I often hear the argument that human beings must have free will, because without it, we cannot truly love God. The illustration that is usually given is that of a father with his children. If the father forced his children to love him, then the love given by the children would not be genuine. The children's love for their father is true love precisely because it is not forced and comes out of their free will.
That is a good argument and correlates with what we observe in the real world. It is logical and makes a lot of sense. But the problem is, it is not biblical.
In the same way, none of us are able to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. We simply, cannot, of our own free will, do it. In our free will, we choose to love a thousand other things other than God. Some of those things are good like family, church, and work. And some of those things are blatantly wrong like the love of money and adulterous sex. None of us can truly repent of sin or truly enjoy God's good gifts without God's sovereign work of setting our hearts apart for him (John 3:8, Philippians 2:13).
We cannot love him without him first giving us heart surgery. I am happy that my maker has given me a heart to beat after him so that I can love him with all my heart, mind, and soul. I am happy to be a robot with no free will. And not for a minute will I consider that love "fake", simply because he programmed me to do so. I cannot love God unless programmed to do so. Thank you Master Programmer.
That is a good argument and correlates with what we observe in the real world. It is logical and makes a lot of sense. But the problem is, it is not biblical.
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)The Israelites, like us, were a stubborn people. The giving of the law did not result in obedient people because the people had broken hearts that did not allow them to willfully obey the law. The law gave them rules they could not fulfill. It would be as if the law told me to dunk a basketball. Sure, dunking a basketball is good. But I'm too short, and I can't jump.
In the same way, none of us are able to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. We simply, cannot, of our own free will, do it. In our free will, we choose to love a thousand other things other than God. Some of those things are good like family, church, and work. And some of those things are blatantly wrong like the love of money and adulterous sex. None of us can truly repent of sin or truly enjoy God's good gifts without God's sovereign work of setting our hearts apart for him (John 3:8, Philippians 2:13).
We cannot love him without him first giving us heart surgery. I am happy that my maker has given me a heart to beat after him so that I can love him with all my heart, mind, and soul. I am happy to be a robot with no free will. And not for a minute will I consider that love "fake", simply because he programmed me to do so. I cannot love God unless programmed to do so. Thank you Master Programmer.
An aged friend with cancer wrote: "Analysing things only enhances the experience as you develop a greater awareness of factors that control the formation of an experience"
ReplyDeleteI agree with the enhancement, but also think human definition in analytic retrospect is limited to human capabilities for conceptualization and rationalization. I think that God is much more encompassing than just this or that.
Free will vs. Robot. I think we are both and then some...