Stephen
Terry, Director
Free
Will, Love, and Divine Providence
Commentary
for the February 22, 2025, Sabbath School Lesson
"After this
the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to
every town and place where he was about to go...The seventy-two returned with
joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name'...He replied, 'I
saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to
trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy;
nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you,
but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' Luke 10:1,18-20, NIV
Two major theological
perspectives compete for dominance in the world today. One school of thought is
that God is in control of everything and predestines us to either be saved or
lost. In other words, God not humanity, determines our destiny. We have little
choice in the matter. This idea does not come from the Gospels but from the writings
of Paul, specifically twice in chapter eight of his Epistle to the Romans and
twice in chapter one of his Epistle to the Ephesians. It may come as a surprise
to some, but beyond the synoptic gospels, there are
several competing theological perspectives in the New Testament. We have the
Pauline perspective as I have mentioned, but there are also Petrine, Jacobine,
and Johannine perspectives as well as those offered by epistles of uncertain
authorship. When we add to that the conflicting perspectives of those books attributed
to the same authorship but nonetheless exhibit a completely different character
such as the contrast between God as portrayed in the Johannine epistles and as
portrayed in the Book of Revelation, it can be difficult to sort out theological
intent, something even Peter commented about regarding Paul's epistles. (2
Peter 3:15-16)
While it may seem a comfort to
some to believe that they are predestined to be saved while others are not,
aside from the arrogance of that belief, it runs up against certain problems.
First, it links God's foreknowledge to predestination. In other words, the
assumption is if God knows that something is going to happen a certain way that
means he forced it to happen that way, just as, according to Paul, a potter forms
the clay to his intent. (Romans
9:19-21) But it seems counterintuitive to attribute blame to those who have
no choice, no free will in the matter. From some perspectives it can make God
appear more diabolical than Satan. This is not only true when we look at all
the misery and evil on earth that God would have to accept responsibility for
if everything is predestined by his foreknowledge. It would also threaten the very
foundations of heaven, if we attribute everything, including evil, to an
inability to escape the predestination driven by God's will.
If God's will obviates
the free will of all his creatures, then what of the rebellion in heaven where
Jesus said he personally observed Satan's fall to the earth? Did God create Satan
for the purpose of revolting against his Creator? Paul tells us that God
hardened Pharoah's heart to rebel against him. (Romans
9:17-18) Did he do the same with Satan? How then is Satan at fault if God
made it so? Paul felt that the clay had no right to question the intent of the
one forming it, but could Paul have been wrong about this? Isaiah differs from Paul
on this. As the prophet characterizes God, he is willing to discuss the
situation with the lost even to the point of offering complete redemption
instead of condemnation. (Isaiah
1:18) We also see salvation as negotiable in the dialogue with Abraham when
God's intent was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. When Abraham asked if the
cities could be spared depending on how many righteous people could be found there,
God agreed to spare them if those could be found. But was God deceiving
Abraham? If God's intent were to destroy those cities because he already knew
their state, he could have said to Abraham, "There will not be even the fewest
righteous persons you mentioned, because I have made it so." This is the
essence of predestination, but it is not what God said to Abraham.
We also have the example of
Joshua. He and Caleb were the two faithful spies who explored the land of the
Canaanites and brought back an encouraging report to the Israelites, advising
they go up and take the land God had promised them. Unfortunately, the other
ten spies, who said it could not be done because the Canaanites were too
powerful, outvoted them. As a result, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness
for forty years until those who did not have the faith to conquer Canaan died
off. After Moses died, Joshua assumed leadership of the people, and he led them
over the Jordan River into Canaan to take the land their ancestors failed to
claim. Near the end of his career, he told the people, "Now fear the Lord and
serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped
beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if serving the
Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,
we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:14-15)
The people responded "No, we
will serve the Lord."
And Joshua replied, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen
to serve the Lord."
For Joshua, salvation was not a
matter of predestination determined by God's will overriding our own will but a
matter of free choice. If we do not allow for free will then the three and a half
years of Jesus' ministry where he repeatedly urged his listeners to use their
will to make positive choices make little sense. Jesus was active in humanity's
creation. (John
1:3) The Apostle John understood the significance of this better than all the
other disciples. Humanity was made in God's image. (Genesis
1:27) Jesus knew exactly what that image is. That is why he urged us to
choose counterintuitively to love our enemies just as God would. (Matthew
5:43-48) John understood this to mean that a professing Christian who is
not loving is not a Christian. (1
John 4:8) God is love, and a Christian will be seeking the restoration of
that image in their life, the character and image of Creation.
Peter may have understood things
slightly different from John. That may be because
despite his outspoken nature, he fought a constant battle with fear that kept
him from fully surrendering to love. Legend has it that Peter was fleeing the
persecution of the Christians in Rome under Emperor Nero, and as he was leaving
the city, he met Jesus who was walking toward Rome. Peter asked, "Quo Vadis?"
or "Where are you going?" Jesus replied that he was headed into Rome for he had
many people there. At that point, Peter finally surrendered his fear and
re-entered Rome and was crucified per the emperor's order. Peter learned what
John had shared, that perfect love casts out fear. (1
John 4:18)
This is why the idea of predestination
driven by God's foreknowledge is suspect. If we love God because we were predestined to love him, is that really love? I like to
think of it instead like this. The Bible talks of a Book of Life that contains
the names of those who are destined for eternal life. That book was written at
the foundation of the world. (Revelation
17:8) The Bible never mentions anyone being added to it later. It only
mentions that some may be blotted out from that tome. (Psalm
69:28, Revelation
3:5) This indicates that it is God's initial intent everyone should be
saved, that no one was predestined for wrath. But love cannot be coerced. That
only produces fear. Therefore, to fulfill the image of God we were intended to
bear, we must have the free will to love. God is saying, "Yes, I know some will
choose to reject my love, but it is not my intent that they do so. They were
not created for that purpose. They were created with a free will to love, as I
love. It breaks my heart that some choose not to be loving, but even their choice
defines my loving character for they have that freedom despite the consequences
and fears that arise where love is cast aside. I continue to love them even so."
There are many who are torn and
broken by a world that has chosen fear over love. But they are not predestined
to live that way. The good news is that free will, despite our fear, continues
to be available. At any moment, we can choose to stop walking away from God
with hearts given over to fear and begin walking toward him where we can learn
to love like God, in his image. He can replace our hearts hardened by fear with
loving hearts like we had in the beginning. (Ezekiel
36:26)