i cannot understand where you are coming from. Do you believe in absolute free will or not??
That depends on how you define- “absolute free-will”
We do not deny that we make real choices. We don’t even deny that men make free choices. Every choice we make is completely voluntary. All we are saying is that our choices are not made without reasons. Our choices do not just arise out of thin air. They are not spontaneous and unpredictable. They are not untraceable; but rather, each and every decision we make has a cause. In other words, there is a real reason why I decide one way and not another. And that reason does not come from without me, or apart from me; it comes from within me.
This is what makes me responsible for my choices. All my choices are in accordance with who I am. We are not technologically programmed to do what we do, as robots are, rather we simply do what we do in accordance with who we are- by nature.
Jesus said that a tree is known by its own fruit. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:17) “For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.” (Luke 6:44) Jesus is not saying that men do not make choices- he simply teaches that unregenerate men, because of their fallen, depraved, and sinful natures, naturally and consistently make sinful choices. Our choices are a product of our natures.
An important thing to remember is that there is a major difference between being forced to do something, and simply doing something by necessity for lack of other options. Men are not forced to commit sinful acts, nor are they forced to make sinful choices, as puppets would be, however when the choices that men do make are issued from corrupted hearts and minds, those choices are by necessity, qualitatively corrupt. For instance, a man is free to speak or not to speak, no one forces him to do one or the other. But when that man chooses to speak, he then must draw his words from the well of a poisoned heart. So this man was free to speak, but by necessity, that which flows out of his mouth will be that which his heart naturally produces. “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:18) Jesus is not teaching here of coercion, but is simply speaking of the necessity of producing that which is according to nature.
Likewise, we do not teach that men are coerced by outside forces- though we do not entirely dismiss the fact that outside influences play a huge part in the decisions we make. God uses various means to fulfill His purposes, and this we do not deny. But in no way do Calvinists teach that men are merely robots or puppets on strings as some would accuse us to believe. Rather, we say with Jesus that men’s choices are determined by their natures, just as a tree’s fruit will be determined by the type and the quality of the tree. This is clearly what our Lord consistently taught. “O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34)
What we must continue to communicate to these “Free-willers” is that all men without exception are “by nature children of wrath” - (Ephesians 2:3) Before conversion, all men are fallen, depraved, and spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13). We have corrupted hearts (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9) and corrupted minds (Romans 1:28, Colossians 1:21). The Bible plainly teaches that by nature we are at enmity with God and hostile toward the gospel (Romans 8:7, 8). And that therefore, since we are bound to act and to choose according to our natures – we need to explain to them where that actually leaves us. It leaves us in desperate need of a Savior; one who can actually save us, not merely “invite” us to be saved.
So is our problem that we need to be free to choose? No of course not, we are already free to choose. The problem then, is not so much of what we do, as it is of what we are. This is the real issue. We choose to sin because we are sinners, and not the other way around. And so what we really need is - not to be free to choose, but to be freed from the bondage of our sinful natures! Plain and simple. We need to be transformed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit; that is - we need to be born again; having our fallen and depraved natures supernaturally renovated, and our blind eyes opened to the glory of the sovereign Son of God.
Now how this relates to Predistination I will be happy to explain- but I am at work right now- so I will hit you up a little bit later!
