Faith and Free Will

Free will is defined as having the authority and power to do as one pleases (ISBE).

The above definition being true, there is no such thing as a man with a free will; or man as a “free agent.” A free agent, or one with a free will, would be a person who is able to choose neither serving righteousness nor unrighteousness; but there is no neutral ground, man serves one or the other (2 Pet. 2:19).

When a person is first born he is born into the flesh of Adam and therefore into the sin of Adam; being found in sinful flesh he is under the law of sin and death; he is bound under the law and he hopelessly serves unrighteousness (Rom. 7:14-23). A slave does not have a free will; as a slave a man’s authority and power is limited, thus his will is not “free.”

Man cannot be set free from his enslavement by his own will for he is helpless to do so (Rom. 7:24-25), he is set free only through the will of God, the only agent with free will (John 3:16; Eph. 2:4-5).

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9NASU).”

If a man, through the conviction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, desires in his heart to be set free from his enslavement to sin he must first choose by his limited will to seek repentance (Acts 2:38). Once God is satisfied with the nature of mans repentance, God wills his repentance granted (Rom. 2:4), he is forgiven and released from the law of sin and death through faith in Jesus (Rom. 8:1-4); but then he becomes a slave of righteousness; he is not his own he has been purchased, redeemed or bought with a price, that of the life of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).

So in essence, mans will is limited to choose which nature he will be conformed to and whether he will be a slave to Christ or to sin. Those who love Christ only love Him “because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).” Salvation takes a definite choice on the part of the sinner: to confess with the mouth and believe with the heart (Rom. 10:8-10), without the confession of and continuing in faith (Rom. 8:4-14), God’s grace cannot save that person from their slavery to the enemy (Eph. 2:8).

We conclude, because of the warnings in Scripture concerning using his power of choice to become apostate in the faith (Gal. 5:4; 1 Cor. 10:12; Heb. 3:12, 6:4-8, 10:26-27; James 5:19-20; 1 Tim. 6:21; Phil. 2:12), it is also true that men have the power to choose to no longer be a slave to Christ. One of the things the Holy Spirit teaches through Scripture is making the right choices---in obedience---and the only way to do such things is to have a will to either do them or not, otherwise man would not be instructed in the use of his will.

Now concerning faith: Perfect faith is hearing God, believing and obeying Him from a heart of love. Therefore the sum of perfect faith is total surrender of mans will to the will of God (Luke 22:42); such a faith neutralizes the will of man and God’s grace is abundantly poured out upon him. Now, under the law of faith (Rom. 3:27), all that he does is in the authority and power (will) of God.

James C Sanford

Faith in God in Free Will...

My strength of love flows into every human heart when it opens itself to receive it. And My strength of love causes the spark of love to ignite itself and the flame to leap towards Me, the Father-Spirit of eternity. And thus the path to Me is unimpeded, it was started purely by the will to be illuminated by Me and My love, in other words, anyone with a positive attitude towards Me, anyone who believes in Me and wants to stay in contact with Me, will also receive My divine strength of love. And then he will advance in his development, for this is the effect of My strength. Hence the human being first has to believe in a God and Creator and recognise himself as My living creation, for only then will his desire awaken to enter into contact with Me, and then he will open himself to Me, thus willingly allowing himself to be illuminated by My strength of love, for only this willingness is required for it to happen. But it is difficult for a person to be affected by this ray of love if he does not believe in Me, if he merely regards himself to be a product of nature and therefore never establishes a bond either, because he refuses to acknowledge a Being Which has created him.

An extraordinary occurrence could certainly allow him to gain faith in Me, yet he may never be compellingly influenced or his faith would be worthless. And all proof of My existence is compelling. Even My Word would be compelling evidence were I to speak to people directly from above, so that everyone would have to hear My voice and believe in Me…. Such faith, however, is of no value.... Yet My Word is conveyed to humanity all the same, I merely avail Myself of a human form and speak through it directly…. but I leave each person the freedom to believe or disbelief whether these Words are spoken by a supremely perfect Being…. Free will is always decisive, and faith can never be forcibly attained. And even if I Myself revealed the most profound wisdom to people it would nevertheless not suffice to persuade a person into believing in Me if he doesn’t want to….

Alternatively, however, it is enough to give evidence of Myself to a person.... The human being can gain such convinced faith through My Word that no power of hell can take it away from him. For My Word is an illumination of love which can touch the human heart, which can trigger the love that grants him radiant enlightenment…. And then love will be pushing towards love.... Then a light will be kindled within the heart, the radiance of which dissolves all that is dark, which completely drives away the darkness…. which bestows a living faith upon a person, which is unshakable and withstands every onslaught that time and again is launched by hostile forces…. And thus it will always be up to the human being himself as to whether he allows himself to be touched by My ray of love, for he has to open himself voluntarily…. he has to want to enter into contact with Me as his God and Creator; he has to believe that he has emerged from the hand of a perfect Being and that he cannot sever the connection with this Being…. Then he will acknowledge Me, and only then will he look for Me and I will let Myself be found…. Amen