adam we are not born into a state of neutrality our fallen nature is now bond by unregenerate loves,
passions, and desires.

And we chose based on these desires.

Fallen humanity is naturally (that is, by nature) broken and depraved.

No longer truly free…

As Paul writes in
Ephesians 2:3, we are “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” This fallen nature has
limitations. It cannot not sin. All it desires (wills) is sin.

• Our eyes are blind to the glories of the gospel (Matthew 13:14-15; John 12:39-40; 2 Corinthians
4:4).
• Our minds are darkened and hostile toward God (Romans 8:7; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:21).
• Our ears are deaf to the call of our Creator (Matthew 13:14-15).
• Our hearts are darkened and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:21).
• We are enslaved to sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:17; Galatians 4:8).
• We are foolish (Romans 1:21; Titus 3:3).
• We hate God (John 3:19-20).
• We are dead (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13).

The fallen human no longer experiences “true freedom”9 and “freedom of choice.”

Because true freedom consists of the ability to act without the hindrances of sin, whereas freedom of
choice consists in the ability to do as you wish. Geoff Ashley

But this was not God’s desire, his will for creation. We did not follow the script…

In fact we demonstrated through the choice of Adam in the Garden that we could impede Gods will to
some degree.

So man finds himself on a sinking ship and a prisoner of sin, and all the children thereafter would not be
free born but born prisoners because of his one act. Our will like the cosmos enslaved in Satan’s rebellion,
having blinded our eyes and having made us enemies of God in our mind.

Although no longer truly free we are still free to choose… or we would have been forever lost.

Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s
account where there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

Jesus is on the scene in Romans 5

3. The Reborn Man- Human beings as reborn have regained true freedom while retaining freedom
of choice.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more
did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin
and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive
God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Jesus didn’t come just to rescue us but he did rescue us…

The bridegroom wants a bride. A term John uses for Jesus

God has called us to participate in divine nature. 2 peter 1:3

Not to be absorbed like the Borg because being absorbed is not love and certainly not as beautiful.

Ephesians 3:10Amplified Bible (AMP)
10 [The purpose is] that through the church the [a] complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its
infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities
(principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

Jesus is the one and only LIBERATOR- to bring Freedom back to man really back to the cosmos.

He walks across the universe and enters our world to redeem, ransom, and free mankind. To rebirth us.

freedom |ˈfrēdəәm|
– The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint
– Absence of subjection
– The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved:
– The power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or
necessity.

From a biblical perspective what is freedom

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

Free – thra/o means – to free from chains, free from prisoners life, the break, in pieces, to shatter to smite.

Jesus came to get us off the sinking ship, he came to open prison doors, more so to shatter doors and
break chains.

John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Free- G 1658- e/lu/the/ross– set at liberty, cease to be a slave, to be free born (as one born of God,
whose father is no longer Adam but God)

I am rescued
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to
rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for
ever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:3-5)

I am no longer a prisoner to sin.

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of
teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18)

I have escaped this world’s prison

Col 2:20 If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the
world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings …

I have been reconciled and I am free from accusation.

But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight,
without blemish and free from accusation. (Colossians 1:22)

– I am not by nature a child of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
– I am not blind to the glories of the gospel
– My mind is not are darkened and hostile toward God, but I have the mind of Christ
– My ears are not deaf to the call of our Creator; I can hear and do what pleases him
– My heart is not are darkened and deceitful, I am a new creation in Christ; I have been translated
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
– I am not enslaved to sin I am free from the law of sin and death
– I do not hate God in fact I love him and I know he loves me.
– I am not dead in fact it is quite the opposite I am alive to God. Romans 6:11

What am I free to?
I am free to love – Galatians 5:13, 1 Cor. 9:20
I am free to follow – 1 Peter 2:16

Leonard Sweet- “True freedom is choosing and acquiescing in limits connecting oneself to good true and
beautiful possibilities.”

Albert Camus said, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your
very existence is an act of rebellion.”

Because we know we have a father who loves us and a brother who died for us, and a indwelling
comforter who is the promise of things to come; because I know God wants to do good by mankind like
Paul I can with great confidence, urge you…

“In view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your
members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which
is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial
customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its
new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of
God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. Romans 12:1-2

Notice the last part of Ro 12:2: “Then we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good,
pleasing, and perfect will.”
God will not force us into anything. Do you see the conditional clause?

God wants our will and then He’ll show us His will.

When you wonder what God’s will is for your life, the first place to start is by living out Romans 12:1-2.
Until you offer Him your body and your mind, you won’t understand His good, pleasing, and perfect
will.

“Each of us needs to decide if we want to go where God is leading.”

Actually, we’re prone to view God’s will from a human perspective. I want to know the will of God that
is good, perfect, and acceptable to me.

But Romans is teaching that God’s good, acceptable and perfect will has to do with Him. And we know
that his will is to bring many sons to glory, that none would perish, that he wants a family and will adopt
the worst of us.

And so because I am truly free and free to choose I offer my mental faculties my will, that organ for
decision-making the “helm” by which I sails upon the sea of life to God, the Captain of my salvation.

I will stay fixed in the ocean liner and I will launch life boats as I journey across my history to all those
drowning souls, and I will make sure they have a seat at the captains table.

So BE FREE and us live in a way that enhances the freedom of others.

Galatians 5:1- 5 therefore stand fast in the freedom of Christ and do let yourselves be burden by a yoke of
slavery.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download