Post 84: Is God's Will Free?

In his book, Modeling God, J.G. Lenhart undertakes a bit of risky business by attempting to "model" God. He claims his goal is to provide a "non-contradictory" understanding of who God is. The end result of his God-modeling effort is his contention that all of God's attributes can be boiled down to just two basic divine qualities: God is righteous, and God is just.

Okay... so far, so good. Although it feels like we might be walking out on a tenuous limb in reducing the Almighty to just two attributes, there is no indication that Lenhart has taken a biblical wrong turn.

Then, he makes the provocative statement that, unlike man, God's will is not free. Suddenly, we're wondering how we arrived at a stance that is so far afield from centuries of scholars and theologians who rarely, if ever, question the complete freedom of the sovereign and omnipotent God.

Lenhart's bold, counter-traditional statement that God's will is not free hinges on a unique definition of "free will" that I believe is worth exploring.

In order to examine "free will" as it applies to God, I have chosen three definitions by which to evaluate the freedom of God's will.

Definition #1

Free will is: "The mind choosing. Free agents always act according to the strongest inclination they have at the moment of choice." --Jonathan Edwards

According to Jonathan Edwards, if God is truly a free agent, his choices will always reflect his strongest desire at the moment he makes a decision. By this definition, God's will is certainly free. Throughout Scripture we're told that God always does whatever pleases him--that is, according to his strongest inclination at the moment of choice.

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:3)

Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. (Psalm 135:6)

Yet we also know that things often happen that displease God.

They built the high places of Baal... though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination... (Jer 32:35)

For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (Eze 18:32)

Based on Edwards' definition of free will and by applying simple logic, we can assume that if something happens that displeases God, then God didn't control the displeasing action. It must have happened apart from his will and pleasure.

Interestingly, this understanding is a denial of Edwards' belief in meticulous divine determinism, which proposes that God has foreordained everything that comes to pass. Note that if God foreordained actions that displease him, by definition #1, his will is not free.

Definition #2

Free will is: "The ability to make choices free from the influence of external factors"--various philosophers

First, it is likely that every choice, even those made by God, is influenced by something--maybe it's a past experience, a moral code, a subliminal benefit, a simple preference.

While many believe that nothing/no one can "pull God's chain", the Bible is clear that many of God's decisions are influenced by people's behaviors. This is evident by the many "If you/they... then I..." statements in Scripture. God allows what seem to be truly undetermined "external factors"--things that are not in accordance with his desire (*see note below), then he reacts, often according to justice.

And if you will walk in my ways... then I will lengthen your days." (1Ki 3:14)

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves... then I will... forgive their sin and heal their land. (2Ch 7:14)

if [a nation] does evil in my sight... then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. (Jer 18:10)

Unless these "if-then" statements by God are not really "external factors"--that is, unless God has actually decreed these actions, these passages seem to reflect a God who responds to free (even, unexpected) human behaviors. And, if things indeed happen apart from God's desired will, it seems that a just God must react to such external actions.

This brings us to definition #3.

Definition #3

Free will is: "The ability to choose to act contrary to one's nature"--J.G. Lenhart

Remembering that J. G. Lenhart has determined that God is always righteous and always just, by definition number #3, God's will is not free.

God can never be unrighteous or unjust because those attributes are the very essence of his character. It is certainly to our benefit that God--by his own self-determination--is unable to act apart from his revealed nature. God cannot be unloving, unmerciful, uncompassionate, etc. He can never act out of whimsy or caprice, or with malevolence. In short, God can never be "un-Godly"

Of course, God, being God, could have chosen to be any kind of deity he wanted to be. But Scripture--that is, God himself--gives us full assurance that He is a benevolent and unchanging deity. God is good, and God is for us (Rom 8:31), and whatever God does will always be right and just and "for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28).

Final Thought

For your consideration, I propose that the following is a workable, biblical understanding of true libertarian free will:

Free will is: The ability to act contrary to one's nature, yet, always according to one's greatest desire at the moment of choice.

When human beings, who have a bent toward sin (Rom 7:22, 23)--aka, a "sin nature"--choose to obey God instead of yielding to temptation, they reveal that pleasing God is now their greatest desire. Since the Bible defines love for God as obedience to his commands (1 John 5:3), by choosing obedience over sin, we fulfill the greatest commandment and confirm that we are truly His.

*In a past post I examined the two wills of God concluding that, throughout Scripture there are things God decrees and sovereignly brings about, and there are things God desires, but allows man the freedom to resist. Here is a link to that discussion: https://www.bibleinsights.net/post/post-69-human-free-will-the-will-of-god

Next Post: To be determined