FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
Where Did Free Will Come From?
If you’ve spent any time in church, you’ve probably heard someone talk about “free will.” We hear it in sermons, Bible studies, evangelistic conversations, and debates about salvation. The interesting thing is this: the phrase free will never appears in Scripture as a description of humanity’s ability to choose God.
So why do we talk about it so much?
The Bible certainly speaks about choices. God commands, warns, invites, and calls people to respond. From Adam and Eve in the garden to Joshua’s challenge to “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15), human beings are presented as responsible moral agents.
But Scripture also presents another reality. It teaches that humanity is deeply affected by sin. Jesus said, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Paul wrote that unbelievers are “dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). A slave is not free, and a dead person cannot revive himself.
This creates a tension that many Christians have wrestled with for centuries. We make real choices, yet our choices are influenced, indeed governed, by our nature. Left to ourselves, Scripture says we do not naturally seek God (Romans 3:11). If that’s true, then our greatest problem isn’t a lack of opportunity; it’s a lack of desire.
So where did the modern emphasis on free will come from?
Part of it comes from philosophy. Long before many of today’s theological debates, philosophers were asking questions about human freedom, responsibility, and fate. Over time, these ideas found their way into Christian discussions. The result was a framework that often assumes people possess complete moral freedom to choose God or reject Him entirely on their own.
Yet the Bible repeatedly points us back to God’s initiative. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them” (John 6:44). Salvation is presented not as a cooperative effort between God and spiritually neutral people, but as a work of God’s grace from beginning to end.
Does that mean our choices don’t matter? Not at all. Scripture calls us to repent, believe, obey, and follow Christ. We are accountable for our decisions. But the Bible gives the credit for salvation to God, not to human willpower.
Perhaps that’s why the focus of Scripture is not on free will but on God’s grace.
The Bible spends far more time telling us what God has done than what we can do. Perhaps the better question isn’t, “Do I have free will?” Maybe it’s, “Why would a holy God choose to save sinners like me?”
The answer to that question leads us away from confidence in ourselves and toward worship of Him.
Joe Bouch
