#without_excuse
Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."
The free
agency of man renders him WITHOUT excuse.
Man's
moral accountability to God, his Creator, stems from the fact that he, as a moral and
rational creature made in the image of God, is a free agent.
Man,
by his very constitution, is a free agent; he acts freely without being coerced
by any force or influence outside of him. Therefore, he is justly held fully
accountable and responsible for his every act. This truth of man lies at the
foundation of God's moral government over man, His creature!
Free
agency is not the same as free will. So don't raise a heckle if you have that
scruple against the fact that the will of fallen man is in bondage to his
fallen nature. Such a man still acts most freely without being influenced or
coerced by any external force.
Whether
a man is dead in trespasses and sins or regenerated, he is equally a free
agent. The fall does not affect the free agency of a man at all
[A man in the prison cell still possesses free will and enjoys free agency: he is still free to do what he wants within the prison cell without any coercion outside of himself.]
------
Danny
FOUR
OBSERVATIONS:
1.
FREE WILL is the capacity to act within the confines of one's nature under the
permissive dominion of God.
2.
There is no such thing as ABSOLUTE FREE WILL because even God himself is
incapable of acting in a manner that is inconsistent with his nature.
3.
All men possess FREE WILL.
4.
Man's exercise of FREE WILL plays no participatory role in how he obtains or
maintains his state of eternally saving grace.
PJay
Danny, good thoughts. I have wondered why a man is said to have
"free" will if he cannot, simply by taking thought, add stature to
his height?
Danny
PJay - Your question speaks to the reason for OBSERVATION 2 above. I believe
that one of the issues that many trip over in understanding the concept of
"free will" is based upon the flawed presupposition that the
"freedom" involved must be ABSOLUTE. This is NOT the case. In fact it
is NEVER the case, not even with God. We can say that God is free to do
whatever he pleases to do. This is a rational and biblical statement, but it is
not the same as affirming that God is free to do absolutely anything. God
cannot lie (Titus 1:2). That is because lying does not lie within the domain of
righteousness which is the domain of things that God pleases to do. So we need
to understand that "freedom" is never ABSOLUTE and is always
constrained by one's nature, even for God.
Moreover,
if we look at how we often refer to freedom, we never intend it in an absolute
sense in common parlance. We live in a free country as free citizens
(theoretically at least) but this does not afford one the freedom to commit
murder, nor to defy one's own nature. We're not free to sprout feathers and fly
(or add to our stature in your more biblical example). If we look carefully
into how we invoke the notion of freedom, we will find it constrained in many
ways - whether spoken or implicit.
I tried to preach on this a few years ago... https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7101708105
Sing
PJay, a man is completely free in taking thoughts, the most fantastic and outrageous thoughts he is capable of, but adding to his stature involves a
whole lot more than mere thoughts. That's another confusion.
Danny
Sing - And yet, even man's thoughts are constrained by the finite nature of his
mind. There are things that one man may think of which another man may not
possess the capacity to think. The more we examine the way that we speak of
such "freedoms" we find them constrained in many ways, which further
underscores OBSERVATION 2.
[sing: Freedom of thought and capacity for thought are two distinct matters; both the dullest mind and the brightest mind enjoy the freedom of thought, though they may differ greatly in the capacity for thought.
PJay
Sing, if such a man would be so humble as to bend himself low and shod his
feet with the preparation of the gospel, then perhaps the Lord would add height
to his stature.
PJay
Danny: in response to your response to me, I agree. My comment was really
about people who haven't considered the limits of the free-ness of the will.
Danny
PJay- Understood. I think that many Christians disregard the unavoidable
limitations that exist on ALL freedom by saying, "If there are limits,
then you're not truly free." Helping folks to see that there's no such
thing as ABSOLUTE FREEDOM is helpful in bringing them along the path to a
proper understanding, IMO.
Interesting discussion.
Sing
Danny, why
don't you make some observations on free agency? You know the difference
between free will and free agency, right?
Danny
Strictly
speaking, neither “free will” nor “free agency” are the language of scripture.
As a result, one must explicitly define what is intended by those terms if they
endeavor to use them in reference to scripture. I do not use the term “free
agency” as a means of clarifying the matter of “free will.” I prefer providing
a proper definition of the concept of “free will” that is consistent with what
the Bible teaches on the matter of man’s will and man’s nature. That said, I’m
interested in hearing more about your approach as it relates to the distinction
between “free will” and “free agency.” I can see where one could build a
coherent position in this manner that is consistent with the Bible’s testimony.
======
Craig
Amen...
indeed, all men as moral creatures are fully accountable and responsible for
their actions. Good post!
Charles
Then
the regenerate have free will while all men have free agency, right?
The
elect before God will have accountability for their free will, right?
Sing
The
will of the regenerate has been set free from its bondage to sin, and is
commanded and held responsible to respond to and obey God's will for them.
The context of divine sovereignty and its corollary of human responsibility is STRICTLY in the sphere of redemption - the human responsibility of those redeemed to do the will of their Redeemer!
Linda
By
the Grace of God there go I. He is able to keep me.
