Text Size
Free Will
Written by Allan Cronshaw
THE GREAT PARADOX
DO WE HAVE FREE WILL?
One of the most disturbing questions that has continually divided the opinions of the church since its very inception, is the two great conflicting biblical doctrines of Divine Providence versus freewill. When one group of sincere believing Christians read the Bible to learn the Word of God, they see in the scriptures very plainly that God Ordains all things in this life -- i.e., good and evil. When another group of equally sincere Christians read their Bibles, they conclude that people have freewill, and are therefore required to make the proper choices in life. Which position is true? Because those who preach the gospel are missing one of the most important keys to understanding the very nature and purpose of life itself, in many instances we can observe the modern preacher doing a juggling act -- i.e., on one had they attempt to preach to the people that they must make the proper choices in their lives, while attempting to balance the uncountable number of passages of scriptures that openly state that everything in life is pre-ordained by God.
How important is it for us to rectify these two conflicting doctrines that are well represented throughout the scriptures? It is so important, that the Rev. Charles Spurgeon, one of the foremost respected Christian authorities, sincerely put the matter in the proper light when he wrote: "The system of truth revealed in the Scriptures is not simply one straight line, but two; and no man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once... Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other... and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other" (Charles H. Spurgeon, Autobiography Vol. 1: The Early Years. pp. 173, 174). Very truthfully, Rev. Spurgeon is correct, and they form the foundational principle of the Apostle Paul's rather profound statement to the people of the common faith when he admonished those who think they know the true Gospel message: "And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Cor 8:2 NKJ). Yet, to the demise of the faithful flock of believers, religious authorities ignore the great profound wisdom that is being presented.
Written by Allan Cronshaw
WHO KILLED THE CHRIST?
DID THE JEWS HAVE FREE WILL?
Part II: Do We Have Freewill?
For nineteen hundred years many Christians have condemned the Jews for “killing Christ”. Yet Peter states to the leaders of the Jews regarding Jesus that: “this Man delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23 NAS). The word “predetermined” as used in this instance, should invoke a great many questions in the minds of Christians. Did the Jews and Romans crucify Christ? Commenting on this verse, Barnes' Notes states: “The fact, moreover, that this was predicted, shows that it was fixed or resolved on. No event can be foretold, evidently, unless it be certain that it will take place. The event, therefore, must in some way be fixed or resolved on beforehand”.
Speaking about the Hand of God upon the hearts and minds of the people, Peter and John said: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:27-28 NIV). What the two disciples are conveying to the reader is that every event that took place at the crucifixion was directly brought about by the Hand of God acting upon the hearts and minds of the people. Regardless of whether we understand it, in or to begin the journey of walking in The Way, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the validity of this biblical statement. Moreover, if this is true, we must ask ourselves the question: How can man resist the “power and will” of what God “decided beforehand should happen”? How could the Jews resist the Will of God?
Written by Allan Cronshaw
WHO LEADS YOU?
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?
Part III: Do You Have Freewill?
Whatever leader you are following has been decided beforehand by the Lord: “And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched” (1 Sam 10:26 KJV). If you are following the wrong leader, and listening to the wrong teaching, this too is of the Lord: “And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom” (2 Sam 17:14 RSV). Thus, the Lord hardened the hearts of the men of Israel from following the good counsel, and moved them to follow the counsel of Hushai that eventually led to their destruction -- a destruction brought about by the Hand of God.
The scriptures state that God can even control whether a man's wife is unfaithful: “Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your companion, and he shall lie with your wives…” (2 Sam 12:11 NAS). Moreover, if, as Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament suggests, it is the Hand of God which brought about these events, and this “fact did not absolve…” the people from their personal “responsibility and guilt”, that means the wives who God forced to be unfaithful are guilty of adultery -- even though it was the Hand of God that forced them to be unfaithful. When these rather astounding statements in the Bible were presented to the Middle-age reformers, the only answer they could provide was that man’s exercise of reason was detrimental to his salvation.
Written by Allan Cronshaw
THE FOUNDATION OF ERROR
Part IV: Do You Have Freewill?
What the modern believer must come to understand is the fact that the foundation of Christian doctrine that emerged out of the darkness of the Middle Ages was one of desperation. They inherited the good -- Jesus -- from a corrupt church that was overrun by a legion of despots who used the political power of Christianity to live lavish lifestyles and maintain rule over the people. For over a thousand years it had been unlawful for man to even read the Bible. Why? Because the scriptures are the sacred writings of a mystical sect of Jewish Gnostics -- writings whose very nature are intended to undermine secular establishments of institutionalized religion, and open the door to genuine spiritual religion. Jewish Gnostics have no problem with the paradoxes of life and creation. In fact, they understood that it is the contemplation of these paradoxes that develops the mind -- and by enlarging the mental facilities in conjunction with spiritual cleansing, begins to open man's innate spiritual centers which enables the disciple of the Light to draw closer to God. Because the reformers of the Middle Ages were anti-Gnostics -- and they deplored the tenets of Mysticism and Spirituality -- their only means of keeping Jesus, and appear genuine by still retaining the necessary connection to the Bible, was to outlaw the use of reason. The problem is that reason is the very soil within which Spirituality and Gnosticism flourish -- and Gnostic scriptures are totally incompatible with an anti-Gnostic church.