There are endless variations of belief on freewill vs predestination, but I'll leave those weeds for the theologians to explore. In general: you have Arminianism, which teaches that humanity is depraved, but not to the point that we can't use our own freewill to choose God. In turn, being omniscient, God can look forward and know who will choose Him and who will reject Him, with the former becoming His 'elect' and being rewarded with eternal life. In this school of thought, because of his freewill, which God won't violate, a person can fall away and ultimately lose salvation.
Then you have what is referred to as Calvinism (though these beliefs certainly predate John Calvin,) which teaches that: courtesy of original sin, all humans are totally depraved, dead in sin, and unable to use their freewill to choose God. Instead, God is sovereign in the entire process, giving His elect the ability to choose Him; God first chooses us, so that we may be empowered to ultimately choose Him. Under Calvinist belief, while the elect will inevitably sin and backslide, she cannot ever lose salvation, as the elect are predestined by God to choose Him - not because of any good thing they've done, but solely because of God's own reasoning, known only to Him.
To summarize: Arminianism says that God chooses us because He sees we will choose Him; Calvinism says the only reason we can possibly choose God, is because He first chose us. To be sure, the vast majority of churches today teach Arminianism, which also includes the rapture/end times doctrines, but that's another topic altogether. This brings us back around to my original question: does God rely on freewilled humans for achievement of His will?
My contention is that God absolutely does not rely on freewilled humans for anything. In fact, I believe the very idea is incredibly demeaning and insulting to God. I'm not arguing against humans having freewill, as we certainly do. Nor that God uses humans to physically carry out His will, because He does. What I am arguing against is the idea of the Almighty God of the bible basing His own will on the freewill choices made by the humans that He created. I believe this viewpoint is putting the cart before the horse, to say the very least; one makes God reactive, while the other makes Him proactive.
For example, since before the earth was ever formed, salvation through the crucifixion of Jesus was decreed by God:
Acs 2:23 Him, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain... [underlining is mine]
1 Peter 1:19-20 19 But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:20 Who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in
these last times for you... [underlining is mine]
In addition to the crucifixion, there are dozens of specific Old & New Testament prophecies pertaining to Jesus that were fulfilled: He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2); He would ride a donkey into Jerusalem (Zec 9:9); His hands and feet would be pierced (Psa 22:16); His garments would be parted by His crucifiers (Psa 22:18), etc. There are many more fulfilled prophecies, but we can just focus on these alone to make the point, or even any single fulfilled prophecy.
First of all, God's will is infallible and it is always accomplished:
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there
is none else; I am God,
and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isa 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the
east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have
purposed it, I will also do it.
Isa 55:10
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may
give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it.
Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of
the earth are reputed as nothing: and
he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none
can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Eph 1:11
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to
the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will
So, by these verses, we know that it's God's will that's always accomplished. They don't say God's will, to the extent possible, depending on the freewill choices of people, will be accomplished. If we flip this around, you can easily see the ridiculousness of the contrary.
With the fulfilled prophecies above relating to the crucifixion of Jesus, was God simply looking ahead and basing His salvation plan of what He omnisciently foresaw people doing? Did He think: 'I can see that these people are going to use their freewill to crucify My Son, so I may as well use this act to bring about My salvation plan?' Of course not! The idea that an All-Powerful God would behave in such a passively reactive way is preposterous.
Or did God instead create humanity in such a way that our collective primary purpose was bringing about His own will, rather than our own? We would certainly use our freewill in the process, but that freewill is based on a nature which was created By God, for God's purposes. As a single example, we can look at the betrayal of Jesus. Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed by a disciciple:
Joh 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
He also knew which disciple it would be:
Joh 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Remember, this crucifixion of Jesus was ordained by God since the before the earth was formed. From early Old Testament-times, through the time of the crucifixion, this plan had been systematically put in motion by God. Could Judas, in the 11th hour, have exercised his human freewill and suddenly decided against betraying Jesus - thwarting all of God's related-prophecies in the process? Supposing Judas could use his freewill to do this, would God then have simply crossed His fingers in the hope that a last-minute replacement villain would come forward to betray Christ instead? After all, in the Arminian way of thinking, God couldn't violate anyone's free-will and force them to betray Jesus.
Can anyone truly believe that Almighty God elevates human freewill to the point that He bases His own objectives on what He sees humans will do? That accomplishment of His will is reliant on our autonomous decisions? Or does God instead create us with a specific nature, from which our collective freewill decisions will ultimately serve to bring about HIS purposes - whatever they happen to be? We’ve clearly established that God ordained
the crucifixion of Jesus, and also that Jesus predicted both His own betrayal,
and the person who would betray Him: Judas Iscariot. If Judas had the freewill
to function independently of God, he could’ve conceivably changed his mind at
the last minute and decided not to betray Jesus. In-turn, this would’ve
nullified all of God’s prophecies concerning Jesus, and would’ve made Jesus Himself
a liar, when His own prophecy, uttered to the disciple, failed to materialize.
This was obviously not going to happen, as we’ve already established that God’s
will is always accomplished.
In closing, some may object and claim ‘it isn’t
fair’ that Judas was born to ultimately commit the greatest act of betrayal in
human history, and that Judas was treated unfairly by God in creating him for
such a role. Here’s how God responds to that foolish and arrogant contention:
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God
forbid.
Rom 9:15
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth.
Rom 9:19
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted
his will?
Rom 9:20
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed
say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power
known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on
the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory
I'll admit that when I first came upon these verses, years, ago, it seemed unfair to me that God would choose some and reject others. But once the bible showed me the depth of my depravity (again, by God's standards,) I realized that God owed neither me or anyone else anything, and that - as a wicked sinner - if God truly gave me what I earned and 'deserved', it would be no less than eternal damnation. At that point, my attitude shifted to one of amazement that God would save any one of us wicked sinners. Praise God for His mercy and grace!
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