If there is one belief which has skyrocketed to fame in the church, it is the belief
that a person can exercise free will to become saved. This belief puts man in charge of
his salvation and takes it away from God. It places God in an ancillary position to man in
reference to salvation as we shall see in the tenets which I will present. We must realize
first that free will does not exist in regards to salvation. That would mean that man is
both objective and neutral in the area of salvation. The following two verses show us that
man is neither:
(Rom 6:17 KJV) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
(Rom 6:18 KJV) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.
As we see from these two verses that man is placed into two categories:
Servants of Sin - Unsaved
Servants of Righteousness - Saved
Man is not objective since the human race is living in sin and each one born is living
in sin. (Psa 51:5 KJV) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. As a matter of fact we are conceived in sin and even babies are sinners as shown by
the following passages:
(Psa 58:3-5 KJV) The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. {4} Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like
the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; {5} Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely.
From the moment a person is born, they are born in sin which means it is absolutely
impossible for a person to objectively sit down and weigh God’s salvation program to
determine whether they want to accept Him or not. Being born in sin creates another major
problem for the human race, and that is we are born dead:
(Eph 2:1-5 KJV) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespassesand
sins: {2} Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience: {3} Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. {4} But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, {5} Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
The word "dead" in both passages is the word "nekrous"
(nekrous) which means lifeless or useless. Before you became a Christian, how filled with
life were you and how useful were you to the Kingdom of God? Until God saves us and gives
us eternal life, we are of no value to the Kingdom of God. Even if you donated to your
church before you were saved, here is what God thinks of the gifts of the unbeliever:
(Prov 15:8 KJV) The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the
prayer of the upright is his delight.
(Prov 21:27 KJV) The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he
bringeth it with a wicked mind?
How many times when we donated to the Lord or did things for the church in an unsaved
state did we think we were impressing God? Because we had a wicked mind, we all thought
God would be pleased at what we did for Him. It wasn’t until we became saved that we
realized the Scriptures taught that we can do nothing to please God. Free Will plays no
part in salvation because as we saw we were dead and how can a dead person do anything for
life? So with these few thoughts in mind let us attend to many of the common tenets taught
by the free will proponents and let us compare their teachings to Scripture.
Accept Christ
Biblical Support: None
How many times have you gone to a church and heard your free will pastor say at the end
of the message, and now I would like to invite any of you who would like to accept Christ
as your personal savior to please come forward. Or have you ever endured an endless
preacher who will do an invitation by telling everyone present to close their eyes, bow
their heads, and then he goes into his invitation speech and keeps repeating "anyone
else" about twenty times and many times I wanted to raise my hands just to give him
the notch that he needed so badly. These things happen because man believes that he has
enough intelligence to make a decision as to whether he wants to go to heaven or burn in
hell. Imagine calling someone intelligent who makes a decision to burn forever in hell.
The term "accept Christ" is not found in the Scriptures anywhere and is
nowhere implied in Scripture that a person can accept Christ at any time. Now the question
arises about a few verses which you are thinking about right now, so let us look at the
"whosoever" verses and see if the common interpretation of them fits into
biblical truth.
(John 3:15 KJV) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life
(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(Acts 2:21 KJV) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
(Rom 10:11 KJV) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed.
(Rom 10:13 KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
(1 John 5:1 KJV) Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and
every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
These 6 verses use the term "whosoever" which has been interpreted to mean
that a person of their own free will can accept Christ if they so choose. However, the
word which underlies "whosoever" is the Greek word "pas"
(pas) which is used about 1,200 times in the New Testament. The term simply translated
means "each, all, everyone, every." There is absolutely no implication in the
word "pas" of "anytime, anywhere, or choice." This word does not
endorse any idea of a person having a free will to make a choice. To inject the idea of a
person having the free will to do so is to bring in a foreign interpretation to the word.
Now let us look at two more verses which seem to indicate the same teaching of free will.
(1 John 4:14-15 KJV) And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be
the Saviour of the world. {15} Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of
God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
The word "whosoever" in this verse is not the word "pas" but it is
the word "Os" it is pronounced "hos"
because of the heavy breathing mark over the O. My program does not have the ability to do
that. It is a relative pronoun which may be translated "who." This word does not
offer any implication as to a free will anytime, anywhere, or choice milieu.
(Rev 22:17 KJV) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely.
There are two words in this verse which need to be closely looked at. The first one is
"heareth" which is the Greek word "akouw"
(akouw) which means to hear with understanding not just the physical act of hearing. The
second word is "whosoever" which is the Greek word "qelw"
(thelo) which means "to wish to have or desire." Uh oh, does this mean that a
person can desire the things of the Lord on their own? The word "thelo" is a
word which is defined by the context it is used in. Remember the word "akouw’ to
hear with understanding? Who are the only ones who understand?
(John 6:44 KJV) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day.
Do you remember the passages of Scripture we started with in the beginning? Ephesians
2:1-5 showed us that were dead in sins. The only way a person can desire the things of the
Lord is if God opens their eyes to the Scriptures. A dead man cannot raise himself nor do
anything except remain dead. When God resurrects us with our resurrected souls, we then
will have a desire for the things of the Lord since we are commanded to grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord.
(Luke 24:45 KJV) Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures,
Jesus had to open the understanding of the disciples on the road to Emmaus for them to
know who he was. It is the same way with anyone approaching the Scriptures, God must open
the meaning of Scripture as well as granting salvation according to whom He chooses to
draw. God does the drawing as well as the saving. Only those who God elects to salvation
will hear and understand and then have a desire to come to the waters freely which is the
water of the gospel. It is God who initiates salvation and it is God who completes
salvation, we are only passive in the reception of that salvation. There is no way that
any of these verses convey a free will, anytime, anywhere, salvation plan because the
language will not support it. This is just another attempt for man to exalt himself to a
position higher than God in the area of salvation.
Universal Atonement
Biblical Support: None
This is the teaching that Christ paid for the sins of every person in the world but the
only way to appropriate the atonement is to receive Christ as your personal Savior. The
problem with this view is that if Christ paid for the sins of all the people in the world,
then no one would be going to hell for their sins. The very opposite is the reality in
that hell is going to be a very populated place. The Bible teaches that Christ came to pay
only for those who are His.
(Mat 1:21 KJV) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for
he shall save his people from their sins.
Even before Jesus was born into this world, He already had a group of people in which He
was going to save. This truth is revealed in two verses:
(Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(Eph 1:4 KJV) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
We see revealed in these two verses, two specific truths regarding God’s salvation
plan concerning His people. First, in principle Christ was already slain before the
foundation of the world for the people He came to save which is represented by the
Lamb’s book of life. Secondly, the people he came to save were chosen before the
foundation of the world and were already recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. Christ
came to save a specific group of people which were His people. There is no indication in
any verse in the Bible that a person’s sins are atoned for and that they must accept
Christ to secure that salvation.
(1 John 2:2 KJV) And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not forours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world.
It seems like this verse is saying that Christ did die for everyone in the whole world.
However, if we examine this verse closely, we will find that this is not the case. The
word "only" is the Greek word "monon"
(monon) which means "alone or only." In this passage, John, through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying that Christ did not only die for the sins of
those elect he was writing to but also the rest of the believers whom God would save which
wasn’t in the area where they lived. If you recall that the Jews of that day thought
they were the special people of God because they had the Law of God and those on the
outside were considered heathen dogs and by John stating that Christ died for the sins of
all the elect of God in the world, he was dispelling that attitude before it took root.
The Offer of the Gospel
Biblical Support: None
I have heard many times that God offers the gospel to the world or He makes it available
so a person can accept Christ. The truth is that the gospel goes out to the world but only
the elect of God will respond to it because God qualifies them by giving them spiritual
ears to receive it. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus when Jesus had to open
their ears to the gospel? They physically heard it but it wasn’t until Christ gave
them spiritual ears did they understand the Scriptures. Remember the verse we looked at in
our last section? (Mat 1:21 KJV) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
When Jesus came into the world, He already had a specific group of people He planned to
save. He did not come into the world to die for people based on a "whoever feels like
accepting Him" salvation plan. The names of those He planned to save were already
determined before the foundation of the world.
(Mat 28:19 KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
This verse is one of the great commission verses where we are commanded to go into the
world and teach all nations. The word "nations" is the word "eqnos" (ethnos) where we derive the word "ethnic"
from. Ethnos may also be translated people, heathens, or pagans. It is also translated
"gentiles" in the New Testament. God commands us to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to these groups of people because it is out of them that God saves one
here and one there.
(1 Cor 6:8-11 KJV) Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. {9} Know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, {10} Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God. {11} And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God.
We see that many of the Corinthian Christians came out of pagan cultures and were washed
and sanctified by the Lord unto salvation. Another question arises concerning world
missions. What about those groups of people who are in remote areas of the world and are
unable to hear the gospel by radio or TV or even missionary? God has committed to save
every elect person that He named before the foundation of the world. (2 Pet 3:9 KJV) The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.
God has stated here that not one of His elect will perish but He will save every one He
has chosen. The question still remains about the remote people of the world. If there are
no elect in those areas to save then they need not hear the spoken word of salvation but
they still have the witness of the skies.
(Rom 1:19-20 KJV) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God
hath showed it unto them. {20} For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
However, if there is one of God’s elect in a remote area, God will bring the gospel
to them in some manner. I knew a fellow about 15 years ago who went canoeing and when he
got into the canoe, there was a tract laying on the bottom of the canoe, so he picked it
up to read it, and God saved him right there. So we must never worry about some remote
area of the world, if God has His elect there, He will get the gospel to them some how. He
has committed Himself to the salvation of every single elect and He will bring it to pass.
Altar Calls or Invitations
Biblical Support: None
One of the highlights of a free will service is the invitation or altar call at the end
of the meeting. It gives a person the opportunity to go down front and accept Christ if a
person believes God has moved them to do so. Normally the people go down front and after
they mumble a few words the evangelist or preacher pronounces them saved. Whenever Jesus
or the apostles preached, they never gave the gospel invitation for someone to come up and
accept Christ. This is simply not found in Scripture. When we look at the Sermon on the
Mount, we see Jesus finishing His teachings and then just leaving the mount. He always
spoke to people one on one whenever He was approached. We see this in the rich young
ruler, the Centurion, etc. Jesus never made a public spectacle out of the gospel.
(Mat 7:28-8:1 KJV) And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people
were astonished at his doctrine: {29} For he taught them as one having authority, and not
as the scribes. {1} When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed
him.
Altar calls and invitations can be very deceiving in that they give people a false
notion that they did something to procure salvation. Invitations and altar calls are part
of recent church tradition which can be a deceiving practice. I remember when I was a
teenager I was under the impression that if I took communion, my sins were forgiven. I
grew up in a Reformed Church and it was only after I became saved that I realized the
practices were deceiving the people into believing they were right with God. For many
years I endorsed altar calls and invitations believing that if a person was preaching and
God was calling that person, then at that moment they could begin to be counseled. But
after studying Scripture, I found invitations to be an erroneous practice. After all, upon
studying our last few sections, we see that God does not offer the gospel to the world but
applies it only to His elect. Now can a really elect person walk the aisle? I believe they
can but those who are not elect will be under a false notion they are saved.
The type of invitation I really abhor is the guilt manipulating one. I have mentioned it
already when the preacher gets up there and goes into an endless repetition of
"anyone else?" The problem with invitations is that they become an advertisement
for the evangelist or preacher as they count heads and then advertise it. "Oh 325 got
saved last night under his preaching," and so on we here these statements. Pride!
Pride! Pride!
Saying Some Words to Receive Christ
Biblical Support: None
Another dogma of the free will movement is the belief that a person can say or repeat a
few words and then they will become saved. This, of course, makes salvation a man
controlled entity and takes it out of the control of God. This makes it a work and works
play no part in obtaining salvation. God is the one who controls His salvation plan and
saves whom He will regardless of whether a person mutters words or not. I cannot find one
person in Scripture who prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior. Jesus told Matthew,
" follow me" and he did. Jesus saved Paul on the road to Damascus and Paul
didn’t pray any sinners prayer.
One of the most arrogant statements I have ever heard from free willers are those in
which they proclaim, "I gave Jesus permission to be the Lord of my life." If you
have enough power to command God and let Him rule your life that means you are not letting
Him be Lord of your life since then you would also have enough power to remove Him. This
means you are still king of your life. But what about the Publican? Didn’t he cry out
to God for salvation?
(Luke 18:10-14 KJV) Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the
other a publican. {11} The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. {12} I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. {13} And the
publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. {14} I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
(Rom 8:33 KJV) Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth.
Here we see God is the one who justifies His elect. Justification is declaring a person
not guilty, as if they never sinned. The Publican went to his house a saved man because he
was justified. God opened his eyes to his sin and saved him but the Pharisee was still
unsaved because he was wrapped up in his own self-righteousness. So we see that the
Publican did not "receive Christ" by any words he said but rather God opened his
eyes to his sin and then saved him. Saying words to produce salvation is placing it in
man’s hand but salvation is the total work of God, man cannot add anything. Man can
only be passive in salvation.
Receiving Jesus at an Early Age and then Departing from the Faith
Biblical Support: None
How many times have you heard people tell their testimonies of how they walked the aisle
and received Christ and then became baptized at an early age and then shortly afterwards
departed from the faith to enter the world of sin? This type of statement only proves one
thing that an unsaved person can walk the aisle and say some words, and return to their
seat still unsaved. If a person becomes truly saved they will never depart from the faith.
(1 Pet 1:3-5 KJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, {4} To an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, {5} Who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
These verses reveal that God keeps a person and will not let them go because salvation
is irreversible. We have much corroborating evidence from Scripture that Christ will never
lose any of His elect.
(Eph 4:30 KJV) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption.
(Heb 13:5 KJV) Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
(John 6:39 KJV) And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
These verses are sufficient to prove God’s intent that when He saves someone He
will keep them until either the day of their death or the last day when the Lord will
return. So it is an outright fabrication to claim that a person was saved at an early age
and then walked away. The truth is they were never saved. This teaching stems from the
belief that a person is in control of their final destiny which feeds the pride of man. To
say that a person can walk away from their salvation at any age is to make God out to be a
liar. Quite frankly, I would not want to do that. Those who trust their supposed free will
for their salvation are also trusting Satan because he is the author of independence from
God.
Incomplete Atonement of Christ
Biblical Support: None
You don’t hear it preached that way but that is exactly what you are hearing when
the preacher gets up there and says something to this effect, "Well God has done all
he could by sending Jesus to the cross to die for your sins, now it is up to you to
complete the transaction by accepting Him. It is like God giving you a check with His
signature on it but it does not become effective until you co-sign it." These kinds
of persuasion techniques you can find in any soul winning seminars or so-called soul
winning churches. The reason that many preachers use these religious marketing techniques
is to get you to make that decision and accept Christ. It stems from what the theologians
call "decisional regeneration" which means a person can accept Christ through a
decision of their own. In fact, Billy Graham even has a magazine entitled
"Decision" in which many articles get you to make a decision for Christ.
The problem with decisional regeneration is that it places part of the salvation process
in man’s hands when the Bible explicitly states that salvation is totally of God from
start to finish. A person cannot decide the common cold out of their body, how then can
they decide themselves into heaven.
In the Beginning
(Eph 1:4 KJV) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ, in principle, was slain before the foundation of the world along
with the choosing of the elect before the foundation of the world. This would exclude the
idea that anyone can accept Christ since the reality is that Christ is accepting His elect
until the last one becomes saved on the last day and then He will return. God named His
elect before the foundation of the world and the only way a person becomes saved is when
God applies the gospel to His elect through the ages.
(John 19:30 KJV) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is
finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross pronouncing that something was finished.
What was finished was God’s salvation plan and with the completion of the
substitutionary atonement of Christ came the official sealing of all the elect. This would
include both those in the Old Testament and those in the New Testament until the last day.
Since Christ came to save His people (Matt. 1:21) only His people are saved and sealed
until the last day which is the day of redemption unless the individual believer goes home
to be with the Lord before the last day.
God pleads with sinners to accept Him
Biblical Support: None
I have heard ultra-free will ministers and radio preachers deliver the statement that
God begs sinners to be saved. How could anyone preach that the Sovereign God of this
universe will actually beg a reprobate sinner to come to salvation? This idea stems from
the belief that man is exalted and has the final authority in all his matters. They claim
that God is a gentleman and will not go where He is not wanted. There is not a verse in
Scripture where God begs sinners to do anything. God brings the gospel to the entire world
but applies it only to the elect. He does not beg anyone to accept Him because unbelievers
are spiritually dead and only God Himself can resurrect a person’s soul and give them
the spiritual ears to understand the gospel.
(Acts 17:30 KJV) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth
all men every where to repent:
Here is a verse in which we see that God commands the salvation of His elect and does
not beg them to be saved. In other words, whether a person wants to be saved or not and
they are predestined for salvation, God will save them whether they like it or not. So far
in my Christian walk I have not met anyone who is sincerely sorry that God intervened in
their life and saved them. I have met people who were discouraged in their walk but never
regretted that God saved them. The word "commandeth" is in the Present Active
Indicative. Which means the commanding has been present in every age since the writing in
Acts. The word "commandeth" is an authoritative command. It is a present tense
verb, which means it is still happening. It is in the active voice which means the subject
of the sentence is performing the action of the verb. (God is commanding). It is in the
indicative mood which means it is a matter of fact. So here we see that God commands the
salvation of His elect and does not beg. We must get out of our thinking any idea which
reduces God in any manner to a mere beggar while man exalts himself to the final decision
maker.
Free Will Predestination
Biblical Support: None
I have heard many times by free willers the following explanation of predestination.
"God looked down through the years and saw who was going to accept Christ and
therefore named them as His predestined elect." My question is, if God already knew
they were going to accept Christ, then why would He have to predestine them? There is not
one verse in Scripture which supports such a pride filled idea. As we have seen, man is
spiritually dead until God saves him so how then can a person accept Christ, even before
the world was formed, without God regenerating them first.
As we have previously seen God chose His elect before the foundation of the world and
did not use any outside source to make that decision. He made the decision to choose a
people for Himself out of His own wisdom and choice. Why He chose some and not others, I
do not know but the choices have been made and judging from the time period we are in, the
salvation plan will be coming to an end very soon when all the elect will have been saved
and then we can expect the call from heaven and then the second coming of Christ.
(Mat 24:29-31 KJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: {30} And then shall appear the sign of the
Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {31} And he
shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
This world will go on until the last one of God’s elect will be saved and then
comes the great day when the wheat and chaff will separated. Since it is impossible for a
dead man to accept Christ, it is therefore impossible for a person to become part of
God’s elect by means of their fictitious free will.
(Heb 4:3 KJV) For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn
in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from
the foundation of the world.
If the works were already finished before the foundation of the world, then what more or
how can a person add to them? The answer is they can’t because the works which were
done was the choosing of the elect and the planning of Christ coming into the world to die
for those elect. If any human tries to get into heaven by means of works, it will be an
eternal failure.
God loves the Sinner but He hates the sin
Biblical Support: None
Here is another way the pride of man can exalt Himself. Create a doctrine in which God
loves everybody and then no one will be in trouble with God.
Right? WRONG!!!
(Psa 5:5-6 KJV) The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of
iniquity. {6} Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the
bloody and deceitful man.
Here we see that God hates all workers of iniquity. Who are the workers of iniquity?
These are all the unsaved in the world. They are all at enmity with God. Even the
predestined believer is at war with God until they become saved.
(Rom 5:1 KJV) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ:
When a person becomes saved, the war between God and them are over and there is now
eternal peace between them. (Mat 5:9 KJV) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be
called the children of God. Those who are peacemakers are those who bring the gospel which
is the only entity which can bring peace between people and God. But what about those
verses which seem to say that God loves everyone.
(Rom 5:8 KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Here is one of those verses which is used as a so-called proof-text for the universal
love of God for all humans. If we look at this verse really close, paying attention to the
words, we will see this verse as speaking to a certain group of people. Notice the two
words "us" and "we." These words do not mean everyone or all. They
speak to a specific group of people, namely the believers. Am I on the right track? Let us
check it out.
(Rom 8:18 KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Is the glory in view here to be fulfilled in the future life of the unbeliever or the
Christian? Who will have a glorified spiritual body, the unbeliever or the true Christian?
Hell is the vindication of God’s holiness and those who are not covered by the robe
of Christ’s righteousness will have to pay for their own sins in an eternity in Hell.
(2 Th 1:6-10 KJV) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to
them that trouble you; {7} And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, {8} In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ: {9} Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power; {10} When he shall come to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was
believed) in that day.
Summary
The free will of man concerning salvation is a fable because it does not exist in
Scripture and therefore does not exist in man. Either a person’s will is living in
sin or it is living in righteousness. The soul of man is not neutral in that it is either
saved or unsaved. Man is a spiritually dead being and unless they are regenerated by the
Lord, they will remain dead. There are no Scriptures which teach that man can accept or
reject Christ but the Bible is brimming with Scriptures which teach that God is in control
of His salvation plan from before the beginning of the world until the end of the world
and man cannot add, accept, or reject it. The saved are saved, whether they want to be or
not because once they are truly saved, they can never lose or walk out of their salvation.
You cannot earn salvation and you cannot spurn salvation. I hope these small studies have
helped you realize that free will in the area of salvation does not exist and if you are
saved, it is because of the grace of God, not something you have done because you can do
nothing since the works were finished before the foundations of the world.