Myth of Free Will, The

Introduction: Why Address the Myth of Free Will?

0:01 I wish to speak to you tonight on the subject that is entitled, in one of the new tracks available for you, The Myth of Free Will. I haven't called Pastor Chantry and asked him for permission to take his title, but knowing him as I do, I'm sure he does not feel it's copyrighted, and that there is no breach of ethics, and I'm telling you where I have gotten the title, and also I'm doing something that I've never done before, I'm using someone's outline. But no one's ever too old to learn new tricks, and I find that Pastor Chantry's outline in handling this subject is most clear and helpful, and relatively easy to remember, and so I am using his outline as well, and I trust that this study will be to our profit. Now, in the first place, let me give you just one or two reasons as to why I want to consider this subject with you in a topical manner tonight. First of all, as a result of listening to people as they talk, and as I am privileged to minister to them, I think particularly of this ministry Friday night and Saturday with the students from several secular colleges who were gathered at the Hudson House in Nyack for a retreat, this whole subject of the function and place of the human will in the scheme of redemption came up again and again, and it does increasingly, and I'm convinced that it's one of the,

1:29 one of the most pivotal areas of Christian doctrine and its practical implications, particularly in our own day, whether or not we understand what Scripture teaches about the function of the human will, what it is and is not able to perform, and how the grace of God works in relationship to the human will. So, my first reason is the tremendous importance of this area of practical Christian doctrine. The second reason, and I've already hinted at it, is the great misunderstanding and misconception concerning the teaching of Scripture on this very point. As I drove home last night from this retreat, I was listening to the radio, and I heard a well-known radio preacher come out with some of the most blatant statements on the place of the human will in salvation, which actually shocked me, and yet in some ways they didn't shock me, and caused me, as I drove along, the Garden State Parkway at 60 miles an hour, or 65, I may have been taking 5 on the speed limit at that time, I don't remember, but I just found myself crying out, Oh God, once again establish the truth of Holy Scripture concerning this matter of the human will. So, if that prayer was genuine in the light of this morning's message, and the desire is valid, then I must do what I can in the providence of God to answer my own prayer.

2:57 And so, having cried to God that he would establish his church once again in the truth of Scripture concerning the grace of God in relationship to the human will, and having, as it were, a free night, I would be violating the very thing I preached this morning if I did not say, furthermore then, brethren, as touching free will, this is what Scripture teaches. So much, then, for why I've chosen the subject. Now, we are entitling the subject, The Myth, of Free Will. Why?

Defining 'Myth' and the Myth of Free Will

3:29 What is a myth? Well, a myth is defined in Webster as any imaginary thing spoken of as though existing.

3:40 Most of us, growing up, believed in the myth of Santa Claus. Having been told that he existed, and that he made his periodic visit to our particular environment on Christmas Eve, we really believed that he existed. If you ever tried to tell me, at age 6, that those creaks I heard in my house on Christmas Eve were not Santa's footsteps, I would have been willing to fight you with all of the energies of my 5- or 6-year-old friend. You see, the myth of Santa Claus had been so thoroughly imbibed in my thinking that I treated it as though it were fact.

4:19 A myth is any imaginary thing spoken of as though existing. And you see, when a myth becomes widely accepted, anyone questioning that myth is looked upon, to use the terminology of you present teenagers, as a weirdo.

4:39 That a good word? Has it gone out of style yet? I know it was in two months ago, but I have to keep checking with you to see if it's still kosher. Sure, anyone who questions a myth that is widely accepted is looked upon as a weirdo, someone who's not quite with it, someone who really isn't on the wavelength of the people that are in.

5:00 You see, for a while, in the realm of science, there was the myth of the flat Earth. And if anyone, prior to the demonstration that the Earth was not flat and the Earth was not the center of our own solar system, had even hinted that maybe the Earth was round and that the sun was the center, why, he was looked upon as some kind of a, not only a scientific freak, but a heretic, because the Church, in great measure, had defended the mythology of midlife, medieval science. The same way, when anyone questioned, to my childish mind, the myth of Santa Claus, as I mentioned, I was ready to fight and treat him as some kind of a terrible creature. Now, we're going to study tonight, from Holy Scripture, and I trust from common observation, the myth of free will. The thinking of our own contemporary generation, within the Church and without the Church, on the subject of the human will, is, for the most part, mythology. It is an imaginary thing spoken of as though it does truly exist. There are imaginary powers and abilities attributed to the human will, which the will does not have.

6:23 There are virtues attributed to the human will, which the will does not have, and because of it, there is great delusion, spiritual delusion. There is a robbing God of some of the glory that is due him, and there is a very lopsided conception of the entire spectrum of Christian experience because men have believed the myth of free will. So much, then, as to why we're considering the subject, what I mean when I speak of the myth of free will. Now, to think our way through the subject, I have two baselines.

What is the Will? The Faculty of Choosing

7:02 I have two basic questions. What do we mean by the will? And, secondly, the areas in which the mythology concerning free will has been fairly well established. Now, what is your will?

7:16 Well, your will is your chooser. The will is the faculty of choosing. Our faculty of knowing we call the intellect. Our faculty of feeling we call the affections or the emotions.

7:28 The faculty of choosing we call the will. The faculty of knowing we call the intellect. The faculty of knowing we call the will. Now, all mankind have a faculty of choosing, and anyone who denies this is just denying not only Scripture but the obvious facts of the constitution of a human being as a human being.

7:48 You and I have this faculty woven into the fabric of our humanity of choosing what we shall say and think and choosing what we would like to do. We don't always have the power to choose what we shall do, but we have the power to say this is what I would like to do. And this is clearly taught in the word of God and by human experience. But the point in question is this.

8:15 Is this faculty of choosing the master of our fate and the captain of our souls? Is this will suspended in a state of neutrality as to its choice of good and evil, as to its choice of embracing the Savior or rejecting the Savior? This is the question that all men have. The power of choice is not the issue in question.

8:41 The issue before us tonight is this. What kind of power does this will have? Is the will, the choosing faculty with which you were born and I was born, is it suspended between good and evil, free to look down upon both courses and uninfluenced by anything else but its pure existence to choose evil or good, Christ or no Christ? This is the question.

The Myth of Circumstantial Freedom

9:11 Now let me suggest that there are three areas in which the myth of free will has been firmly established in our own generation, both in the church and out of the church. First of all, there's the myth of what Mr. Chantry calls, and I will use his outline, at this point, circumstantial freedom. The idea that all events and circumstances of life are sort of strewn about in no real order until my will arranges them.

9:42 I can remember as a child when we'd play with dominoes. To this day I still don't quite remember how you actually used dominoes because we used them for everything but what they were intended to be used for. We'd stand them up, you know, in different snake-like arrangements and tip them and we'd love to see them go and all fall down. Well, usually we'd pour the dominoes out on the floor and then we could arrange them into anything we wanted to.

10:06 Squares, rectangles, stand them up in a snake-like figure and we always felt very proud of ourselves and we could sort of make them in a rectangle and get that one on the right angle just turned such that when that line went down the line would shoot back this way at a right angle. Any of you do this in my community? Fine, good, I'm not a weirdo then. You played with dominoes as well.

10:27 All right then. In our day there is this mythology of circumstantial freedom as though the circumstances of life are just like dominoes laying on the floor waiting for us, as it were, to arrange them by the exercise of human will. No scripture teaches that the controlling factor over all the actions of the human will is the divine will even when men think that they are opposing the purposes of God. Now up to this point, I've not quoted a verse of scripture because I've wanted to set the framework of our discussion and biblical argument.

11:05 Now I want you to dig in with me to a number of portions of holy scripture that I hope will utterly explode the myth of free will. Now it may be quite as jarring to you as the first time the myth of Santa Claus was exploded and to the poor scientists who had committed their lives and their livelihood to the, quote, fact, really, a myth that the earth was flat, but I trust that your hunger for truth and for God's word is such that you'll be willing to pursue this course with me. When you turn to Genesis chapter 50, Genesis chapter 50, the last chapter of Genesis, and we shall look at a moment at one particular verse as it relates to our subject, but we want to set it in its context. Joseph, in the providence of God, has been brought to this place of exalted leadership in Egypt. You remember the story of how his brothers have come and finally Joseph has disclosed himself to them and they have a wonderful weeping session and get all reconciled and their fears are dismissed and Joseph is delighted to see them and his brother and father again. And now he gives this commentary over all that has transpired.

12:28 Now think back through the years. Joseph can remember when coming out in his innocence to bring some food to his brothers they lay hold of him, throw him in the pit. He can remember the thud of the hooves of camels as the caravan comes by and hear his brothers bartering for his own life, sold as a common slave into Egypt. He remembers the lies of Potiphar's wife which led almost to his death but to his imprisonment and then the forgetfulness of the man whose dream he had interpreted and all the dealings of God woven into which were some of the most terrible deeds of chicanery and violations of the law of God.

13:12 And yet over that entire history which had many expressions of the choosing of men his brothers choosing to harm him, choosing to sell him into slavery, Potiphar's wife choosing and willing to try to have him put to death. Over all of this what does he say? Verse 20. But as for you, ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive.

13:55 You willed to do me harm but because God willed to do me good and others good his will has prevailed even taking into account the terrible expressions of depraved human will. You know, this idea that you and I arranged the dominoes is absolute folly. We may think we are but there is one who in reality does. You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.

14:32 You meant harm but God in his power and in his sovereignty overruled what you purposed to bring about his purpose. Several categorical statements of this very fact one in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 9 indicate that in the circumstances of life and in the outworking of those circumstances man's will may be free to say I would choose thus and so but in the carrying out of that design the will is not free but subject to the sovereign purposes of God. Proverbs 16 and verse 9 A man's heart deviseth his way ah, this is what I will do but the writer says the Lord directeth his steps. A man's heart devises his way this is what I will do and he may think that what he is doing is the fruit of his arrangement of the dominoes but the Lord is directing his way. We find a similar statement in Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 23 Jeremiah 10 and verse 23

15:57 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps O Lord I know that to choose a way that I think is good that is in me oh yes the power of choice but Lord it is not in me to carry out that choice for circumstances that come and impinge upon the way that I would choose are out of my control but O Lord they are absolutely and irrevocably under thy control. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. We may choose what we want and lay our plans but nothing is accomplished contrary to the purposes of Almighty God and man in his boasted free will mistakes that freedom of choice with ability to perform and to carry out his intention. Listen to the mouthings of a man who believed the myth of free will listen to him as he speaks as recorded in the 12th chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke Luke chapter 12 Here is a man who had so thoroughly immersed his mind

17:23 in the myth of free will that he speaks in a very blatant way of his conviction. At this point in the 12th chapter of the Gospel of Luke our Lord giving a parable to teach the folly of covetousness speaks of a certain man beginning in verse 18 Luke 12 18 and he said this man whose crops brought forth such abundance and he said this will I do ah there he is expressing his will I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry but God said unto him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then who shall those things be which thou hast provided then what will happen of your vaunted free will that because you choose to do thus and though you think you will be able to accomplish it that's the myth of free will when we think that the will because it is free to choose is therefore endowed with power

18:50 to carry out those choices in fact in James chapter 12 chapter 4 it's this very attitude of mind regarding the place of the human will that God rebukes as sin notice what we read in James 4 we read this in our regular Sunday morning reading two Lord's days ago James 4 13 go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain this is what we will do here's how we will arrange the dominoes whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for what is your life it is but a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away for that ye ought to say and your saying should be the expression of your understanding of the relationship of your will and its choice and God's will in the performance of the choice for that ye ought to say if the Lord will we shall live and do this or that but now you rejoice in your boastings and all such rejoicing is evil listen to the politicians

The Myth of Ethical/Moral Freedom

20:18 if I am elected president I will oh you will will you suppose God makes you a stuttering idiot in three months time then what will you do if I am elected I will oh you will will you suppose God allows famine natural calamity earthquakes to come and rend the very physical structure of the geographic part of the world called the United States to shake at its very foundations oh listen to the vaunted boastings God says such boastings sin because that's the myth of free will the myth of the myth of circumstantial freedom that because we make the choice we can carry it forth and arrange the circumstances accordingly then there is a second area and this touches closer to the church I've started and I believe Mr. Chantry did this purposely in his outline which I am following with the area where the world is perhaps most guilty and then more and more to the inner circle of the church in the myth of free will it's the myth of what we would call ethical or moral freedom the words ethical and moral are generally used synonymously

21:45 and they touch conduct in the light of an existing standard we say of a certain person it would be unethical for him to do that what we mean is in the light of certain standards to which he is obligated and by which he is to be governed it's not right ethical and moral you cannot have those words in your vocabulary unless there is a fixed standard I was reminded of this earlier when talking with a young fellow trying to think his way into the kingdom of God and he rejects the creator-creature relationship that because God is God and we're the creature he has a right to command us and what he says is right is right because God commands it and he says no just man standing here thinking and observing he can come up with valid standards so every time he'd use the word well such is right or moral or immoral I'd say uh-uh you've got no right to it in your vocabulary you see the whole concept of morality is based upon the fact that God is God and we are the creature and the God who made us has a right to govern us and he's told us how we should be governed now in this realm of ethics and morality there is the myth of ethical freedom of the will it's the idea that good and evil are set before us like cherry pie a la mode or apple pie a la mode and we're absolutely free to choose cherry pie a la mode or apple pie a la mode

23:13 or like when I take the children to the Dairy Queen I say my standard pitch is you want chocolate or vanilla now you're free to make your choice there you are you're standing neutral between the chocolate ice cream machine and the vanilla ice cream machine and whichever way you nod your head that knob will be pulled now there is this myth this prevailing idea that the human will is free in the sense that it stands neutral between good and evil and makes its choice completely uninfluenced by any kind of disposition of the heart and the mind and the affections now let me set down very clearly what scripture teaches concerning the positive aspects of the will in relationship to ethics and morals the will has the power to choose between alternatives absolutely in the realm of ice cream it can choose between chocolate and vanilla you could choose today whether or not to keep the Sabbath holy God says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy you have the power of choice to keep it holy or not to keep it holy you had the choice yesterday when a certain person was mentioned and you thought well I could say some pretty mean things you had the choice whether you'd say them or not say them and when you got miffed with your wife or husband and were saying you were tempted to retort in an unkind way

24:42 you made the choice whether to retort or not to I hope you made the right choice but you made a choice now that's obviously taught in scripture and obviously proven in human experience in the second place the will is not forced to act by any external powers the will guides the action there is no external force pushing us to do evil or even in the realm of doing good but now the question is this though the will makes a valid choice does the will act in isolation from the rest of the total personality from the character of the individual let's go back to the ice cream when I say to my children do you want chocolate or vanilla is that choice of their will isolated from the rest of their personality of course not it's influenced by something that they know about the reaction of their taste buds to vanilla flavoring or chocolate flavoring if they had been told all their lives chocolate if eaten will mean that you die at age 15 and every time chocolate was mentioned we got white as a ghost and said to them children never, never, never touch chocolate oh I see other people eating it

26:12 yes but maybe God's just given them a few extra years chocolate will kill you well you see if in their understanding chocolate was equated with poison and if they had tasted it on one occasion and their taste buds didn't like it when I say do you want chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream the choice of their will is influenced by the judgment of the mind and the reaction of the taste buds right they don't make a choice for vanilla or chocolate in complete isolation it's not a choice of isolated will it's the will choosing in the light of the judgment and the affections in this case the physical appetite and the taste buds the same way with whether or not you're going to keep the Sabbath as you made that choice today your will didn't make that choice isolated from what you are if your mind judges God to be worthy of obedience and if your mind has come to perceive the teaching of scripture that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath that this day is for my good and to turn aside from God's commandment is to harm myself as well as to disobey God if that's the judgment of your mind and if with your heart you can say with Paul I delight after the law of God your affections are wedded to God then the choice of your will

27:40 was consistent with the judgment of the mind and the state of the affections right if your concept of God well who in the world is God to butt into my schedule I work hard and if I want one day to goof off and do what I want to please that's my business well you see if that's your understanding of God and if you look upon the Sabbath as the imposition of some of the trappings of an old legalistic system and if your affection to God is one of disincarnation and disinterest and hostility the carnal mind enmity against God well then it's obvious what your will will do when it sees the commandment remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy it says I'm not going to keep any day holy I'll do as I please you see your will will act consistent with the state of your affections and the judgment of your mind do you follow me now I don't want to give a lecture in philosophy or psychology this is vital to see if we're to understand the teaching of scripture concerning the matter of the human will now what does the Bible say about the human will as it relates to the understanding and to the affections is there real ethical freedom when you were first faced consciously as a child with good or evil were you hung up neutral between chocolate and vanilla ice cream with no judgment or affection for one or the other is that what scripture teaches

Biblical Evidence Against Ethical Freedom: Darkened Minds and Perverse Affections

29:10 that ethical freedom is such that your will is in a place of neutrality no not at all for your judgment in moral and ethical things will be consistent with the understanding and with the affections just like it is with ice cream just like it is with whether or not you'll keep the Sabbath now what does the Bible say about the understanding well turn to several passages in the New Testament with me if you will please and I'll try to take them in sequence so that we're not jumping back and forth but moving through the first one is in Romans chapter 1 Romans chapter 1 and verse 21 speaking of those who have rejected the light the revelation of God that comes to the created world and the created order the apostle says because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened here it speaks of the heart which involves the understanding the perceptive quality or faculty as being dark keep that same thought before you as we move into Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14

30:39 but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned it takes a spiritual faculty to perceive spiritual truth but the natural man who is not indwelt by the spirit does not have this faculty that comes by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the mind is darkened he cannot receive the things of the spirit of God 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4 perhaps back up to verse 3 but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not the mind is blinded and then we could quote from Ephesians that speaks of the darkness of the mind alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them Ephesians 2 verse 18 I believe and 4 verse 18 so there is the understanding of man's mind it does not perceive the glory of God in the face of Christ it doesn't perceive that truth which is inherently beautiful and worthy of obedience what about the affections

32:07 and disposition of the heart toward God and his truth back to Romans chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 there is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is the mind it doesn't understand now here is the affections there is none that seeketh after God the affections are not drifting Godward in terms of love for him and his truth and his ways Romans 8 in verse 7 states it very forcefully the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be the idea that man faces the law of God and the law of sin neutrally and his will as it were cast the deciding vote uninfluenced by anything in itself other than pure will is absolutely unscriptural man's will is free in the sense that it is uncoerced to act by any pressure from without but it is not free from the judgment of the mind and the disposition of the heart well if the mind is darkened

33:36 to the beauty of holiness and the affections are opposed to the way of holiness what is the will going to choose holiness no what will it choose naturally left to itself what will it choose one thing sin just as much as if the mind is convinced that chocolate is poison and the taste buds don't like the taste of chocolate the will won't choose chocolate unless it is trying to deliberately punish itself commit suicide if it is looking for happiness it will choose vanilla and so you and I by nature with a mind that is darkened to God and to the beauty of holiness and affections that are set against him and his holy law we think that happiness will come then in choosing the course that is consistent with a dark mind and with a perverse heart and we are absolutely free to choose consistent with our nature we are free to see sin in a thousand ways but we are not free to choose good we are not any more than a bird is free to choose to make its home in the bottom of the Susquehanna River up there where it branches out into a little Lycoming Creek by Camp Susque there is no law in the statute books of Pennsylvania

The Myth of Spiritual Freedom: Man's Inability to Choose Christ

35:04 that says birds shall not make their nest in the bottom of the Lycoming Creek in that sense birds are perfectly free to do so but they are absolutely not free to do so because their bird nature is against submersing themselves in water and making their nest in the bottom of the creek so this idea of ethical freedom that man stands neutrally between good and evil is a myth it just isn't so it just is not so but then there is the third area and this is the most crucial it's the myth of spiritual freedom and this is the essence of this myth that man is perfectly free to accept or reject Jesus Christ to choose eternal life when it's presented or to reject it and he is no more disposed naturally to reject it than he is to accept it he stands neutral to his acceptance or rejections and this is what I heard preached last night by someone who preaches to thousands and it was preached as gospel truth that the only thing God does in salvation is tell us that Jesus Christ made salvation possible but in reality your will will make the difference for eternity and God will never do a thing

36:32 to influence your will toward Christ it would be contrary to God to do so so went the sermon now granted receiving Christ is an act of the will if you don't receive Christ you'll perish and he doesn't receive himself for you the scripture says in John 1 12 as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God in that sense repentance and faith are acts of the will conversion involves the will Paul says of the Thessalonians ye turn to God from your idols to serve the living and the true God those were acts of the will to turn from idols turn to God turn to serve sure your will is active in conversion granted in faith and repentance your will is active granted no one would dispute this who knows his Bible at least in a very cursory way but now the question is will your will repent and believe if God doesn't do something to change its natural direction that's the question that's the crucial issue is the human will as it comes from Adam and as it is influenced by the devil himself ever going to choose Christ

37:59 and holiness and salvation or if left to itself will it only choose to reject Christ to embrace sin and ultimately damnation well that's the question that we must answer and it's not an academic question it's a question that has all kinds of practical implications both for personal godliness and for Christian service and for the life of any church will you remember the words of our Lord in the 8th chapter of John notice what he said to some unconverted Jews in his own day John 8 and verse 44 beginning with verse 44 or perhaps we ought to back up

38:50 to verse 41 these people were promised spiritually spiritual freedom and they said to the Lord wait a minute you're not talking to people in bondage we've never been in bondage to any man that was a lie they'd been in bondage to Pharaoh they'd been in bondage to Babylonia and other heathen powers right then they were in bondage to Rome but they boasted their freedom we've never been in bondage to any man what are you telling us we'll be free we're the children of Abraham and the Lord goes on to say notice verse 41 ye do the deeds of your father and they say to him we be not born of fornication we have one father even God and Jesus said to them if God were your father you would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God neither came I of myself but he sent me why do you not understand my speech even because you cannot hear my word you're unable to really hear my word oh you can hear the vibrations made by my larynx and then passed out through my mouth they are resting upon your ears and vibrating in your eardrums but you're not hearing you have no ears to really hear you can't hear in your present state why verse 44 ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father

40:16 ye will do your will bears the stamp of its spiritual parentage you are children of the devil and because you're children of the devil you're acting consistent with the nature of the devil which is what rebellion the lust of your father it is your will to do now in willing to do the lust of the father the will was acting they chose to reject Christ they chose to refuse his words and the reason they did so according to Jesus Christ is that in their present spiritual state it was impossible to do anything other than that the lust of your father ye will do you cannot hear my words talk about free will stand before these people and say now there's absolutely nothing influencing you either from the devil or God to make the choice the choice is there your will is suspended in isolation insulated from the influence of the devil and God now make your choice Jesus didn't preach that way remember this was evangelistic preaching to unconverted people and he sought to tell them as it is tell it to us as it is or tell it to us like it is this is what the Lord was doing telling it to them like it was you find that same statement as I mentioned it earlier in Romans 8 and verse 7 I want to go back to it for a moment and enlarge upon it for we're trying to explode the myth of spiritual freedom

41:45 of the will as though the will will choose or reject Christ simply on the basis of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will of the will indwelt by the Spirit, for he goes on to say in verse 9, ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. All those who are not indwelt by the Spirit are dominated by the carnal mind. It is enmity against God. It isn't subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. Conclusion, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

42:54 Now think with me for a moment. If a man is saved, he chooses to receive Jesus Christ. Now what does that mean? Well, I hope you understand that it means he receives him as he is offered in the gospel. He is offered as a prophet to teach us. Saving faith then involves the mind being brought subject to the instruction of Christ. He is a priest offered to forgive us and intercede for us. It involves then the sinner willingly acknowledging that he cannot save himself and gladly reposing in the sacrificial death and mediatorial work of Jesus Christ as his only hope of salvation. Cutting every last nerve of human pride and human effort, he is offered to us in the gospel as a king to rule over us. Faith

43:44 is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, giving up this rebel government which we have taken to ourselves and acknowledging him as our only sovereign. And Lord willing to be bound by his laws and his commandments. Now, if that's what saving faith is, and it is, how in the world can man's will ever believe while it's in this state? Look, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It won't be subject to the law of God. How's it ever going to believe then? What will it do? The thing that you and I did for years while we were left to ourselves. Reject. Properly go on in our own way. Isn't that what you did?

44:35 Left at the mercy of my, quote, free will, my will acted perfectly consistent with the judgment of my mind and with the state of my affections. Enmity against God. No beauty in the Son of God. No glory in the cross of Christ. So Christ died, so what? Washington died. I believe both. And both had about equal impact upon my life. Next to nothing. The facts were there, but the will didn't want to embrace him. Why?

45:12 Because, you see, my will, like your will, was acting consistent with this judgment of the mind and this state of the affections. Therefore, if there's to be any choosing of Jesus Christ, a choosing of him to be a savior, not only from the penalty of sin, but the love and practice of sin, a choosing of him not only as a priest, but a prophet and a king, something's got to happen to the will. But wait a minute. The will acts consistent with the mind and with the affection.

God's Sovereign Work in Conversion: Opening Eyes and Renewing Wills

45:44 He's right? Right. So if God is going to start attacking the will, how will he come at it? By, first of all, doing something with the mind and with the affections. And then the will will follow right in line. Chapter and verse, all right? I want you to turn to Acts chapter 28. Acts chapter 26, I'm sorry. Or 28. My mind is playing tricks on me. Because there's an 8 in me. Yes, it's 2618.

46:17 I knew there was an 8 in the reference.

46:21 Notice now, Paul is being commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel. And this is what he tells him is his task. Verse 16. But rise and stand upon thy feet. Acts 26, 16. For I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of the things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom I now stand. And I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to send thee, and what's the first word? To open illumination. The mind seeing something different. And to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God,

47:13 that they may receive forgiveness of sins. Is forgiveness of sins received any way but by faith? Yes or no? No other way but by faith, right? By him, therefore, all that believe are forgiven, of those things from which they could not be forgiven by the law of Moses. We read in Acts chapter 10. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And what's the condition of forgiveness? Faith. A repentant, a penitent faith. Granted, repentance and faith. But faith is the appropriating hand. Now, when do men believe unto forgiveness? Not until the eyes are opened. And there is a deliverance from the realm of darkness into light and from under the power of the devil.

47:59 Delivered from the power of the devil unto God. Then the reflex action of that previous work of God is what? Faith, repentance, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You find essentially the same teaching in the parable of the sower, where our Lord says in all three gospel accounts, but let's look at it as found in Matthew 13. Matthew 13, where our Lord interprets, gives the parable of the sower, and then interprets it. And verse 23, he interprets the one who heard the word of God as seed that had fallen upon good soil. And notice what he says in his interpretation. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and what? Understandeth it. The only one of

49:07 whom he has heard the word, and what? Understandeth it. The only one of whom he has heard the word, and what? Understandeth it. The only one of whom he has heard the word, it is said there was understanding, that there was perception, the judgments of the mind were changed, which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirtyfold. Now what happens to those who do not believe? Move back to chapter 13, verses 14 and 15. In answer to the question, why did he speak in parables to the outsiders? He says, I do this, verse 13, that seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith he, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes they have closed, now notice, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and should be converted. Indicated there's no converting, no turning, until there is understanding, illumination, the eyes of

50:17 the heart being opened. Now we could trace this out in other portions of scripture, but I trust these are sufficient to establish the principle that when we talk of the will of man as being possessed of a spiritual freedom, as though it acts without any relationship to the judgment of the mind and the disposition of the affection, that's nothing but a pure myth, an absolute myth, no matter how widely it's believed, it is a myth. And we see how beautifully scripture utterly explodes such a myth, even in a familiar passage like John 1. Will you turn to it now for a moment? Yes, the will is active in receiving Jesus Christ, and it's only those who receive him who are the children of God. But what lies behind this reception of Christ? Well, John tells us. John 1, 11 through 13,

51:25 he came unto his own, and his own received him not. They were guilty of acting consistent with the disposition of their own depraved wills, the darkness of the mind. Jesus said of them, you cannot understand my words, you have your father the devil. But as many as did receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.

51:46 Even to them that believe on his name. And why did they do this? What was the efficient cause of their believing and receiving him? Verse 13, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

52:08 Why did those who receive him receive him? Not because they rightly use their free will. That is categorical. Categorically denied by this passage. Not of the will of man. The cause of the new birth is not the exercise of the human will. And when anyone says in the name of biblical preaching that you are born again when you freely choose Jesus Christ, he is using terminology unfounded by Holy Scripture, where John categorically states which were born not of the will of man, but of God. Of God plus nothing. And in the mysterious operations of the Holy Spirit, as the gospel is preached, as the other means of grace are used, God, beneath the level of the consciousness

53:06 of the sinner, digs out the wax of the spiritual ears, pulls away the cataracts from the spiritual eyes, and his eyes are opened, and he sees in Christ his only hope of mercy. The affections are kindled to go out after him. And sure, he says, Lord Jesus, I do receive thee. I do believe.

53:30 And why did he do it? Because there's been an operation of Almighty God. There's been spiritual birth brought about by the sovereign hand of God. Just as a man breathes, but he breathes with a life that's already imparted. And if there's no life, there's no breath.

53:54 Wherever there's life, there will be breath. And if there's no life, there's no breath. Wherever there's life, there will be breath. And when God imparts life, there will be the breathing out toward Christ in repentance and faith. But that life is imparted not by free will, but by free grace. And we find that again in James 1 and verse 18, categorically stated. In James 1 and verse 18, of his own will, begath he us by the word of truth, that we should be the kind of firstfruits of his creatures. By his own will, begath he us with the instrumentality of the word of truth. Sure, he uses the word.

The Effectual Call of God and Its Implications

54:41 That's why the gospel must be preached. That's why we must command men to repent and to believe. That's why we must say to men, whosoever will may come. We must also say it in the consciousness and the understanding that no man will come unless God does something with that will. And this is stated. It's so beautifully in the Shorter Catechism on what is the effectual call of God. I wish I had retained it in my memory. I haven't, so I'll have to read. What is effectual calling?

55:23 Effectual calling is the work of God whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills. He does persuade and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely as offered to us in the gospel. Then the larger statement of this in the Confession of Faith is found in the back of our hymnals on page 678. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life and those only he has pleased and has appointed and has accepted time effectually to call by his word and spirit out of that state of sin. In death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. Now, how does he do it? Enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the

56:30 things of God. For left to themselves, according to 1 Corinthians 2.14, they cannot receive spiritual truth. Preached by the ablest, most impassioned, spirit-anointed preacher, they'll never understand. But God, savingly and spiritually, will help them to understand the things of God. In death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. Now, how does he do it? Prepare themselves for death and salvation by Jesus Christ.

56:48 1 Corinthians 2.14, they cannot receive spiritual truth. Preached by the ablest, most impassioned, spirit-anointed preacher, they'll never understand. For left to themselves, according to 1 Corinthians 2.14, they cannot receive spiritual truth. Preached by the ablest, most impassioned, spirit-anointed preacher, they'll never understand. But God, saving themselves from life and soul by his Lord's power, they will not accept of the resurrection of the Son and Heidi of everywhere in Bethlehem, nor of the numerous idols who valve in them of mercy, a way to redeem their sweet and true sons in chat lounge of idols. 1 Corinthians 2.14, they cannot receive spiritual truth, for they are by nature indeed saddened to understand the things best作ed by God ever so clearly.

57:02 drawing them to Jesus Christ, yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace. Who comes to Christ? God or the sinner? The sinner does.

57:16 He comes. That's why we say, Whosoever will may come. They come. They come.

57:23 And He promises, All who come, I'll receive. But the issue is, what's the cause of their coming? Free grace or free will?

57:31 That's the issue.

The Practical Difference: Glory to God Alone

57:35 That's the issue. You say, well, Pastor, here you've gotten all excited and poured out your energies for an hour. For what? So what's the difference, really?

57:45 I mean, with the world going to hell and the mess we're in, does it really make any difference? Oh, it makes all the difference in the world.

57:53 It makes the difference, my friend, when you get on your knees to thank God for saving you. Whether in reality, you're thanking yourself that He made salvation possible, but you made it actual by the proper use of your free will. And in essence, this is what this gospel preacher said last night. He said, really, in reality, the basic difference is some of you will make proper use of your free will and others of you won't.

58:21 Therefore, some of you will go to heaven and some to hell. What a travesty upon the teaching of Scripture. No, when I bow in the presence of my God and thank Him for saving me, I don't only thank Him that Jesus died 1,900 years ago, but that 16 years ago the Holy Ghost opened my eyes to see something incredible, Christ crucified, that I never would have seen for a billion millenniums if God hadn't opened my eyes. I saw glory in Jesus Christ that I never would have seen.

58:55 That's how practical it is. At the core of your worship of God, there will either be an ascribing of praise to Him for the entirety of your salvation. Was believing and repenting part of getting saved? Or did the Lord save you?

59:12 Well, then He had something to do with the repenting and believing of His own salvation. His own will, begatia,

59:20 we might be enabled to repent and to believe.