Free Will
The Freedom We Lost—and the Grace That Restores
“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” – Romans 7:19
Philosophers have spent millennia debating whether we have free will, without reaching a conclusive answer. Neuroscientists optimistically entered the field in the 1980s, armed with tools they were confident could reveal the origin of actions in the brain. Three decades later, they’ve reached the same conclusion as the philosophers: Free will is complicated.
Most of us speak of “free will” as if it’s something we fully possess and understand. But Scripture - and human experience - tells a different story. The freedom we so confidently claim is not as complete or autonomous as we might think. In truth, we are creatures whose wills have been deeply affected by the Fall. The good news? God's grace meets us exactly there.
Before sin entered the world, Adam enjoyed a rare gift which the theologian Augustine described this way: the first man had both the ability to sin (posse peccare) and the ability not to sin (posse non peccare). He lived in a state of true moral liberty. He was free to obey God, and free to turn away. Tragically, he chose the latter. When Adam fell, he didn’t just break a rule - he broke humanity. In his rebellion, he lost more than paradise in the Garden; he lost the moral liberty to not sin. And we, his children, inherited that loss.
To be clear, we still have a will. We still make choices every day. But left to ourselves, our choices are enslaved to corrupted desires. As Jonathan Edwards put it, we always choose what we most want in a given moment - and in our fallen state, what we want is often sin.
That’s the hard truth: we are naturally free, but morally bound. We may not feel enslaved, because we’re still choosing. But look closer. Why do we choose sin, even when we know better? Because, in that moment, our desire for the sin is stronger than our desire to obey God. Our actions always follow our desires.
Even the apostle Paul felt this inner battle. In Romans 7, he cried out in frustration, lamenting that he did what he hated and failed to do what he loved. Paul wasn’t denying the connection between desire and choice - he was revealing that our desires are often in conflict. A Christian may truly desire righteousness, but competing sinful inclinations often prevail. Our will is not autonomous; it is a battlefield.
Does this mean we’re doomed to live as slaves to sin? Absolutely not. The gospel offers something profoundly better than autonomy - it offers transformation. God’s saving grace not only forgives us but renews our hearts and reorders our desires. We are not left to despair in determinism or self-effort. God works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
Sanctification, then, is a reprogramming of the heart. As our love for Christ increases, our desire to sin weakens. Scripture calls this feeding the new man and starving the old. When we meditate on the Word, worship in spirit and truth, and dwell on whatever is pure and good (Philippians 4:8), we are strengthening our disposition toward righteousness. Our desires begin to shift. Slowly but surely, we begin to choose obedience because we want to - because the Spirit is at work in us.
But there’s another tension we must wrestle with: If God is sovereign, how can our choices be free? The answer lies not in redefining sovereignty or freedom, but in understanding their harmony. God's sovereignty means His will always prevails. Our freedom means we choose according to our desires. The two truths do not contradict - they coexist. God’s purposes are never threatened by our freedom because He reigns over it.
It’s a humbling truth that we are free agents, yet never outside the scope of God’s plan. Our freedom is real but never autonomous. We live under divine authority. As a parent exercises authority over a child without violating the child’s personhood, so God rules over our wills without destroying them. He can change our hearts, direct our paths, and accomplish His purposes - all while we act freely within the bounds of His providence.
So where does this leave us? With responsibility and with hope. We cannot shift the blame for our sin to God, Satan, or anyone else. We sin because we want to. But we are not powerless. God invites us to confess, repent, and be transformed. He does not coerce us into holiness - He woos us with His love and empowers us by His Spirit.
And this is the gospel's glory: Christ, the second Adam, succeeded where the first Adam failed. He had only the desire to obey the Father - and He did so perfectly. Now, through Him, we are given new hearts. The impossible possibility of Adam’s fall is overcome by the miraculous certainty of Christ’s righteousness.
I pray that you and I would draw near to the One who makes us truly free. Not free to do whatever we please, but free to please God. Not free from all restraint, but free from sin’s dominion. True freedom is not found in self-rule, but in joyful surrender to the Lord of all.
Prayer: Lord, I confess that my desires are often conflicted. I want to please You, but too often I choose otherwise. Thank You for the cross, where Christ bore my sin and gave me new life. Transform my heart, renew my mind, and align my will with Yours. Teach me to desire what is good, so that I might choose what is holy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Credit: Ron Kelley
“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” – Romans 7:19
Philosophers have spent millennia debating whether we have free will, without reaching a conclusive answer. Neuroscientists optimistically entered the field in the 1980s, armed with tools they were confident could reveal the origin of actions in the brain. Three decades later, they’ve reached the same conclusion as the philosophers: Free will is complicated.
Most of us speak of “free will” as if it’s something we fully possess and understand. But Scripture - and human experience - tells a different story. The freedom we so confidently claim is not as complete or autonomous as we might think. In truth, we are creatures whose wills have been deeply affected by the Fall. The good news? God's grace meets us exactly there.
Before sin entered the world, Adam enjoyed a rare gift which the theologian Augustine described this way: the first man had both the ability to sin (posse peccare) and the ability not to sin (posse non peccare). He lived in a state of true moral liberty. He was free to obey God, and free to turn away. Tragically, he chose the latter. When Adam fell, he didn’t just break a rule - he broke humanity. In his rebellion, he lost more than paradise in the Garden; he lost the moral liberty to not sin. And we, his children, inherited that loss.
To be clear, we still have a will. We still make choices every day. But left to ourselves, our choices are enslaved to corrupted desires. As Jonathan Edwards put it, we always choose what we most want in a given moment - and in our fallen state, what we want is often sin.
That’s the hard truth: we are naturally free, but morally bound. We may not feel enslaved, because we’re still choosing. But look closer. Why do we choose sin, even when we know better? Because, in that moment, our desire for the sin is stronger than our desire to obey God. Our actions always follow our desires.
Even the apostle Paul felt this inner battle. In Romans 7, he cried out in frustration, lamenting that he did what he hated and failed to do what he loved. Paul wasn’t denying the connection between desire and choice - he was revealing that our desires are often in conflict. A Christian may truly desire righteousness, but competing sinful inclinations often prevail. Our will is not autonomous; it is a battlefield.
Does this mean we’re doomed to live as slaves to sin? Absolutely not. The gospel offers something profoundly better than autonomy - it offers transformation. God’s saving grace not only forgives us but renews our hearts and reorders our desires. We are not left to despair in determinism or self-effort. God works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
Sanctification, then, is a reprogramming of the heart. As our love for Christ increases, our desire to sin weakens. Scripture calls this feeding the new man and starving the old. When we meditate on the Word, worship in spirit and truth, and dwell on whatever is pure and good (Philippians 4:8), we are strengthening our disposition toward righteousness. Our desires begin to shift. Slowly but surely, we begin to choose obedience because we want to - because the Spirit is at work in us.
But there’s another tension we must wrestle with: If God is sovereign, how can our choices be free? The answer lies not in redefining sovereignty or freedom, but in understanding their harmony. God's sovereignty means His will always prevails. Our freedom means we choose according to our desires. The two truths do not contradict - they coexist. God’s purposes are never threatened by our freedom because He reigns over it.
It’s a humbling truth that we are free agents, yet never outside the scope of God’s plan. Our freedom is real but never autonomous. We live under divine authority. As a parent exercises authority over a child without violating the child’s personhood, so God rules over our wills without destroying them. He can change our hearts, direct our paths, and accomplish His purposes - all while we act freely within the bounds of His providence.
So where does this leave us? With responsibility and with hope. We cannot shift the blame for our sin to God, Satan, or anyone else. We sin because we want to. But we are not powerless. God invites us to confess, repent, and be transformed. He does not coerce us into holiness - He woos us with His love and empowers us by His Spirit.
And this is the gospel's glory: Christ, the second Adam, succeeded where the first Adam failed. He had only the desire to obey the Father - and He did so perfectly. Now, through Him, we are given new hearts. The impossible possibility of Adam’s fall is overcome by the miraculous certainty of Christ’s righteousness.
I pray that you and I would draw near to the One who makes us truly free. Not free to do whatever we please, but free to please God. Not free from all restraint, but free from sin’s dominion. True freedom is not found in self-rule, but in joyful surrender to the Lord of all.
Prayer: Lord, I confess that my desires are often conflicted. I want to please You, but too often I choose otherwise. Thank You for the cross, where Christ bore my sin and gave me new life. Transform my heart, renew my mind, and align my will with Yours. Teach me to desire what is good, so that I might choose what is holy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Credit: Ron Kelley
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