Is Free-Will in the New Testament?

In a previous post we examined how free-will (and its denial) affects our view of God and salvation.  That is, if you say humans have no ability to resist grace, you’re driven to conclude that Jesus didn’t die for everyone.  And yet, the New Testament makes it perfectly clear that Jesus did die for everyone.  Therefore, free will must be real.

 Today we’re going to highlight some passages of the New Testament which make that explicit.

God's Purpose for the Pharisees:

We'll start in Luke’s Gospel.  The following is said while John the Baptist is in prison.  He sent messengers to Jesus to ask if He is indeed the Messiah.  Jesus tells the messengers about the specific miracles He is doing and sends them off:

"When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.' [] 

And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism.  But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves." - Luke 07:24-27

You’ll notice there at the end how Luke says the Pharisees rejected God’s purpose for themselves.  That statement would make no sense if God didn’t grant us the latitude to resist His will.


Gathering Jerusalem:

Next we’ll go to a noteworthy passage in Matthew’s Gospel.  We’re at Jesus’ final approach toward Jerusalem.  He is lamenting the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees and of Jerusalem as a whole.  He says:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  See, your house is left to you, desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”- Matthew 23:37-39

This passage is extraordinary because you have Jesus speaking explicitly as God.  He notes how He’d desired to gather Jerusalem to Himself down through history, but they were never willing.  Similar to the previous example, this shows how God leave room for His creatures to resist Him.


Accepting Grace in Vain:

Next we’ll move after the epistles.   In second Corinthians, Paul is talking about the ministry of the Apostles at the end of chapter five.  He says the following…

"So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain." -  2Corinthians 05:20-21 - 2Corinthians 06:1

How does this passage affect the question of grace and free will?  If grace is truly irresistible, it would be impossible to receive the grace of God in vain.  It would infallibly bring about its effects and Paul’s exhortation would be superfluous.  Thus, Paul’s statement shows there is an element of personal responsibility in how we respond to grace.


Harden Not Your Hearts:

Next we’ll move to Hebrews.  In this section, the author is encouraging his readers not to imitate the disobedience of the Hebrews who rebelled against God during the Exodus and were forbidden from entering the Promised Land.

"Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.  As it is said, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'” - Hebrews 03:12-15

Not to sound like a broken record, but this shows how God’s call is not automatically effective on folks.  There is a possibility to resist that call by hardening one’s heart.  If not, the author of Hebrews would be warning against his audience against doing something impossible.


He Who Knocks:

Lastly, we’ll go to the beginning of the book of Revelation.  Saint John is being asked to send letters to seven churches in modern day Turkey.  In this section, Jesus describes Him appeal to the people of these churches with an analogy.

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: []  I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.  Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.  To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.  Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” - Revelation 03:14-20

It would seem that if Calvin was right, Jesus would not be a man patiently knocking at a door.  He’d be busting down the door and letting Himself in.


Trent Responds:

None of this is to say there aren’t also passages in the New Testament which speak forcefully about predestination.  However, what we’ve seen here is that the sacred text does speak about human free will as a real force which has the capacity to resist the calling of God.

This is why the Council of Trent forbade theologians to deny the role of human freedom, or to assert that free will was a fiction:

“If anyone says that man's free will moved and aroused by God, by assenting to God's call and action, in no way cooperates toward disposing and preparing itself to obtain the grace of justification, that it cannot refuse its assent if it wishes, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive, let him be anathema.” – Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 4

“If anyone says that after the sin of Adam man's free will was lost and destroyed, or that it is a thing only in name, indeed a name without a reality, a fiction introduced into the Church by Satan, let him be anathema.” – Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 5