Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Romans

[Ordered]

If you were shackled to sin then how did you have free will?

[jimwalton]

Because it's part of our nature, not anything to do with choice. You can't make yourself invisible. Could I complain, then, that you don't have free will? Of course not. One immutable aspect of being human is that you have material substance not subject to invisibility. It has nothing to do with free will. Could you complain that you have material substance against your will? Not convincingly. Could you complain that you were born of your parents against your free will? Some guy tried that in court not too long ago (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47154287): giving birth to him without his prior approval. It's nonsense, and the man can't find a lawyer to take up his case. I understand why.

So also, your being born in sin was not a violation of your free will. It has nothing to do with it any more than your being born a human rather than a giraffe was an affront to your free will.

[Ordered]

So what is free will about if not about making choices? If your choices are shackled to sin then how are able to make a free choice?

[jimwalton]

Free will is about choices that are yours to make. You can't claim that you don't have free will because you can't transport yourself to the rings of Saturn. That event is not circumscribed by the concept of free will. You can't claim that your free will was violated when your parents didn't consult with you regarding your conception. Similarly, you can't claim your free will was violated by being born with human nature.

What you DO have a choice about is whether to stay shackled to sin or to be liberated from it. That's where free will comes into the picture. If you want to be liberated from your sin nature, just come to God. It's even easier than changing your citizenship from French to German. Accept God's free invitation to be forgiven, and you will be forgiven and re-created. That's how you "are able to make a free choice."

[Ordered]

So what is the essence of free will if my nature is to sin?

[jimwalton]

The essence of free will is that you are not condemned to remain in sin. You are free to change your status at any time. God offers you, every minute of your life, an invitation to change that status. He will not and cannot force it on you; you must choose it. He invites you to choose life rather than sin and death. He offers you freedom from the enslavement to sin in which you were born. Free will is the distinguishing of potential courses, the ability to reason, and the excise of autonomy in making a decision. These are all continually available to you.

[Ordered]

Let's be clear, does my free will mean I can choose to sin or not sin?

[jimwalton]

I've explained this several times. I'll try again. You are born with a sin nature, just as you are born unable to fly, unable to transport yourself to other planets at an instant, or to disappear. The nature of matter (that you are of material substance) has nothing to do with free will. The fact that you cannot fly has nothing to do with free will. Your sin nature has nothing to do with free will. The fact that you are born with a sin nature has nothing to do with free will. It is a state of being, just like your body's materialism. You are unable to fly; you are unable to become invisible; you are unable to live a perfect life. These don't pertain to free will, but instead to your nature as a human being.

[Ordered]

So what do I need the god for? I can choose a good life can't I?

[jimwalton]

It has nothing to do with the good life. A relationship with God is not about having "a good life." Being freed from sin doesn't pertain to the "good life." Of course you can possibly have a good life without God. That's not the point. You need God to be freed from sin and to be reconciled to God. It is not something you can do on your own. Heaven isn't for good people, it's for redeemed people. Hell isn't for bad people, it's for people who have rejected a relationship with God who have used their free will to remain in sin.