Do Christians Freely Choose Christ
if God has Foreordained it?
Part I: God’s Choice
Becoming a Christian generally involves (at least) three choices1: 1) God chooses a person to be saved; 2) A believer chooses to intercede in prayer on behalf of that person; 3) A believer chooses to follow Christ. Some reformed believers may recoil at number three, due to the biblical doctrines of predestination and irresistible grace, and reasonably but mistakenly conclude that these doctrines preclude human agency in salvation. (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 10:28-29) The difficulty is in the apparent binary nature of this question: if belief is preordained, has a believer really chosen freely? In a word, yes. Belief is both irresistible and uncoerced. But how can that be?
Truly, the gravitational pull of God’s grace is inescapable for the Christian. After the Spirit’s regenerating work, unbelievers no longer are opposed and hostile to the offer of salvation. (John 3:5-8) Indeed, everyone chosen by God will put their trust in Christ. (Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:4-5) Does that mean our wills are overridden and any choice on our part is illusory? No, we act freely — not as robots, but by virtue of a new nature, precipitating new desires.
The desire to renounce sin and to be reconciled to God flow from this new nature. And, yes, the choice to follow Christ after God has gifted the new nature is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t freely chosen, which we’ll address in Part II of our discourse.
Footnotes:
- This is not an all-inclusive list. For example, other choices pertaining to salvation would include the Father’s decision to send the Son; the Son’s assent and obedience; and the Holy Spirit’s works of enablement.
Like this! It does feel like we are “choosing” – can this feeling be fake or an illusion? Would God do that?