Free Will vs Predestination
Some random thoughts on free will vs predestination and whether the Bible does conflict in this (we don’t think it does, but it is certainly difficult and challenging). Jesus encountered the struggle between free will and predestination first-hand through His human will. However, he was unique in also having the divine will of the Father. In this verse in Luke, we can see this in what He says:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Jesus clearly has a will of His own, separate from the Fathers’, with which he could make choices, but he had clearly submitted his will to the divine will of the Father completely. This is further enforced by John 6:38.
A time to pause…
As we reflect on the original fall of humankind recorded in Genesis 3:1-24, we pause here to remember and pray about the way this sinful world continues to cause unimagineable suffering and hurt to countless innocent people through the bad choices of others who follow such things as the path of ambition, greed, slander, hate, immorality – the list is long – through their own individual free will. Please pray with us – and continually pray – for those that, often through no fault of their own, are directly – or indirectly – affected by the terrible free will decisions of others as the effect of those decisions radiate out in our fallen world with far reaching consequences.
The phrase ‘free will’ today for us
It is interesting first to observe that Jesus has a will of His own, and second that He submits his own human will to the Fathers’ will, and he demonstrates this in words and actions. The actual phrase ‘free will’ is not directly mentioned in the Bible except in the OT in some translations – for example Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Psalms – and most of these seem to be in relation to keeping the laws.
The understanding of what the phrase ‘free will’ means for us humans today might be helpful when used in conjunction with increasing understanding of the Bible. The definition, given from Britannica, is ‘the supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe’. Sometimes the phrase ‘free will’ is a hinderance to people especially in relation to predestination and to someone trying to align our modern understanding of the phrase ‘free will’ with relation to religion, Jesus or God where the notion of predestination is also discussed.
Becoming Christ-like
We are to become Christ-like as Christians – if Christ submitted His will to the Father, then it follows that we should willingly submit too (this is different to not having a free will to submit). Most of us probably already know this, but from a quick search on the internet, it seems that there is more attempting to disprove or invalidate the Bible by directly associating the notion of free will and predestination and suggesting that no-one therefore has free will (even some Christians suggest this) as we understand the term to mean in language use.
Both free will and predestination can’t be ignored
Some passages indicating free will in the Bible, though they are few, contain the direct words of Jesus, and cannot be ignored – for example John 5:40. Though it seems almost impossible to fully understand reconciling free will and predestination, both are presented to us in the Bible and therefore both are relevant and equally cannot simply be ignored.
Does free will exist? and ‘determinism’
There are many verses and Bible stories which would indicate the notion of man having free will as we understand the phrase (e.g Matthew 7:13-14, Genesis 3, 2 Samuel 11, Ephesians 4:17-19. Note that having free will doesn’t make every choice right in the sight of God! There may be many more verses about ‘determinism’ – or predestination than will, but unlike the argument of context [that is, things understood at the time of writing the Bible were at the time generally more deterministic] being used to strengthen the against case for free will, it actually helps the case for free will today as man’s knowledge has increased. Both predestination and free will were already there in the Bible.
Who are we anyway?
Who are we that we should think we can understand Him [God] better than he understands himself? – the irony being perhaps you as you’re reading this would say this right back at us in trying to unpack this subject a bit (we don’t mind if you do!). Perhaps the two (that is, free will and predestination) do not ‘add’ up to us when we apply human logic to it – that doesn’t bother us, since no-one is God except God, and none of us possess all knowledge – only He does. If we possesed all knowledge we would be like God.
Sitting on the theology fence : free will vs predestination
We sit on the fence in terms of theology at this time, but if we had to choose, we would err towards Calvinism, not that it is entirely right in it’s extreme form. Both predestination and free will are concepts that have validity, and therefore one cannot be ignored completely in favour of the other. The Gospel is ultimately good news. Christianity is a personal, restored relationship with God through Jesus alone, but the irony is you will only know if you were already predestined to be in a restored relationship with God once you are a genuine committed Christian – choosing to follow Jesus and go on following, of your own free will, rather than choosing another path for yourself instead.
We can’t judge all things, and certainly can’t judge everything perfectly in our own human strength, mind and heart – only God is able to be the perfect Judge over all things
As man, we cannot always perfectly judge who is or isn’t a genuine Christian with a genuine heart and mind, only God can – but we will anyway judge others based what they say and the things they do (the Bible says this can be a good thing sometimes – but only if correctly led by the Holy Spirit and with correct understanding of Jesus’ words). As a fallen people on this earth, however, we won’t always be right, even with those who appear absolutely genuine to us, there are actually many things which can at any time hinder our judgement both in the spiritual realm and on this earth, including ourselves.
The equation of balance for free will vs predestination
The ‘natural’ non-believer’s reaction is to claim ‘free will’ but there are verses and passages in the bible which, on their own, and at literal face value, say that it is not us who choose God but God who chooses us. We need to choose to follow God, who has already chosen us. The ‘equation’ is not balanced until both parts are true together, even though each individual part-truth is true of itself.
Free will vs predestination: Love plays its part
Without free will, true love could not exist, since it has to be an act of true free will (as we understand free will to be and one of the most fundamental themes which runs through the Bible is love – this in itself is proof enough of the importance of free will and its existence in our world – which we can understand and can relate to. Without true love and free will together, we would be lost.
Already chosen, but still a choice
Though we are already chosen, there remains a need to exercise our free will in order to surrender that will to Jesus. If God has removed this choice from the equation, he doesn’t express true love, and that is not his nature, even though He has already predestined that we have been chosen in Jesus (Ephesians 1:4). Can you be already chosen, but still have a choice? It seems it is possible despite the apparent conflict between free will vs predestination.
Where are you in relation to God today?
Believing in the mind AND believing in the heart – this is what a Christian does. Therefore, the following sentence holds,
‘Its better to concentrate on one’s own life today and where God is included – or not – as you freely enjoy your free will. Perhaps it is wise to continually ask oneself, ‘am I following God’s will and purpose for my life or my own?’ rather than concern ourselves too much with the past or the future or perhaps selfish ambition, fame and gain for today.
Different perspectives: man-to-God or God-to-man?
So, with all this in mind, if we consider that free will can be considered a man-to-God perspective – i.e. we can choose our actions, choose to follow Jesus, and we can, consider predestination to be a God-to-man perspective, God having already predestined, or pre-elected. Both predestination and free-will can be in existence at the same time, even if each appears mutually exclusive in direct relation to each other, yet equally true (the paradox), especially given that a person can only really truely know if they were predestined to become a Christian once they have already chosen and then acted to become one (even though God might already have chosen and known it was going to happen before the person was even born!). Perhaps, and it is only a perhaps, to help better understand and define, we need to approach these subjects having first thought in which relationship man-to-God or God-to-man we are considering at the time, and also when we are reading the Bible or studying these topics.
The image above was created using AI.
More tough questions for Christians
Find a perspective on more of the well-known tough questions for Christians.
More information and links for study
What Does the Bible Teach about Free Will and Predestination? – What Christians want to know
Free will in theology – Wikipedia
Free will – Wikipedia
Predestination – Wikipedia
What Does the Bible say about Free Will and Predestination? – Got Questions
Predestination and Free Will – Christianity.org.uk
