Do we Have Free Will?

Christians often debate the subject of free will. Here, this issue is discussed, and it is explained that in one sense, we do have free will, and in another, we do not.

[pierrebassel]

Dr. Cooper i would like to thank u for this video cuz u summarized my problem in understanding the free will in a lutheran view.
It has been a long period for me to find suitable resources to understand free will according to Martin Luther.
God bless u.

[provitax]

Aquinas would say that God's foreknowledge and Omnipotence do not go against our free will, because God is so Omnipotent, let us say, that he can move our will to produce free acts. As to Omniscience, Augustin says that if eternally God knows that I will do a free act in some time and place, then most certainly I will do it, and most certainly it will be a free act, because God's knowledge cannot be mistaken.

[provitax]

Thomism also distinguishes between sufficient grace, that gives us the capability of doing good, and efficacious grace, that makes us do good. But efficacious grace is not unresistible, it is only not resisted in fact. Moreover, efficacious grace moves our will to freely do what God wants. The clue is that God moves infallibly all things according to their nature, and so, He moves infallibly the free will to act freely.

[dietrichhess]

I love your videos they are really informative and well thought out and although We share slightly differing beliefs I almost always see and accept your points. I do want to ask however, if we do not have freedom over what is above us meaning our spiritual freedom should a converted or Christ follower pray for the Holy Spirit to convict a non believer? I want to say of course we should pray for this but I'm unfamiliar with the concept of lacking a spiritual freedom. Thanks for the video!

[sulongenjop]

God is so good. He has given us the freedom of choice to choose what we want in our life either to glorify God or satan!

[losmcdonald]

“In this life none of us will come to the point where we won’t sin anymore.”
Okay I know maybe I’ll sound like a lunatic and an idiot, but I’m being genuine. Why is is impossible to not sin? I feel like what I read in the scriptures, I don’t get that idea. I know in 1 Corinthians 10 it says God never allows us to be tempted beyond our capability, in a sense. Like, we always have the option to “escape”. And with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, are not all things possible? Do we not have the agency to choose right every time? So I personally believe it’s not an impossibility. Although I know I go against every single theologian ever probably. I guess I just haven’t found anything scriptural that people have shown me that clearly demonstrates that it’s impossible to “not sin”. Maybe my charismatic groups I’ve been apart of have tricked me, but even so, I yearn for an actual good biblical teaching on the matter. I’ve also heard we sin unknowingly and unwillingly at times. Not sure if that’s an entirely different question but I don’t believe that either. Like, how do we not know? The pastor that I have here (my wife’s dad) in Mexico basically preaches that we walk in sin. Like we just are in a constant state of sin and sinning. And I’m so confused because I just think, there’s no way?
TL;DR
HELP. Lol

[aaroncarlson]

So it's less of a "no free will" situation because of deterministic creatureliness, the way it is for Calvinists.. but rather, due to the nature of sin (hence the distinction between things below us and things above us/spiritual). Is that about what I'm getting?

[provitax]

I meant that God may give, certainly, efficacious grace to the non elect also, in many occasions throughout their lives, but not that of final perseverance.

[gorequillnachovidal]

Ha, Peterson is right on this one. As soon as we become self conscious evil is born.

[ΚύριοςἸησοῦς]

I don't anything you said here contradicts the classical Arminian position

[provitax]

As to sufficient grace, it is not only resistible, but also resisted in fact, if it is not accompanied by efficacious grace. So God does not cause sin, but only permits it, by not giving efficacious grace. There is a conditional will of God, by which He wants for example that all the Ten Commandments are allways obeyed by everybody, and that all men are saved, and an absolute will of God, by which He wants, for example, the salvation of the elect.

[PhilosophyFunTime]

You have Will. You're just asserting that it's free without demonstration. Will means choice. The question isn't whether or not you have choice, the question is whether or not you have free choice. Choices free of external constraints.
A simple chess program can make a choice. By your definition, computers have free will.

[huntsman]

Dead means spiritually dead. Nowhere does 'dead' mean an atheistic definition of dead (i.e. a dead corpse with no spirit). To say death is a corpse is to deny the spirit Dead is an alienation from God or being far off from Him. It is literally the story of the prodigal son. "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found". Nowhere does the Bible say dead like a corpse. This is eisegesis.

[provitax]

With all catholics, thomists say that God gives sufficient grace to all men, and that Christ died for all, and that God gives efficacious grace, at least that of final perseverance, only to the elect. They also distinguish with all catholics between predestination ( of those who are saved) and reprobation (of those who are damned). Contrary to other catholic theologians, thomists say that the first is previous to God's foreknowledge of merits, and so, absolutely gratuitous. As to the second, they distinguish between negative reprobation and positive reprobation. The first is just the denial of eternal life as a gratuitous gift, and is prior to God's foreknowledge of demerits. The second is the decree of eternal punishment, and is posterior to God's foreknowledge of demerits. This priorities and posteriorities are logical, not temporal.

[provitax]

How coud Cain sin in killing Abel, if he had not free will in spiritual matters?

[cristianperez]

Isn't the idea of "Adam and Eve" having free will before the fall a direct contradiction to the supralapsarian and infralapsarian doctrinal views of the Fall? Since, the doctrines claim that "God DECREED" the Fall to happen. So, how can God decree the Fall if....Adam and Eve had the free will to "surprise God" Himself?

[Edward-ngoo]

There are two basic theological positions. The first is that God from eternity has predestined all people to be either saved or damned, and has predetermined who He will irresistibly regenerate and grant faith in Christ to, and who He will not do so. The second position is that God provides the means for everyone to be saved, but it depends on people's libertarian free will as to whether they will believe in Christ in order that they can be saved.

The first position has two variations. Some interpret those verses in Scripture as teaching that God through Christ desires all to be saved as referring to all classes of men, not all people individually. Others (like Luther) interpret these verses as applying to all people individually, whilst also holding that God through His hidden will has predestined some to be damned. Both variations deny that humans have libertarian free will.

The Second position (libertarian free will) interprets those passages which mention predestination as meaning that God predestines what will become of those who He foresees will choose to believe in Christ through their own free will, (this is in contrast to the first position in which God predestines those who will and won't believe in Christ). They understand God's desire to save all as meaning that everyone has been provided with an equal opportunity to be saved, and it's up to men to choose to respond affirmatively to the Gospel in order to be saved.

There's a third group (confessional Lutherans) who reject exclusive adherence to either predestination or free will, and who combine them both. They believe that God determines who will be saved, but man determines who will be damned. This is obviously contradictory, and therefore can't be true, because those whom God doesn't determine will be saved are necessarily destined to be damned, and it has nothing to do with any decisions that humans make.

The first two positions are logical interpretations of Scripture, but I don't accept that the second, that of free will, is faithful to the Scriptures. I'm in agreement with Luther, and hold that the Scriptures teach that God has predestined people to be both saved and damned, but that He also desires everyone to be saved through Christ. However His desiring to save all is an attitude of mind, not a statement of intent.

Lutherans however wrongly believe that since God desires that all should be saved that He tries to give everyone the Holy Spirit and faith through the Gospel. This idea however is obviously in contradiction to His eternal will whereby He elected to save only a certain number of people, and didn't choose to save everyone. If God in eternity had willed to save everyone then He would have elected and predestined everyone to be saved and decreed that they would all receive faith and the Holy Spirit. The fact that He didn't elect to save everyone shows that He doesn't will to save everyone but rather to damn some.

[j.sethfrazer]

I don’t think we have any choice to other than to have free will

[mariannehedstrom]

I'm a member of a Lutheran church in Sweden. Everyone is strongly in the free will-camp. Make a decision for Christ!

[huntsman]

Nowhere in the Bible does it say the living Word of God, that the Gospel is insufficient for man to respond positively to Him. This is not biblical theology. It also diminishes the Gospel. Being dead means spiritually separated from God and slaves means that we are stuck in our sin. We can't free ourselves. Nowhere does it say you mist be set free from sin in order to believe in order to be saved from sin? Why do we need to be saved from sin if we are set free before having faith? Why would we even need faith itself? This is philosophy being read into the text. Regeneration is being made alive in Christ. You can only be 'in Christ' through faith.