To Be (Free) or Not to Be (Free) - THAT is the Question (and has been)...

Calvin, Arminius, Pelagius...what do they have in common? The answer is "not much" when it comes to the issue of free will. Actually, I take it back - the latter two are both heretics (LOL). Seriously, though, the argument on free-will has been raging since the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it will continue to be fought in vain until the Second Coming. The subject was even mentioned at the latest RC Sproul conference some 300+ years after the three of them left the earth. I'm not even going to bother rehashing the typical arguments. That's not what this blog is about. What the blog IS about, well, we're still trying to figure that out.

But back on the subject...wait, what? "...Since the Garden of Eden?" I would have to say "Yes, it's been going on that long."

Let's look at Genesis 3:1-5:

" 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Now let's focus on verse 5: "...and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So according to the serpent, Adam and Eve didn't know good and evil like God does. However, this can't be right. In the scriptures, Christ is compared to Adam, right? Christ was sinless, as Adam must have been when he was created. After all, even the Arminianists will agree that God didn't create Adam sinful. So let's look at an commonly-used example from Romans.

Romans 5:12-21:

"12Therefore, just as through (A)one man sin entered into the world, and (B)death through sin, and (C)so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
13for until the Law sin was in the world, but (D)sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned (E)in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a [a](F)type of Him who was to come.
15But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of (G)the one (H)the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by (I)the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand (J)the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
17For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned (K)through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will (L)reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18So then as through (M)one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one (N)act of righteousness there resulted (O)justification of life to all men.
19For as through the one man's disobedience (P)the many (Q)were made sinners, even so through (R)the obedience of the One (S)the many will be made righteous.
20(T)The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, (U)grace abounded all the more,
21so that, as (V)sin reigned in death, even so (W)grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Well, it's clear that one man sinned. Eating the forbidden fruit certainly didn't enable him to do good; it only caused him to sin. So it's pretty evident that the only thing that came out of the fruit was the capacity to do evil, which ended up causing death. This death wasn't exclusive to Adam & Eve, either. Verse 12 is clear - "through one man sin entered into the world" (emphasis mine). For all you free-will theists, look at verse 16: "the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation" (emphasis mine again). If Adam's sin resulted in condemnation from EVERYBODY, then it's pretty clear that sin is reigning supreme. But what is sin? It's disobedience to God. It doesn't sound like we really have a choice to follow him, to "choose good," does it? The problem is, after Adam sinned, he was under the condemnation of sin, and everybody since has been under judgment. Adam, up until that point, was in God's will. He was "choosing" to do right (doing what God told him to), and thus was allowed in God's presence. After he "chose" evil, the option to do good and hang out with God was lost. Free will is not about being able to "choose" whether or not to follow God. Free will is the ability to choose "good" and do God's will, which no one is able to do on their own (apart from Him).

Only God can choose to do right. Only man can do evil (violating God's will), because God CAN'T violate His own will by default, particularly since He's unchanging. So either GOD has free will being able to choose right, or MAN has free will, being able to choose wrong. I don't know about anybody else, but my bets are on God. The rest of you can go ahead and believe the serpent, but trust me, you'll die regardless of what he tells you. ;)