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This show is going to be a series of subjects had come to my mind overtime that I have thought of often and deeply. I'll be sharing through these episodes my study and my own personal thoughts of how a Christian processes Current Events, Facts, Biblical Teachings, Theories or even just Simple Subjects regarding Christianity.
Hello, everybody. My name is Ron Porter, your Christian podcaster. I hope my voice has improved since I've been fighting a cold for the last ten days, but I'm starting to feel a little better. So welcome to the episode entitled, do you really have free will? Today, I will begin by breaking down a few similar words into a couple of categories.
Ron Porter:The first three words are what all mankind have a certain levels of ability. The last one is a phrase free will which is in debate within Christianity. Within Christianity, there are two distinctly different viewpoints. The first regards it in the use in theology. One view is that our will, which is used as free will, is not influenced first by divine intervention, but by choice.
Ron Porter:The opposing view is that free will is enabled by being first influenced by divine intervention. Before we get deeper into the weeds, let's start with the easy similar or foundational words. Begin with choice. Choice is a noun that refers to the act of selecting between alternatives. Whether it's deciding what to eat, what career to pursue, or what beliefs to hold.
Ron Porter:Making a choice engages our cognitive faculties. We evaluate options, compare outcomes and anticipate consequence. Consider a simple example choosing between two routes to reach a destination. After entering the address into Apple Maps or Google Maps, you're presented with options. One route might be faster but has tolls.
Ron Porter:Another might be longer but avoids construction. You weigh the factors time, cost, convenience, and then you make a decision. You choose what route to take. Now in contrast with that phrase, there's another one that says, I had no choice. It's a common expression, but is it truly accurate?
Ron Porter:In reality, we always have a choice even when the consequences are difficult. I could choose to drive 90 miles an hour in a 65 miles an hour zone. Most people don't, but some do. If I'm running late for work and fear losing my job, I might say I have to speed. I have no choice.
Ron Porter:But that's not quite true. I'm still choosing between obeying the law and risking my job or breaking the law to arrive on time. This illustrates what many call free choice. The capacity to act according to our will even when the options are constrained. The freedom to choose doesn't guarantee easy decisions only that the decision is ours to make.
Ron Porter:Then there's that word will. The word will is also a noun. It names something that can either be tangible or intangible. Tangibility of will might refer to a legal document that outlines how someone's possessions are to be distributed after their death. But that's not our focus today.
Ron Porter:In this episode, we're talking about will as a personal trait that inner force that mental resolve. It's the strength of mind that empowers a person to make a decision and hold to it. Even when the path is difficult. Will is what keeps you moving forward. When everything in you wants to quit.
Ron Porter:It's just not desire. It's determination in motion. The word will also functions as it names a thing whether tangible like a document or something intangible like a person's trait. In this podcast, we won't be talking about a document like the will someone wrote prior to their death that outlines who receives their possessions. As a personal thing or trait will is inner strength.
Ron Porter:It's the mental power or energy that enables someone to make decisions and stick to them even when it's hard. And there's then there's this thing called willpower. It's often used interchangeably with will. It's the inner capacity to resist short term temptations in pursuit of long term goals. It's the mental muscle that says not now because later matters more.
Ron Porter:A strong will reflects a deep conviction that your goals, your values are worth the struggle. Even when the path gets steep. Think about New Year's resolutions. Every December 31, millions of people make a choice. Starting January 1, I'm going to change.
Ron Porter:Maybe I'm going to join a gym, start a new diet, or finally committing to a healthier lifestyle. And in that moment, the intention feels real. The desire is genuine. The mindset is strong. But fast forward a few weeks, and for many that resolve fades.
Ron Porter:The gym bag stays in the closet. The diet slips. The willpower that felt so solid on January 1 begins to crack under the weight of old habits and daily pressures. Why? Because willpower isn't just about wanting something.
Ron Porter:It's about sustaining that want when it's no longer convenient. It's the difference between a spark and a flame. And most of us if we're honest struggle to keep that flame lit. Let's bring all those words together. Choice will willpower.
Ron Porter:In one memorable remarkable event. On 10/11/2025, Natalie Grebaugh at 80 years old, crossed the finish line of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. She completed the grueling triathlon swimming, biking, and running in just over sixteen hours and forty five minutes. Outperforming more than 60 younger competitors. Natalie made a choice.
Ron Porter:First to compete. She summoned the will, the inner resolve to train, to show up, to believe she belong on that course. And she exercised willpower the ability to push through pain fatigue, maybe doubt mile after mile until the finish line was behind her. Her story isn't just about athletic achievement. It's a living illustration of what happens when decision, determination, and discipline come together.
Ron Porter:Natalie didn't just finish the race. She embodied the very words we've been exploring. Choice will and willpower. Three words that shape our daily lives. We make decisions, summon resolve and wrestle with discipline often without giving much thought to theology or belief systems.
Ron Porter:These experiences are universal cutting across backgrounds and convictions. But add the word free in front of the word will and everything changes. Say free will in a public forum or drop it into a private Christian conversation and you'll quickly discover. It's just not a phrase. It's a flashpoint.
Ron Porter:Suddenly what felt intuitively becomes controversial misunderstandings emerge definitions diverge. Sometimes you're just not misunderstood. You're unaware that what you said may not be theologically accurate at all. Because free will isn't just a casual term. It's a loaded one.
Ron Porter:It carries centuries of debate, doctrinal tension, and philosophical weight. And depending on where you say it or how you mean it, You might be stepping into a conversation far deeper than you realize. There are some ancient voices on free will. So let's step back into early centuries of Christian thought. A time when the question of free will wasn't just philosophical.
Ron Porter:It was personal dangerous and deeply divisive. It was Justin Martyr lived from January to January. Stood boldly in defense of human freedom. He argued that people are morally accountable because they possess free choice. A gift from God that makes virtue meaningful and sin condemnable.
Ron Porter:He rejected fatalism and insisted that without freedom justice collapses. For these convictions and his unwavering defense of Christian doctrine, Justin was executed. His writings remain a powerful witness to the belief that choice matters. Then there was Irenaeus. I hope I pronounced that right.
Ron Porter:He lived from 01/1930 to 02/2002 and he echoed this theme. He taught that God created humanity with the ability to choose good or evil. But for irony, yes, obedience had to be voluntary to be authentic. Forced righteousness, he argued, is no righteousness at all. There was Clement of Alexandria who lived from 01/1950 to February.
Ron Porter:He took it further. He declared that salvation itself is not imposed. It must be chosen freely. He championed voluntary faith even while living under the shadow of persecution. Though he wasn't executed, Clement fled during the Severian dynasty crackdown on Christian thinkers.
Ron Porter:But here's where things get theologically bit thorny. If salvation must be chosen freely, does that mean that it also can be lost freely? If human effort plays a role in attaining salvation, must it also play a role in forfeiting it? That's the tension between many Christian traditions wrestling within denominations like Catholics, Methodists, and Pentecostals. These denominations or sects affirm that salvation involves ongoing cooperation and that it can be abandoned through persistent rejection or sin.
Ron Porter:So when we talk about free will, we're not just talking about abstract philosophy. We're talking about the very structure of salvation and whether grace is a gift we can refuse or a bond we can break. The debate over free will just didn't begin with Martin Luther's famous posting of the 95 Theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg in 1517. But that moment certainly ignited a fire. The Protestant Reformation brought centuries of theological tension to the surface and free will became one of its most fiercely contested doctrines.
Ron Porter:The bondage of the will, a book written by Luther, contained Luther's most famous and detailed debates on free will between himself and Joseph Erasmus. I've read the bondage of the will more than a few times and highly recommend it for those who find themselves using the phrase free will in their conversations. In this episode, I'm going to attempt to simply give you an outline of what I think is applicable to our use of the term within the context of discussions and even used within conversations regarding totally different subjects. Somehow, some integrate free will into their responses unaware of the implications of what they're attempting to affirm agreement or disagreement with what someone else just said or spoke. So let's get on with getting into the weeds.
Ron Porter:Yeah. I'll do my best to keep you out of the swamp. In theological terms free will refers to our God given capacity to choose between alternatives, especially in moral and spiritual matters. It's the doorway to genuine love and obedience. But after the fall humans will become inclined toward sin and what was more thoroughly explained by Saint Augustine and Martin Luther.
Ron Porter:Erasmus upheld a moderate view of free will arguing that humans possess the ability to choose good or evil. He believed that divine grace assist human will, but does not override or precede it. He argued that humans retain the ability to cooperate with grace. His central defense of his position of this was found in the book of Sirach chapter 15 verses 14 through 17, which is a Catholic book of the Bible also called Ecclesiastes which was a book from Greek historical Canon. Protestant translations contain the book called Ecclesiastes, which Protestants canonized because of its original Hebrew origin.
Ron Porter:Here's the following verses Erasmus relied on in his defense of free will. Here's a close rendering of the verses translated from the verses from Sharach. It says, he himself made human beings in the beginning and left them free to make their own decisions. If you choose, you can keep the commandments. It is a matter of your own will.
Ron Porter:He has placed fire and water before you. Stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death and whichever one chooses will be given. Erasmus leaned on church tradition and reason emphasizing that scripture is often ambiguous and must be interpreted with care. I think it worthy of note that Erasmus had close ties with politicians and with the Pope attempting to please all with his assessments of theology.
Ron Porter:While Luther felt that solid theology meant everything and communicating correct theology overrode any need to find favor with government officials or even the Pope. Well, would agree with Erasmus that humans have the ability to choose good and evil. I only believe that in a moral sense as I've already explained And not in a role or action leading to Salvation. The word free will became a narrative adjective used by subsequent theologians. Seems to me the big issue really began when the word free will was used in the Old Testament.
Ron Porter:Like in Deuteronomy 16 verse 10 where it says, then celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord your God by giving a free will offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. Please take note that the only use of the word free will in the Bible are passages encouraging the giving of free will offering. It was used as instructions or acknowledgments of people's financial generosity in addition to their sacrificial offerings. It seems that phrase later became an adjective of the narratives of two totally different doctrines regarding salvation. Originally this phrase had nothing to do with their choice of salvation or belief in God.
Ron Porter:It was about a person's choice to give an extra offering that could arise from their moral willingness or conviction. I believe in how Luther used the term and how he understood it. Luther argued that human will is enslaved by sin and utterly incapable of choosing God or doing true good without divine grace or God's prior intervention. So if I was in a debate with Erasmus, I would attempt to get him to think by asking, what came first, the chicken or the egg? If you believe the egg came first, do you believe that our own choice of faith came first?
Ron Porter:Now ask a new form of the question like, do you have free will as a Christian? Asking it in that way, we now have entered our minds into a deep controversy within the doctrine of the church. There are two main theologies that represent the foundations for their beliefs. Theologians or denominations that believe that one can lose their salvation use the term interchangeably. Theologians and denominations that refer to John 10 verse 29 where it says, my father who has given them to me is greater than all.
Ron Porter:No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. They use it as evidence that God alone will not lose his grip on us in our salvation. Thus, nullifying the possibility of free will. In light of the nuances of speech, even many that embrace the belief that once saved, one then cannot lose their salvation will still use the words free choice and free will interchangeably. I've heard that phrase being used several times by members of churches that do not embrace Erasmus' views.
Ron Porter:The key biblical basis for Luther was from Ephesians two verse eight where it says, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourself, it is a gift of God. Most Protestants would agree that this passage is by far one of the most important verses that explains it all in one sentence. Within this verse, the will of man to choose God was not what Paul was referring to that was free. The gift that God gave us that was free. Was the gift of faith.
Ron Porter:It was not the gift of our will. If you can embrace what Paul actually said, then I hope you can see that even using the phrase free will implies something that is not even possible. In short, if you embrace the position of Luther, the phrase free will is a kind of an oxymoron. If you embrace Erasmus's position, it's not. Up to this point.
Ron Porter:I've tried to explain by leading your mind into the weeds. If you really want to get into the theological swamp, read the book, the bondage of the will. In this book, Luther and Erasmus represent two most willing public debaters and their challenging debates are recorded in what Luther claimed himself as the most important book he ever wrote. In those days, public debate was produced in letters back and forth over years between Luther and Erasmus. Their letters almost always became printed within religious circles and the time frame in between each of their responses sometimes took months to reply.
Ron Porter:With all that said, here's what you should think about when you hear or use the phrase free will. After thinking you should be able to be equipped to embrace one of the following two main theological positions. First, that we can choose of our own free will or choice to believe in Jesus as Erasmus or Jacob Arminius believed or that we can end up choosing to believe Jesus in light of God's divine intervention first as Luther and John Calvin believed. In conclusion, your first possession of salvation does not depend on which position you choose. For the ones that worry about losing their salvation usually only worry in light of their sin.
Ron Porter:For unrepentant sin is a good thing to be concerned about. Yet even if you believe God will never let go of you in spite of your sin, then if you still worry about unrepentant sin, it still is also a good thing. At the end of the day in our lives, both will rejoice together in heaven. I'm tempted to add that when we meet in heaven, we'll find out that Luther and Calvin were right, but I'll refrain from saying that. LOL.
Ron Porter:Well, that's it for today. I've added an option of downloading a transcript of this episode since it does take some time to ponder. I recently found the option to provide transcripts, so I hope when I publish this episode you will be able to see the link to download the transcript if you should so desire. Thanks again for listening. Please share it with your friends.
Ron Porter:So until next time, I pray you will all have a great day.