Question 9
Question 9. But doesn’t God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do?
Answer: No, God created human beings with the ability to keep the law. They, however, provoked by the devil, in willful disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts.
This question and answer should make you think about what you do and why you do it. The freedom of our wills has long been discussed and debated by philosophers, writers, thinkers, poets, theologians, and preachers. There are church denominations with “Free Will” in their name. But what does one mean when he uses the phrase “Free Will”? Is our will truly free if it is corrupted to the point that it takes an act of the almighty God of the universe to take us from hating God(John 7:7) to salvation from his wrath?
Charles Spurgeon said this: “Free will carried many a soul to hell, but never a soul to heaven.”
Genuinely, I think the term “free will” has become so convoluted and meaningless today that we should really stop using it. What have you done today, or this week, or last month, or over the last year that wasn’t somehow influenced by something else? Just about any decision you make is influenced by something else: How you were raised, your personal tastes, the weather, or even your(and my) corrupt sinful nature.(Rom 5:12,18-19)
Our answer this week fundamentally says Adam and Eve had a will that was truly free. It was uncorrupted by sin. They worshiped God in the garden, worked for God’s glory, and enjoyed His presence everyday. God was their only desire. But they chose to eat the fruit. They ceased to believe what God had said and turned from Him. That choice fundamentally corrupted all of the descendants from Adam, as we discussed a few weeks back. We inherited that sinful nature, and as a result our will is no longer free, but bent towards evil. The corruption is so radical that it takes an act of God to overcome it, and bring us to salvation and to a point that we love God again. Even after this we fight our corrupt human nature. We have to be actively killing sin, everyday, in our walk with God. It can be a struggle to obey God's law. But he helps us bend our broken nature back to Him.
We are greatly affected by everything around us each day. Our wills(our desires) are influenced by our family, our friends, our jobs, our traditions, our culture, our entertainment, and many other things we encounter each and every day. We have freedom from God’s wrath in Christ, but we don’t yet have freedom from sin. Our wills are not perfect, or completely free from the affects of sin yet, and won’t be until we are present with the Lord. So we need to watch out for what we allow to influence us each day.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Some things to consider as you go about your week:
How am I allowing social media and entertainment to bend my view of what God says is good and just. Have I let these things consume large parts of my life?
Am I influencing my non-christian friends and family for Christ, or am I allowing them to bend my will back towards the world.
Can my family, and coworkers see the effects of Christ’s saving work in my life?
Are my desires growing towards God and his word? Is this reflected in my study and praying habits?
What to expect in December:
We will be taking a break from the Heidelberg catechism during December. This Sunday will start our advent series. We will use questions from several other catechisms that focus on Christ and his first and second advent.
Soli Deo Gloria!
-Josh Benfield