Source: http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/calvinism/full.asp? Id = 256
Myth of Free Will - Walter CHANTRY
Most People Say That They Believe in "Free Will." Do you have anyidea what thing thing thing thing means? I
Believe That You Will Find A Great Deal of Superstition On this Subject. The Will IS Saluted
As The Grand Power of The Human Soul Which IS Completely Free To Direct Our Lives. But from
What is it free? and what is its power?
The Myth of Circumstantial Freedom
No One Denies That Man Has A Will? That IS, A Faculty of Choosing What He Wishes To Say, Do,
And think. But have you ever reflected on the pitiful weakness of your will? Though you have
The Ability to make a decision, you do not have the power to carry out your purpose. WILL
May Devise a Course of Action, But Will Has No Power To Execute ITS INTEN.
Joseph 抯 Brothers Hated Him. They sold him to be a slave. But god buy their actions to make
Him A Ruler over themselves. They Chose Their Course Of Action To Harm Joseph. But God in
His Power Directed Events for Joseph 抯 Good. He Said, "But As for you, Ye Thought Evil
Against Me; But God Meant It Unto Good "(Gen 50:20).
And How Many Of Your Decisions Are MiseRably THWARTED? You May Choose to Be a Millionaire,
But god 抯 provident is likely to prevent it. You May Decide to beh Scholar, But Bad
Health, An Unstable Home, or Lack of Finances May Frustrate Your Will. You Choose to Go ON A
Vacation, But An Automobile Accident May Send You To The Hospital INSTEAD.
By Saying That Your Will Is Free, We Certainly Do Not Mean That Determines The Course of
Your Life. You Did NOT Choose The Sickness, Sorrow, War, And Pover That Have Spoiled Your
Happiness. You Did NOT Choose to Have Enemies. IF MAN 抯 Will Is So Potent, Why Not Choose Tolive On and ON? But You Must Die. The Major Factors Which Shape Your Life Cannot Thank Your
Will. You Did Not Select Your Social Status, Color, Intelligence, ETC.
Any Sober Reflection On Your Experience Will Produce The Conclusion, "a man 抯 Heart DeviSeth
His Way: But The Lord DirecTeth His Steps (PROV 16: 9). Rather Than Extolling The Human
Will, we ou, we humbily, we old what purposes shape, our lives. As jeremiah
Confessed, "O Lord, I Know That The Way of Man Is Not in Himself: it is not in man this
Walketh to Direct His Steps (Jer 10:23).
Yes, You May Choose What You Want, And You May Plan What You Will Do; But Your Will IS Not
Free to Accomplish Anything Contrary To The Purposes of God. Neither Have you any power to
Reach Your Goals Butt What Which God Allows You. The next time you are so entamored with your
OWN WILL, REMEMBER JESUS? Parable About The Rich Man. The Wealthy Man Said, "This i will do:
I WILL PULL DOWN All My Barns, And Build Greater: and there I will bestow all my fruits and
My Good Said Unto Him. THOU FOOL, THIS Night Thy Soul Shall Be Required of
Thee "(Luke 12: 18-21). He Was Free to Plan But Not Free to Accomplish; So it is with you.
The Myth of Ethical Freedom
But freedom of the will is cited as an important factory in making morl decision .man 抯
Will IS said to be free to choose between good and evil. But again we must ask, from what is
IT free? and what is man 抯 WILL FREE TO Choose?
The Will of Man Is His Power to Choose Between Alternative. Your Will Does Decide Your
Actions from a Number of Option Your Own Thoughts, Words, And Deeds. Your Decisions Are Not formed by An Outside Force, But from With Yourself. NO
Man is Compelle to Act Contrary To His Will, Nor Forced to Say What He Does Not Wish. Your
Will Guides your actions.
Yet this does Not Mean That The Power to Decide is Free from ALL INFLUENCE. You make Choices
Based On Your Undering, Your Feelings, Your Likes and Dislikes, And your appetites. in
Other Words, Your Will IS Not Free from Yourself! Your Choices Are Determined by Your Own
Basic Character. The Will IS Not Independent of Your Nature, But The Slave of It. Your
Choices Do Not Shape Your Character, But Your Character Guides Your Choices. The Will IS
QUITE Partial to what you know, fel, love, and desire. You always choose on the basis of
Your disposition. According to the condition of your heart.
IT Is Just for this Reason That Your Will Is Not Free To Do Good. Your Will Is The Servant
Of Your Heart, And Your Heart Is Evil. "And God Saw That The Wickedness of Man Was Great in
The Earth, And That Every Imagination of The Thoughts of His Heart Was Only Evil
"(Gen 6: 5)." There is none "doeth good, no, not one" (ROM 3:12). No Power
Forcesman To Sin Contrary to His Will, But The Descendants of Adam Are So Evil That They
Always choise.
Your Decisions Are Molded by Your Undering, and The Bible Says of All Men, 慉 ND THEIR
FOOLISH Heart Was Darkened "(ROM 1:21). Man Can Only Be Righteou He He Desires To Have
Fellowship with god, but, "there is none what seeketh after god" (ROM 3:11). Your appetites
CRAVE SIN, AND THUS You Cannot Choose Good Is Contrary To Human Nature. Ifou Chose to Obey God, It Would Be The Result of External Compulsion. But you are free to
Choose and Hence Your Choice is Enslaved to your OWN Evil Nature.
IF Fresh Meat and Tossed Salad Were Placed Before A Hungry Lion, He Would Choose the Flesh
This Is Because His Nature Dictates The Selection It Is Just So with Man. The Will of Man Is
FREE from Outside Force, But Not from The Bias of Human Nature. That Bias is against god.
MAN 抯 Power of Decision Are Free to Choose Whatver The Human Heart Dictates; Therefore
There is no picture of a man choosing to please god..
What Most People Mean by Free Will Is The Idea That Man Is by Nature Neutral and Therefore
Able To Choose Either Good Or Evil. This Simply Is Not True. The Human Will and The Whole of
Human Nature Is Bent To Only Evil Continually Jeremiah Asked, "Can The Ethiopian Change His
Skin, or the leopard his spots ?1 Ye Also do good, That Are Accustomed to Do Evil
(Jer 13:23). IT is Impossible. It is contrary to nature thus do men desperately need the
Supernatural Transformation of their Natures, else their wills are enslaved to choosing
Evil.
In Spite of the Great Praise That Is Given to "Free Will," We Have Seen That Man 抯 Will IS
Not Free to Choose a course contrary to god 抯 Purposes Nor Free to Act Contrary to His OWN
Moral Nature. Your Will Does NOT Determine The Events of Your Life Nor The Circumstances of Your Life Normine THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
IT. Ethical Choices Are not factoryd by a neutral Mind But Always Dichted by Your Personality
Makeup.
The Myth of Spiritual Freedom
Nevertheless Makes The Ultimate Choice of Spiritual Life Orspiritual Death. The Will IS AltoTogether Free To Choose ETERNAL LIFE
Offered in jesus christ or to responst it. it is said That God Will Give A New Heart To All
Who hoose by the power of their oow free will to receive jesus christ.
There Can Be No Question That Receiving Jesus Christ Is An Act of The Human Will. IT IS
Faith Called "Faith." But How do Men Come to Willingly Receive The Lord? It is usually
Answered, "Out of the power of their oow free will." but how can thing be? jesus is a prophet
To Receive Him Means to Believe All That He Says. In John 8: 41-45 Jesus Made It Clear That
YOU WERE BORN of Satan. This Evil Father Hates The Truth And Imparted The Same Bias Into
Your Heart by Nature. Hence Said Jesus, "Because I Tell You the Truth, Ye Believe Me NOT."
How does the human will jump out of man to choose to be beleve what the Human Mind Hates and
Denies?
Further, To Receive Jesus Means to EMBRACE HIM AS A PRIEST? That IS, TO Employ and Depend On
Him to Sue Out Peace with God by Sacrifice and Intercession. Paul Tells US That The Mind
With which weele born is hostile to god (ROM 8: 7). How can the will escape the influence
Of Human Nature Which Was BORN WITH WITH VIOLENT ENMITY to GOD? IT Would Be Insane for the Will
To Choose Peace When Every Bone and Drop of Blood Cries Out for Rebellion.
THEN TOO, RECEIVING JESUS Means to Welcome Him as a king. It means chosing to Obey His
Every Command, To Confss His Right of Rule and To Worship Before His Throne. But The Human
Mind, Emotions, And Desires All Cry Out, "We Well Not Have this Man To Reign Over US"
19:14). IF my whole being hates his truth
IT IS Not Man Will But God 抯 Grace That Must Be Thanked for Giving a Sinner A New Heart.
Unless God Changes The Heart, Creates A New Spirit of Peace, Truthfulness, And Submission.
Man Will NOT Choose to Receive Jesus Christ and ETERNAL LIFE IN HIM. A New Heart Must HE
Given Before A Man Can Believe, or else the human will is Hoplessly Enslaved to Evil Human
Nature Even in The Matter of Conversion. Jesus Said. "Marvel NOT THAT I SAID UnTo Thee, YE
Must Be born again (John 3: 7). Unless YOU, You Will Never See His Kingdom.
Read John 1:12 & 13. IT Says That Those Who Believe on Jesus Have Been "Born, Not of The
Will of Man, But of god. "As Your Will IS Not Responsible for your coming into this world,
It is not responsible for the new birth. it is your creator who must be thank for your
Life, Andiff Any Man Be in Christ, He is A New Creation (II COR 5:17). Who Ever Chose to Be
Created? When Lazarus rose from the dead, he kiln could choce to answer the call of christ,
But He Could NOT Choose to come to life. so Paul Said in ephes 2: 5, "Even WHEN WERE
Dead in sins, [god] i Hath Quickened Us Together with Christ, (by grace ye area saved). "
Faith Is The First Antian A Will Made New by The Holy Spirit. Receiving Christ Is An Act of
Man Just As Breathing IS, But God Must First Give Life.
No Wonder Martin Luther Wrote A Book Entitled The Bondage Of The Will Which He Considered
One of His Most Important Treatises. The Will Is in The Chains of An Evil Human Nature. You
Who Extol The Free Will As a Great Force. Man, As Fallen Insin, IS Utterly Helpless and Hopless. The Will of Man Offers No Hope. It Was The Will
Choosing The Forbidden Fruit That BROUGHT US INTO MISERY. The Powerful Grace of god alone
Offers deliverance. Cast Yourself Upon GOD 抯 Mercy for Salvation. Ask for the spirit of
Grace That He May Create a New Spirit Withnin you.
Author
Walter CHANTRY WAS BORN IN 1938 At Norristown, Pennsylvania, Raised in The Presbyterian
Church; Graduated B.a. In History from Dickinson College, Carlisle in 1960, And A B.D. from
Westminster Theology Seminary in 1963, From Which Time He Has Been Pastor of Grace
Baptist church, carlisle. He is Married with three children.
