Free Will: Few things are taken for granted more readily than the idea of free will. Most people never question it because it appears self-evident. We make choices every day. We choose what to wear, what to eat, where to work, what to read, and how we will spend our time. Since those choices are real, many conclude that the matter is settled. Yet the real question is not whether men make choices, but whether those choices are really free. Can a person choose contrary to what he is, or in other words, is the will really free from the heart that directs it? Or does the will merely express what the heart already loves? Most of us already know the answer, even if we have never carefully thought about the question. As the Lord said, ‘a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.’ Luke 6:45.
We are not asking whether man has a will. That much is obvious. The question is whether man possesses a will capable of rising above his own nature and acting independently of it. Can a man choose contrary to what he is? Scripture answers with a question of its own: ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots, then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.’ Jeremiah 13:23. The issue is not whether man can make choices, but whether he can, by an act of will, become something other than what he is.
Christ’s own teaching provides a helpful starting point. Rather than speaking of free will, He spoke of trees and fruit. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Those words are remarkably simple, yet they cut to the heart of the matter. The nature of the tree determines the kind of fruit it bears. Likewise, the nature of a man determines the course of his desires, affections, and choices. His actions reveal what he is; they do not create what he is. "For the tree is known by his fruit." Matthew 12:33.
If this seems difficult, consider it in the simplest terms possible. No one spends his day choosing things he hates while rejecting everything he loves. We pursue what we like, and avoid what we don’t. The choices themselves may differ from person to person, but the principle remains the same. We choose according to our desires. Our decisions are not detached from who we are; they are one of the clearest revelations of it. Proverbs 23:7.
If our choices follow our desires, then the next question naturally arises: where do those desires come from? Scripture always traces them back to the heart. Christ said, ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Our words, actions, and choices do not appear out of nowhere. They proceed from something deeper within us. The heart loves, hates, pursues, treasures, and desires. The will simply follows where those affections lead. This is why the Bible places such emphasis upon the condition of the heart rather than merely the actions that flow from it. ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:21.
This brings us to a question that is often overlooked. If the will follows the desires of the heart, then what is the natural condition of the heart itself? Scripture’s answer is very straightforward. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9. Christ taught that evil thoughts, thefts, murders, adulteries, and other sins proceed from within the heart. Mark 7:21-23. The issue, then, is not merely what man does, but what man is. Scripture does not describe man’s condition as though he merely needs better information or another chance. It traces the problem back to the heart itself, the very fountain from which his desires and choices flow. The difficulty is not that man cannot locate God, but that by nature he has no desire for the God who reveals Himself in Scripture. "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." John 5:40. So if the heart is the fountain from which our desires flow, then the condition of that fountain becomes very important.
Christ’s words in John 5 help bring the matter into focus. He did not say, "ye cannot find me," but, "ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." The problem was not that these men were unaware of who Christ claimed to be. They had heard His words and seen His works. Yet they still would not come. Why? Because the heart always follows what it loves. Their refusal did not expose an intellectual problem, but a spiritual one. It revealed the condition of their hearts. In fact, the Lord goes even further. Just a few verses later He asks, "how can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" John 5:44. Notice how Christ connects inability with desire. They could not believe because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Their inability was not detached from their affections; it was rooted in them. The problem was not a lack of opportunity, but a heart that desired something else more. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." John 3:19.
I have used the following illustration before because, for all its limitations, it seems to capture something of the distinction between making choices and possessing true freedom. Perhaps it may be helpful here as well. Consider a man incarcerated in prison. He can think his own thoughts, form friendships, read books, exercise, work, and make many decisions throughout the day. In that sense he possesses a measure of freedom. Yet no one would seriously argue that he is truly free. Every choice he makes must occur within the boundaries of the prison walls. He may choose many things, but he cannot choose to walk out whenever he pleases. So it is with man by nature. He makes real choices every day, yet those choices remain bound to the disposition with which he entered this world. He is free to act according to that nature, but not free from it.
The prisoner cannot choose himself out of prison, and man cannot choose himself out of what he is. This is precisely how Scripture describes man’s condition. Rather than speaking of man as free, it speaks of him as being in bondage. The Lord said, "whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John 8:34. Paul describes men as "servants of sin" and declares that "the carnal mind is enmity against God." Scripture does not portray man as a neutral creature standing between good and evil, waiting to make an independent choice. It describes him as one whose nature, desires, and affections are already inclined in a particular direction. Romans 3:11.
It would be foolish to deny that man has a will. We make decisions every day. Yet it would be equally foolish to conclude from this that man’s will is free, independent, or sovereign. As one of my favorite writers once observed, "so long as my will is frustrated daily, I will yet declare that there is at least one man whose will is not free – mine." Most of us need little persuasion on that point. Our plans are continually altered, delayed, redirected, and sometimes completely overturned by circumstances beyond our control. We intend one thing and often find another comes to pass. Whatever free will may mean, it certainly cannot mean sovereignty, for that belongs to God alone. "There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand." Proverbs 19:21.
The conclusion is difficult for human pride to accept, but it is impossible to avoid. If the heart governs the desires, and the desires direct the will, then man’s fundamental problem cannot be solved by a mere act of determination. The prisoner cannot free himself. The leopard cannot change his spots. The corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit by deciding to do so. Scripture consistently traces the problem back to man’s nature rather than his circumstances. What is needed is not merely a new decision, but a new heart. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Ezekiel 36:26.
If the matter ended with man’s inability, there would be no hope. But the same Bible that tells us what man is also tells us who Christ is. The Lord does not merely expose the prison; He opens the door. He does not merely reveal the darkness; He is the light. He does not merely identify the dead; He is the resurrection and the life. John 11:25-26. Christ has done what man could never do for himself. That is the very heart of the gospel. The hope of the sinner is not found in the freedom of his will, but in the power and grace of the Savior. "Salvation is of the LORD." Jonah 2:9. MPJ