Leftover questions…
by Pastor Andrew
This past Sunday we talked about God’s sovereignty and our free will. A huge topic that has almost endless theological questions attached to it, some of which you may have found yourself wondering about. At the end of our worship gathering we had some time set aside to talk further and there were a few questions that came in via text that I wasn’t able to respond to.
· Given this discussion are we really living in The Matrix?
· Is anyone predestined to not be saved/a believer?
· When is our "won't" power greater than His "will" power?
· What does it benefit us to use our free will to do God's will?
Here are some thoughts on these questions…
1. Given this discussion are we really living in The Matrix?
If you aren’t familiar with the movie, The Matrix came out back in 1999 and the writers actually did draw from a number of spiritual sources including Buddhism and Christianity. The film captured a lot of people’s imaginations, and it plucked on this nagging feeling that so many in our culture have, that there is more going on than we can fully discern. But in short, my response to the question is a firm ‘no’.
Where The Matrix presented the world as a veil covering what is really happening and truth as impossible to discern, we believe quite the opposite. Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Jesus himself came to declare the truth to all people, not to veil it or make it hard to find. We don’t have to unplug from the realities of this world (a very Buddhist belief) in order to know what’s really going on but we do need to reunited by faith, thru Christ to the one who made us. The spiritual world is real, God is in control, there will always be a lot of mystery, and none of this is an illusion.
2. Is anyone predestined to not be saved/a believer?
Speaking of God’s desire for humanity 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God, “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Romans 10:13 says, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” From these verses and many more we see that salvation is available to everyone, but we also know that not everyone will believe in Jesus and be saved.
As it relates to the concept of predestination, we only see it presented in scripture in the context of God’s saving plan to restore identity and relationship with him. Outside of that we might wonder about why people would reject God and why God might create people knowing they would reject him. Attempts to answer these questions have created theological traditions like Calvinism and Arminianism (named after church leaders in the past) who have sought to reconcile what they see in scripture as both God’s sovereign will and human’s free will. In truth, any theological system that tries to ascribe motive and knowledge to God, who is not bound by time and matter, is always going to fall short. As believers what we can do is hold onto what is clear in scripture:
- God desires all people to know him.
- God made a way through Jesus for humanity to be reconciled and made whole
- Those that respond to Jesus are saved and secure, those that don’t aren’t
3. When is our "won't" power greater than His "will" power?
My initial response is, never. He is God, he can do what he wills, whenever he wills it. But in light of this, it’s clear that in some instances an aspect of God’s will is that he has chosen to give us freedom. For example, as a God of love it’s his will is that we would have a choice whether to love him back. If he were to force us to love him, that would not be love, he would also be contradicting his own will and would therefore be a liar. Hebrews 6 reflects on the promise keeping nature of God and reinforces that it is impossible for God to contradict his own nature in this way. “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, (Hebrews 6:18a)“
Apart from what might be a clear contradiction of his character we know that because of his sovereignty anything that he wants do he will do. As the passage above continues it says, “we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:18b-19).” Ultimately God has given us free will but his will is ‘freer’ and nothing will stop him from accomplishing what he has set out to do. This is good news! (Read Romans 8:31-39)
4. What does it benefit us to use our free will to do God's will?
Everything! Think about the will of God as it’s reflected in the words of scripture. God is a redeemer and rewarder. He is King and Father. He is just and merciful. He is a provider and sustainer. To do the will of God means you partner with him in his character and plans and the very nature of Jesus becomes more and more your nature.
You might also ask, what would it benefit you to not line up your will with Gods? Apart from God our will is corrupt, broken, and sinful.
I often think of an old Bob Dylan where he says,
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody