Compatibilism
Compatibilism
Intro:
The theological word for God being sovereign and man being free is called Compatibilism.
Compatibilism-Definition
Compatibilism is the belief that divine determinism and free will are compatible. In other words, God ordains everything that comes to pass and man is still free.
I want to look at the ins and outs of compatibilism today. And in doing so:
First, I will go over a few scriptures that show that God is sovereign, that He determines everything, and then discuss what I mean by free will. This will involve us examining the freedom as well as the limitations of man's will. Finally, I will conclude by looking at a passage that clearly proves Compatibilism.
- God is Sovereign
Isaiah 46:9-10
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,
This text was written in the context of challenging idolatry. In the context, God is showing that all of the false gods are nothing. He is the True and living God. One way that God distinguishes Himself from the false gods is His eternal decree. Note verse 10 which says that he declares "...the end from the beginning." This isn't God merely predicting the future, this is God fixing the future. This is proven to be when God says that His counsel shall stand and He will accomplish His purpose. In other words, all that occurs in human history is a part of God's eternal purpose or plan.
Many who are opposed to God's eternal decrees respond by saying "God declares the end from the beginning but not everything in between". However, this objection doesn't make sense because if God determines A to Z then He must determine everything in between A to Z as well.
In other words, if God predestined for me to be born (A) and he predestined me to teach today (Z), then God had to have determined everything that would take place in order for it to be possible for me to adequately teach. This would include things like me being saved, learning about the Doctrines of Grace, going to school, joining this church, and driving here safely today. In order for (Z) to be determined everything leading up to (Z) must be determined as well.
Perhaps that illustration wasn't helpful. Let's try it another way. This is a simple cause-and-effect argument. God cannot ordain the effect without ordaining the cause because that would violate the laws of logic. Every effect must have a cause, and in order for the effect to be predetermined, the cause must be predetermined as well.
For instance, let's consider Isaiah 44:28. It says "....Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid'"
So, in this text God proclaims that Cyrus, the future King of Persia will free the Jews from Babylonian captivity and decree for them to go back to Jerusalem and build the temple. This prophecy was fulfilled in Ezra 1:1-4.
Now, consider this: 1. When the prophecy of Isaiah 44 was given, Israel was not yet in captivity in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7). So, in order for the effect to occur (Cyrus freeing the Jews from Babylon and decreeing that they rebuild the temple) King Nebuchaddnezzar's army would have had to first come and destroy the temple and enslave the Jews in 586 B.C.
2. Cyrus was not yet born. So, in order for the effect to take place Cyrus' parents had to meet and procreate.
3. Cyrus had to fight and win numerous battles to get to Babylon and destroy them.
So, if the effect is determined (Cyrus destroying Babylon and freeing the Jews) then that logically requires all preceding things which function as their own chain of cause and effect to be determined as well.
So, when this says God declares the end from the beginning it is emphatically stating that God from all eternity has ordained the beginning, the end, and everything in between.
So, now that we have examined God's sovereignty let's examine man's free will as well as its limitations.
- Man's will
First, allow me to define what I mean by a will and then we will see how it is free and how it is limited.
In Freedom of the Will, Jonathan Edward says “And therefore I observe, that the Will is, That by which the mind chooses any thing.”
In other words, the will is how we choose.
Now the question is: in what way is this will free?
You may be thinking but free will is a myth! I have heard this statement made and have used it myself but I honestly think that such a claim is just silly. I know what people mean by that. They mean that libertarian free will is a myth. Libertarian free will which is a free will completely undetermined cannot be ascribed to man this is true. But because we refuse to get specific and throw out statements without qualifying them, it leads people to make the accusation that Calvinists believe that we are basically all a bunch of robots.
They believe that we are just sock puppets on the hand of God. God causes us to say or do something bad and then beats us up for it. If that trust represented Calvinism then I wouldn't believe it either.
But the truth is that we aren't robots and in some sense we are free. Allow me to explain
The Freedom of Man's Will
Man's will is free in that it is free from compulsion and makes choices.
In The Bondage of the Will, Luther faces a charge that if God ordains everything then it happens by necessity and if that is true then it seems that God is forcing men to be evil.
Luther responds saying:
"By necessity, I do not mean compulsion." That is to say, a man void of the Spirit of God does not do evil against his will, under pressure, as though taken by the neck and forced into it…. But He does it spontaneously and willingly"
So, first we see that man is free in that he is free from compulsion and willingly makes choices. This is why two weeks ago I emphasized a passive aspect to God's decree which guarantees that what is decreed will come to pass but in such a way that it is done freely by the creature and not out of compulsion as I believe an active decree necessitates.
Next we see that man is free in that he:
Does whatever He desires within reason.
In the book Freedom of the Will, Edwards explains that the choices we make are determined by our motives. He says “It is sufficient to my present purpose to say, It is that motive, which, as it stands in view of the mind, is the strongest, that determines the will.” Like R.C. Sproul in his book "Can I Know God's Will" I prefer to use the term desire instead of motive. So, I understand the will to be determined by that which we desire most.
In other words, we always do whatever we most desire.
For example, let’s say that it is the middle of the night and I desire to eat ice cream. I do not immediately choose to eat the ice cream because I am faced with a number of competing desires as well. For instance, if I eat ice cream at this time of night then I will have to sleep on it and continually doing such a thing will result in me gaining weight. If I eat the ice cream this late then I may not be able to sleep and will be tired the next day. If I open the freezer my son may hear it and wake up. I am super tired and getting ice cream requires me to get off of the couch. All of the things I just mentioned are motives or desires that compete with the desire to eat ice cream. If the desire to eat ice cream outweighs all of my other desires then I will choose to eat the ice cream. If all the other desires outweigh my desire to eat ice cream then I will choose not to eat ice cream.
So we are free in that we are not under compulsion, make choices, and do whatever we desire.
Now let's look at the limitations to this freedom.
There are Natural limitations as well as moral limitations to this freedom.
Natural limitations and Moral limitations.
Natural
First, let's look at the Natural limitations. If you remember, I said that man can do whatever he desires within reason.
In other words, Bill is free to choose to stop at the red light or run through the red light. He can't however choose to grow wings, fly up, and furiously smash the red light for making him late to his kid's soccer match. Man is free to do whatever his heart desires as long as it comports with reality. We are naturally limited by our Creator to only be able to do certain things. I can swim but I can't grow gills. I can jump but I can't levitate.
Moral Limitations
So those are the natural limitations to man's freedom now let's look at the moral limitations to man's freedom. Before we do, I feel it is necessary to discuss that this aspect of man's will is different pre fall, post fall, after regeneration and after consummation.
Augustine rightfully pointed out the fourfold state of man which was later expounded by that very title by Scottish Puritan, Thomas Boston. These fourfold states are:
Pre Fall- able to sin or not sin, After the fall- unable not to sin, After Regeneration- we are able to sin or not sin, After Glorification- We are unable to sin
I bring that up because first, libertarian free will necessitates the ability to choose good or evil at any time. However, after glorification we will not be able to choose evil. Does the proponent of Libertarian Free Will believe that we suddenly lose our free will after we are glorified? I hope not. No in all actuality we are more free after we are glorified because we no longer have to fight with the temptations of sin.
I also bring this up because it is important that we understand that before the fall, man’s free will was not morally limited. In other words, before the fall man was not enslaved to sin. However, because Adam was our federal head, after the fall we are born as guilty sinners with a sin nature (1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 5:12).
Because we are born as sinners with a sin nature man’s free will has a moral limitation. This moral limitation makes it impossible for us not to sin and makes it impossible for us to respond to the Gospel call.
Remember that I said we choose whatever we desire. Well we desire according to our nature. Allow me to illustrate:
Suppose I have a lion and a rabbit in two separate cages. I present both animals with a choice of meat or carrots. The lion will desire and then freely choose the meat because by nature it is a carnivore. The rabbit will desire and then freely choose the carrots because by nature it is an herbivore. I can hold a gun to the head of the lion and demand that it eat the carrots but it will not because it will act according to its nature.
In the same way, let's say I present the sinner in Adam with God or sin. What will the sinner choose? The sinner will desire sin and freely choose sin because he is by nature a sinner. The sinner by nature hates God and loves sin. No amount of manipulation will change this. The sinner in order to choose God must receive a new nature via regeneration. A nature that loves God and is willing to submit to Him.
So we see that man’s will is in bondage to sin. It is enslaved to sin. This is an aspect of the doctrine of Total Depravity which means that all of man’s faculties including the will are affected by the fall. In order to avoid confusion I prefer the term Total Inability because it describes how man is unable to repent and trust in Christ apart from the salvific regenerating grace of God.
Now, let me prove this from Scripture:
Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
As A.W. Pink says "our heart is used in Scripture as the control center of the will." Our desires, informed by our heart, guide our will. So, if our heart is deceitful and desperately sick then it is clear that our desires will be sinful and when the option of salvation or sin is given we will choose sin because our greatest desire is sin which is a result of our sick and deceitful heart. Man's only hope for salvation is receiving a new heart via regeneration.
Romans 8:7-8
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Paul says that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. James says that the man who is friends with the world is “at enmity with God” (James 4:4). This is every single person before they are saved. In Adam we are hostile to God and at enmity with Him. In other words, we are self declared enemies of God. We may declare ourselves enemies of God through false religion and self righteousness, addiction of various kinds, idolatrous relationships, or we may just be in open rebellion. Whatever it may be, the fact is that before we are born again we all suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1) and we do so because we hate God. So, will someone who hates God submit to Him by repenting and trusting in Christ? No. Most certainly not. The rest of this verse makes that abundantly clear. Let’s think about this. To repent and trust in Christ we must love God, correct? And God’s law says that we are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37). But this text says that the mind that is set on the flesh does not and cannot submit to God’s law. So, if we are in the flesh (that is not born again) then we cannot submit to God’s law which means we cannot love God and since we must love God to repent and trust in Jesus, then we can conclude that if we are in the flesh then we cannot repent and trust in Christ. Verse 8 proves what I just said because it says “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Now, God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). He also commands us to believe in Jesus (1 John 3:23). So, if God commands these things then we must conclude that these things please Him in some way. And if repentance and belief in Jesus pleases God then this text teaches us that if we are in the flesh then we cannot repent and believe because the person in the flesh cannot please God.
We see another example of Total Inability in Ephesians 2:1.
Ephesians 2:1 "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins."
What can a dead man do? They can stink, that is about it. If I go to a graveyard and yell out "Wake up and I'll give you a million dollars" what will happen? I'll stand there looking like a real weirdo. I can dig up a body, I can slap it around, I can shake it and scream "Wake up!" And the only thing that will happen is I will get thrown in jail or maybe a psych ward for being a weirdo. The same goes for preaching the Gospel. I can preach all day but dead men simply cannot repent and believe the Gospel. A dead man must be brought to life before he can trust in Christ.
John 6:44. He says "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Notice he says no one can come. The Greek for this phrase is οὐδεὶς δύναται which literally means no man has the ability. No one has the ability to come to Jesus on their own. God has to draw first.
And notice that the drawing is effectual because the text says that all who are drawn will be raised up by him on the last day. Obviously implying that those who are drawn to Christ come to Christ because they are raised up.
We also see that the drawing is effectual when we study the Greek. The Greek word for "Draw" in this passage is not a wooing that can be resisted. Instead it is used as an effectual even forceful thing. This word is used 8 times in the NT and refers to things like Peter drawing his sword from its sheath, the disciples drawing nets filled with fish, and people being dragged to a particular place.
Did Peter coax his sword from his sheath? Did the disciples woo the fish onto the boat? No, they used causative means on the object ensuring that it would come to them. God draws the same way. His drawing is causative ensuring that you respond in repentance and faith.
This text leaves absolutely no room for man's will having any ability to respond to the Gospel call outside of an effectual Grace that regenerates us and draws us to God.
Once again, it is imperative we understand why we have this Inability to respond to the Gospel call before regeneration. It is because as sinners we desire sin and we always do what we desire most. In other words, we cannot respond to the Gospel call because we will not. We will not because we desire not. And we desire not because our wicked heart and our sin nature informs our desires.
So, we have seen that in regards to man's will we are free in the sense that we are free from external compulsion and we willingly choose whatever we desire. However, we have seen that our will is also limited in that it can only do what our bodies naturally allow us to do (we can't grow wings and fly), and we have seen that our will is enslaved because outside of Christ we only desire evil. Therefore, it is proper to conclude as A.w. Pink does that before we are born again our will is only free one way. That is towards sin.
Texts that show Compatibilism.
Finally, I want to put everything we have learned together tonight by looking at a single text that illustrates Compatibilism.
Turn with me to Acts 4:24-28. In this passage Peter and John have just been released from meeting with the Jewish authorities who were questioning them and commanding them to stop preaching in Jesus' name. They go back and report to the other believers what has occurred and what follows is in verse 24.
Acts 4:24-28
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
26The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Show how this is:
Notice that Herod, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the people of Israel all did what God predestined to happen.
So, first this text shows us God's sovereignty. We see that God clearly decreed the death of Christ. Which is obvious because He decrees everything. But here it is explicitly stated.
Second we see that man is free in that he is not under compulsion. God didn't force them to crucify Christ. God doesn't do anything evil and forcing an individual to do evil is evil. He may harden hearts and direct man's evil but He doesn't force man to do evil. A rushing river may be diverted but the thing diverting the rushing river doesn't cause the river to rush.
Next we see in this text the moral limitations to men's freedom. In other words, we see man's depravity. What more wicked of a thing could be done then crucifying the Lord of glory? Nothing. That's as evil as it gets. Yet, we know.from Scripture that left to our own devices we would do the same thing.
Finally, we see how it all fits together to form compatibilism. God predestined this event. And if He didn't force them to crucify Jesus then they must have done it willingly. And since we know they did it willingly because God doesn't force man to do evil it is clear that God's sovereignty and man's free will are compatible. In other words, God can ordain whatsoever comes to pass but in such a way that the creature carries out the decree willingly.
