One reason I enjoy blogs is because they are typically short and to the point. Answering questions about the Reformed Faith is anything but short! It's also a lot to digest and think about. I could make these posts shorter if I just reference scripture, but I want you to see the scripture in context so I'm including the full passage under discussion. So instead of posting one long answer to some of these questions, I'm breaking the answers into pieces. Remember, this isn't exhaustive but I welcome any comments that fill in the places I've missed that helped you resolve some of these questions. After we finishing this discussion, I will post the entire article on our site. Well, here we go!

Question: Since I have a free will, don't I decide if I am going to become a Christian rather than being elected by God? Isn't election an infringement on my free will?

Answer: Yes and no. On the one hand we are all free moral agents in that everyday when we wake up we make hundreds of choices. We choose to answer the alarm clock, to brush our teeth, to go to work, to play golf (I had to get that in there), etc. Everyday, I decide if I am going to gossip, flirt, tell dirty jokes, or drink myself into a stupor. On the other hand, the question of free will is a different matter. The essence of life's most critical question is whether or not I am going to choose to believe the Gospel and be saved. Will I put my trust in Christ and in Christ alone for my salvation? Will I make THAT decision? This is where we must square off with the clear teaching of scripture. We are certainly commanded in a variety of places throughout the word to make a choice about becoming a believer. But in many other parts of scripture we are clearly taught that the depravity of the human heart is such that we cannot make such a choice. Thus we are faced with a great dilemma. Consider this - man's heart is depraved, spiritually devoid of any ability to make the very choice God commands us to make if we are to be saved. What kind of a God would He be if He demanded of us the impossible in order to be saved? Let me make a few points to help shape this discussion.

1. Man, like the angels, was created with a free will - free to do good, and free to do evil.

   We call this the "Covenant of Works." God said in essence to Adam and Eve, "Do this and live and do this and die." God promised them that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (thus becoming humanists) they would die. But they lived for several hundred more years. So either God changed His mind or He meant another kind of death. You see, we die physically because we are dead spiritually. The next time you are in the shower check and see if you have a belly button. If you do, you are a part of the human race and as such you are in the loins of Adam. Romans 5 makes it clear that in Adam we have all died and in Christ we are all (that is the elect) made alive. This means we are BORN SPIRITUALLY DEAD. And no matter how much you command a dead body to respond it cannot since it is by nature dead. As humans we are in the loins of Adam and thus we are born spiritually dead.

   Romans 5:12-19 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- [13] for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. [14] Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. [15] But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! [16] Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. [17] For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. [18] Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. [19] For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

   (There are two races, the human race where Adam is the federal head, and the race of the elect where Christ is the federal head. Now, let's not be confused. I will address this passage in a future blog).

   Over the next few days, I'll expand on these points::

2. When Adam fell, like the fallen angels, he lost the ability to choose salvation since he died in his trespasses.
   
3. Thus, man's will is in bondage, that is, free only in one direction, to do works that are insufficient for salvation.
   
4. Therefore, the nature must be changed supernaturally, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit called regeneration.
   
5. Only after one comes to faith in Christ do they truly possess a free will, that is, only then do their "works" become pleasing to God.

In His Grip,
PB