Q: Based on God’s Sovereignty, does man truly have a free will?”
A: First, let’s decide to agree that free will does not mean that human beings can do any and every thing they please. The Apostle Paul gives us insight into this theological fact, when he says in 1Corinthians 10:23, “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible, but not everything is edifying.”
Martin Luther, the most noted German Theological, struggled greatly with the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. Some have argued that within God’s sovereignty, therein lies a region in the mind and heart of God, where He refuses (or chooses) not to exercise, His all-knowing power over the free will of man.
Throughout time, man has pointed to the story of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, as proof that human beings don’t have free will. The story in Exodus 4:21, shows just the opposite: that, if God removes His grace from an individual, you truly get to see the depravity of that person’s heart – in this case Pharaoh. When God removed His grace, He permitted us to see the true intent of Pharaoh’s heart, and that was to chase down the Israelites, and retrieve his Gold! That turned out to be the wrong choice.
It is said that most people (including Christians), here in Western culture adhere to the theory of “the Libertarian” view of free will, which states that all humans have the ability to make on the spot choices, regardless of the situation. We are always able to make the right choice of good over evil. The Apostle Paul proved that theory to be inaccurate, when he said, in Romans 7:14-20, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
Sir Jonathan Edwards is generally considered the greatest of the American Puritan Theologians and Philosophers. In his work on The Freedom of the Will, he said, “Man is free to choose according to his disposition. Human beings always choose according to their strongest desire – so there is free choice.” For example, in Matthew 3:2, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is a direct call for EVERY believer to choose – REPENTENCE!
Conclusion: Every human being has “free choice,” but limited “free will.” Free choice, in the sense, you live in an area of the United States that flood’s each year, and law enforcement pleads for residents NOT to drive through high standing water, because cars float and lives are loss. [Scenario] You’re tired and want to take the short cut home – through the rising waters. You’ve heard that it can cause death, if you get trapped in your car. You have a free choice – to attempt to drive through the rising waters, or take the longer distance drive home, opposite the flood waters? But with free will, [as the Apostle Paul so eloquently proved], we are limited by a sin nature, which prohibits us from always making the right choice. When a person is confronted with two choices, and if he/she is lacking the grace of God’s covering, they will always seek the choice that brings the greatest amount of pleasure to the natural man. [And even though, God’s “common grace” is there to assist them, if they wanted it, their problem is, they choose NOT to accept it.]