God's control and our free will...

(If you haven't read the previous post, it's probably helpful to do so before you read this)

(This is a long post, but it's a complicated subject!)

Here's a question which countless Bible-believing Christians have struggled with for centuries; what does it mean for God to be in control of (or sovereign over) his creation, and therefore over humanity? If God is in control, how much free choice do humans have, and if none then how can they be responsible for what they do?

Essentially, it's helpful to think about this issue by imagining a horizontal line, and at one end is God's sovereignty and at the other is human free choice. At one end, you have God's sovereignty but no free choice; that would mean that we were basically robots, but you would maintain a view of God being fully in control. At the other end, you have complete human free choice, but you would have lost any idea of a God who was in any sense in control of anything (this 'God' would just have to wait around, hoping that things went OK in the world, but unable/unwilling to do anything about it).

In the middle area of that line, you have a blending of God's sovereignty and human free will, and biblical Christians sit all along that line, disagreeing on how exactly God's sovereignty and human choice fit together. In other words, mature Christians disagree on this issue. And I think the reason for that is that the Bible doesn't make it clear exactly how God is in control and humans have free choice.

For an example, look at Matthew 11:27-29...
V27 – 'No-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him' – so the only way any of us can know God is if Jesus chooses to reveal him to us. God the Father, Son and Spirit is in charge of whether we know God or not.
V28-29 – 'Come to me...Take my yoke' – Jesus invites people to choose whether to come to him, to accept the 'rest' (eternal life) he offers, or not.
In other words, in these verses God is telling us two truths. Firstly, he is in control. Secondly, humans have to make a choice. Those are two truths in God's Word, so whatever we decide about this issue we mustn't end up denying either of those.

All through Scripture are verses which seem to suggest that God is in control in a way which means that humans don't have free choice (even if we think we do); then there are other verses which point to humans having control over how they respond to God. There are some verses which suggest that God has the whole plan mapped out and that everything happens happens because he decided it would happen exactly that way; then there are other verses in which, for instance, God changes his mind about something. In other words, all through the Bible both truths; God is in control, humans have to choose; are affirmed.

It seems to me that in trying to fit them together we are very close to where the iceberg goes into the sea (see previous post). And that means that we may not be able to find a complete answer, simply because God has not chosen to reveal that answer to us. But that's fine; we just accept the truths he has told us, and know that even if they don't make total sense to us, that's because we don't know everything about God and how his creation works. No-one has yet from the Bible come up with a 'system' which brings God's sovereignty and human free choice together in a way into which every verse of the Bible fits.

Three final points:
First - because the Bible affirms both truths, if we come up with a 'system' it mustn't get rid of either. Some people say that humans have no such thing as free choice; I think that's difficult to maintain from the whole witness of the Bible. Other people are so determined to defend human free choice that they make God into some powerless, separate divinity, incapable of influencing or helping us; that is clearly not what the Bible says either (and would mean there was not point to praying).

Second – there are many verses in the Bible which can be used to push God's sovereignty over everything, but also can be read in a way which says humans have free choice. Take 1 Peter 2:7-8, for example. 'They stumble because they disobey the message (about Jesus) – which is what they were destined for.' Now, we could say that these particular people were destined by God to 'stumble', ie be judged and punished by Jesus; and other people were destined by God to accept Jesus. God has 'predestined' everyone's ultimate destination; humans do not have free choice, it just seems as though they do.
Or, we read the verse differently. Who is it who stumbles? Those who disobey the message calling everyone to repent and bow down to Jesus. And God has destined that people who choose disobey that message will stumble, ie be judged and punished by Jesus. People choose what they will do with Jesus, accept or reject his message; and God, in his sovereignty, has chosen/destined that anyone who rejects the message will face judgement.
Only one of those readings is right – I don't know which! But the point is, it's unwise to point to a verse like that and say 'Aha! See, humans do choose' or 'There! God is in control and humans don't have free choice'. Much better to come to a verse like that and say 'I know that the Bible tells me that God is in control, and humans choose how they'll respond to Jesus. I don't know how they fit together, so I can't take this verse too far; but what this verse does remind me is that people who reject Jesus will be judged and punished by him.'

Third – Just because I don't understand how those two truths fit together, doesn't mean others don't understand more (I don't think anyone can understand fully). Sometimes it's right to say 'I don't know'; but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to people who do seem to know more, and doesn't mean that we shouldn't look in our Bibles to try to find out more of what God has decided to reveal to us. If other people have fitted the truths together in a biblical way that I don't get, then listen to them! But most of all, we must listen to God, to God who reveals himself through his Son in his Word, who has saved sinners like us, and who calls us to tell others the good news of the eternal life that he offers.