Freedom

A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  John 8:35-36

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.  Galatians 5:1

Outside of Christ, the human will is not free.  The notion of freedom as it applies to the will of man implies a certain degree of autonomy; the ability to exercise choice and make decisions unhindered by internal or external constraints.  Jesus is clear that whoever commits a sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34).  Paul, speaking from his own experience that exemplifies the common experience of all humanity without exception, bemoans the fact that despite his desire to will and do good he is a slave to the sin which indwells him (Romans 7:14-24).  No human born only by water possess the ability to overcome the crushing influence of indwelling sin.  Outside of Christ, we are slaves to sin.  In Christ, we are slaves to righteousness.  In both cases, autonomy is not had due to either the hindering internal constraint of sin or the enabling internal constraint of righteousness. Just as there are physical laws of nature (gravity for example) to which our bodies are subjected to obey, so also are there spiritual laws of nature (sin and righteousness) to which our minds are subjected to obey.  Despite the bondage of the will in both cases, a major difference still exists between the one in Christ and the one outside.  A greater degree of autonomy exists for the one set free in Christ, given that those placed in Him by the Father can choose to follow the righteous path.  For the sin-slaves not in Christ though, the only path that they can choose is that of sin, leading to death.

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? …For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness…And (speaking in regard to the one in Christ) having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”  Romans 6:16, 20, 18

Any person who teaches that we as humans possess the ability to “accept Jesus and be saved” is a purveyor of false hope.  Paul is clear: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.”  (Romans 3:10-11)  Jesus is also clear: “No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me drags him;” (John 6:44) No one seeks after God nor is anyone even able to come to Christ with their sin-slave will.  Apart from a gracious dragging of the Father, none would come to Christ.  It is a false notion to suppose that we are dragged by the Father to the point of conversion and then given the choice to accept or reject at that time in order to initiate our conversion.  Rather, by the giving of His Spirit, we become converted at the end of the drag and from that point are given the response-ability to maintain the new life given to us with the continued aid of our Father, His Christ, and His Spirit.

Closely related to the faulty notion of a free human will is the commonly associated and also faulty notion of a universal dragging action of God.  The Father does not drag each individual person to His Son.  He does drag some out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and so acts on His desire for  “all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4) in some sense.  The fact remains, though, that many (not even all!) are called but few are chosen to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 22:1-14).  If He does not even call all, there is no conceivable argument that can be made from scripture to demonstrate that He drags every individual person.  To further reinforce this point, the disciples ask Jesus, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”   (Matthew 13:10) Jesus responds, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”  (Matthew 13:11)  And again Jesus says, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father.  Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”  (Matthew 11:27)

According to Jesus, eternal life is to know the only true God and His Son whom He sent (John 17:3).  A “decision to accept Jesus” therefore affords nothing with regard to eternal life because, as noble a deed as it may seem, it does nothing to increase one’s knowledge of God.  Echoing back to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:27, except that the Son wills to reveal the Father to one, knowledge of God cannot be had.  In His public ministry He deliberately left the multitudes in darkness, speaking to them in parables (Matthew 13:10-11), and instructed His disciples to not throw their pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).  In fact, even though in the day of judgment some will call Jesus ‘Lord’ and detail to Him the great feats of faith that they have accomplished in His name, He will still reject them on the basis of their lawlessness.  Entrance into the kingdom of heaven and the eternal life to be had therein are not things that can be earned through decisions to “accept Jesus” or by demonstrations of miraculous powers in the name of Jesus (Matthew 7:21-23).

Eternal life is a thing that is granted (John 17:3, Matthew 11:27) as an inheritance (Luke 10:25).  An inheritance cannot be accepted by a person to whom it is not offered.  God grants an inheritance to His children and none else.  The inheritance that He gives to His children is firstly Himself (Genesis 15:1; Psalm 16:5) in every form (Father, Son and Spirit) and secondly the things associated with His person, a kingdom and eternal life therein.  According to Romans 8:14, 16 and 17, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”  Inheritances are given on the basis of birthright.  The only thing that qualifies an individual to receive the inheritance of a certain family is their birth or adoption into that family.   “But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Jesus declares that, “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God…unless one is born of water (below) and the Spirit (from above), he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  (John 3:3, 5 and 6)  At no point in the entire Biblical record is it indicated that God the Father provides spiritual birth in exchange for a “decision to accept Jesus”.  If anything, quite the opposite is true; a true confession of faith and legitimate acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord accompanied by subsequent decisions to obey His will only come after, and as a result of, a spiritual birth granted and caused by the Father that is in no way precipitated by any human action.

The words written in John 1:12-13 are often misunderstood to imply that being born of God is the result of receiving Jesus.  Jesus Himself actually indicates that the opposite is true; that those who receive Him do so because they have already been born of God.  He says to the unbelieving religious leaders of the day, “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.” (John 5:37-38)  If they would have first possessed the testimony of the Father, they then would have believed in the Son.  Jesus continues, “I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me;” (John 5:42-43) If they would have first had the love of the Father, they then would have received the Son.  Jesus continues, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.” (John 7:16-17)  If they would have first been taught by the Father, they then would have known the character of Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus continues, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word…He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”  (John 8:42-43, 47)  If they first would have been born of God, they then would have loved His Son.  Jesus very clearly indicates that in order for it to happen that one should receive Him, that one must first have believed the testimony of, been loved by, taught by, and born spiritually by His Father.

So what does all of this mean?  At the very least it means that if you have been assured of your eternal salvation on the basis of your decision to “accept Jesus as you personal savior”, you have been deceived.  No such assurance exists in scripture.  Until you are convinced of the bondage of your will and your inability to know God by your own efforts, you will persist in vain attempts to know Him.  So long as you continue to be self-deceived in this regard, you will never turn to Him for understanding.  In light of this, you ought to be diligent to examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith.  Honestly ask yourself, is the Spirit of God really present within me witnessing to my spirit that I am indeed His child, or have I just falsely supposed the Spirit’s presence on the basis of the false teaching that I got it after I made the decision for Christ?  If you find that the former is true, I am happy to call you brother or sister and we certainly have much work to do together before our Lord returns.  If you should find that the latter is true of you, don’t fret.  Consider it all joy that the Lord has granted such understanding to you at this point and be encouraged.  By now realizing that you have not yet obtained the thing that your heart desires, you at least have the opportunity to continue pursuing it.  A person who falsely believes that they have obtained something of value will progress no further.  A person who understands that they have not yet obtained what they seek will continue to press on.  It is my earnest desire that you have been and/or will be blessed by this reading and that by it, the Lord’s name is magnified.  Amen.