____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ January 23, 1994 ____________________________________________________ Freewill of Man and Some Other Thoughts by Tom Edwards I imagine my excitement toward using the computer in sharing lessons with others in our area and abroad has been evident to some. It's been truly rewarding. The following is an excerpt from a particular correspondence I've begun with a Baptist preacher of some other city. For the sake of anonymity, I will refer to him as "Earnest." ************************* Earnest: I believe that man's will is in bondage to sin (Romans 6:16) and that in this state he is ``free'' to sin only. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit man remains enslaved to his sinful nature (Ephesians 2:1-3) and therefore cannot please God. Tom: Does this mean that man cannot ``will'' to do the right thing--such as obey the gospel to become a Christian--without miraculous intervention from God? I know that this is expressed in one of the tenets of Calvinism, but I don't go along with it. If man doesn't ``will'' to do right, no one will be able to will this for him. And though God truly desires to see all come to repentance and salvation (2 Pet. 3:9), He never forces one to do so against one's own ``will.'' But would not God be ``masochistic'' if it were His responsibility to miraculously give people the ``urge'' or the ``will'' to come to Him, but then does not do this for the majority? Most people are going to be lost in the judgment day (Matt. 7:13,14), and I know this is not what God truly wants to see happen. Jesus had wept over Jerusalem because He had longed to gather them together the way a hen would its brood--but they were unwilling to come to Him (Luke 13:34). It certainly wasn't because Jesus--or God the Father--did not want them to come; the people had no one to blame but themselves for their refusal. Joshua said to those of his time, ''...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve....'' (Josh. 24:15). According to the Calvinist position, though, the choosing is all totally but to God because ``man can't even `will' to be saved.'' Why, then, would Joshua even have said this? It is true that the sinner remains under the condemnation of sin until those sins are remitted by the blood of Jesus, but this isn't to say that the sinner has no power of his own to choose and obey the way of the Lord when he decides to. If this isn't so, however, and God is the one who is totally responsible for who is saved and who is not, then God is showing partiality--and showing it to the few, while the majority remain in a lost state heading for hell. To the contrary, though, the gospel clearly reveals that ''...God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him'' (Acts 10:34,35). Some can do what is right--those who choose to. Why are men told to repent if they can't ``will'' to do this on their own? Does one man repent because it was God who miraculously enabled him--while another man doesn't repent because God did not give this individual the ability to? Most definitely not. And also we can note that even those who do obey the gospel are not set any more free from the temptation to sin than the non-Christian--perhaps in some cases temptation seems to increase for the one who is striving to live faithful unto God. Obeying the gospel does not take these temptations away. The Christian still must ``will'' to not yield to them--just as a non-Christian also could if he made up his mind to. However, even though the non-Christian might give up many of the same sins that the Christian does, the non-Christian will still remain lost because true Bible repentance involves not merely turning from sin, but also turning in a new direction toward God--and this turning to God is on the basis of our faith and obedience to His plan of salvation from sin. In other words, do men sin merely because ``they are in bondage to sin''? As it was just pointed out, we are all tempted to do wrong--whether we be Christians or not. And, sadly to say, sometimes the Christians yield to some of these same temptations that some of the non-Christians do not. That's not how it should be, nor a very good reflection upon Christianity, but sometimes this does happen. Earnest: These folks may experience some feelings of love for Christ, but they are just that--feelings. Tom: ...and, yes, it does take more than feelings. Jesus shows that the one who truly loves Him is the one who keeps His commandments (Jn. 14:15). To not obey is to not love (Jn. 14:23,24). Earnest: I see the work of the Spirit and the Word to be inseparably linked. Tom: Yes, the word of God is the ``sword of the Spirit'' (Eph. 6:17) or, in other words, the instrument He is using to deal with mankind. When Jesus told the apostles that He needed to go away (ascend back into heaven) in order to send them the Holy Spirit, He said that it would be the Holy Spirit who would convict men concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn. 16:7,8). How does He do this? Through the written or spoken word of God. As Peter preached in Acts 2, a great many came to believe in the gospel, be convicted of their sins, and were encouraged to respond to the plan of salvation. The Holy Spirit was working through this message. Though Cornelius was a ``devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually'' (Acts 10:2), he still had to hear words (the gospel) whereby he could be saved (Acts 11:14). It was also Paul's letter (God's word) to the Corinthians that produced a godly sorrow. This is the way that the Holy Spirit had convicted them of their wrongs--through the message of the gospel (2 Cor. 7:8-10). I emphasize these truths because many people today feel that the Holy Spirit is talking to them miraculously--and separate from the word of God. As a result, many of these are leaning more on their personal feelings--and attributing those feelings to the Holy Spirit--rather than looking to God's word as they should for the answers. ___________________________________________ "Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:7,8). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________