Yes, You Could
Do Christians Have Free Will?
The idea of free will is often unclear to many Christians. I hope this post will help. It takes about three minutes to read. Please give me three minutes.
Writing about free will was triggered when I read Revelation 11:3–6. In this passage, God says, “I will give authority to my two witnesses,” and they can do miraculous things “as often as they desire⁵.” That’s free will.
Growing up, I often argued with my parents. They’d tell me to do something, and I’d say, “No!” But, after expressing my disapproval, and when they weren’t looking, I’d often do what they told me to do.
Jesus spoke about a person like me in Matthew 21:28–31 — a son who said “no” but then did what he was told to do. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is confronting the unwillingness of the chief priests and the elders of the people to recognize His authority. My reason for referring to this Scripture differs from what you might think.
Jesus said that each son had a choice. Each son had the opportunity to obey his father and say “yes.” Each son could say “no;” one did. Both were sons of their father. Jesus tells us that children can choose to please their father or at least obey him. They can also say “no.” This is free will.
What I am saying is that our Father has given His children free will as to what measure they choose to use the authority that He has given them.
The Apostle Paul wrote about the eternal value that Christians may or may not gain through Godly works. He wrote, “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire¹.”
God has given us the authority to pray to Him, to read His Words, and to help people in the name of Jesus. We choose how much time we spend in prayer, how much time we invest in studying the Bible, and how much time we invest in helping people — we should be “all in,” but sometimes we aren’t.
God’s Word tells us that we are to pray continually² and to shut ourselves in a private place to pray³ and pray fervently⁴; we are to do them all. We can say “yes” to God and then not do them. I have.
Our free will means we can use our authority to whatever extent we choose. We can give some or a lot. We can invest some of our time mentoring a new Christian or bring that person into our lives. We can fervently pray every day or occasionally.
Being in Christ Jesus never limits our opportunities to please our Father. If we know that our Father told us to dig up worms, we can say “yes” and do that “in Christ Jesus;” it will be pleasing to Him.
The way God works is that as soon as we have enough worms, we will meet someone who is going fishing. We can tag along, share the Good News of Jesus, the fisherman gets saved, and we become his or her mentors. Isn’t that what Phillip did with the eunuch⁶? That’s free will.
You could say, “I’m going to spend the day reading my Bible,” and God won’t stop you. We make decisions like that all of the time. We think we are being “holy” when, in fact, we should be digging up worms. That’s free will.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 — New King James Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved October 1, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%203%3A11-15&version=NKJV
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 — Christian Living. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-17.htm ↩︎
- Matthew 6:6 — The Lord’s Prayer. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-6.htm ↩︎
- James 5:16 — The Prayer of Faith. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/james/5-16.htm ↩︎
- Revelation 11:6 — The Two Witnesses. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/revelation/11-3.htm ↩︎
- Bible Gateway passage: Acts 8:26–40 — English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%208%3A26-40&version=ESV ↩︎
