Libertarian free will – What is it?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Libertarian free will is the view that a person always has the genuine ability to choose and could choose otherwise in the same circumstances, meaning no prior causes determine that choice. Advocates argue this kind of freedom is necessary for moral responsibility. In this framework, a person’s decision is ultimately self-determined and not governed by God, nature, or prior conditions.

The Bible, however, presents a different picture of human freedom after the fall. While people make real choices and are held accountable for them, the Bible describes unbelievers as morally unable to turn to God on their own. Humanity is portrayed as spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), “hostile to God” (Romans 8:7), and unable to come to Christ apart from divine intervention (John 6:44). This means the human will operates according to desires corrupted by sin until God changes the heart (Acts 16:14).

Scripture does not resolve every tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, but it does distinguish God from His creatures. God alone acts with unconstrained freedom, accomplishing all His purposes without limitation (Isaiah 46:9–10; Ephesians 1:11). Human freedom, by contrast, means we are responsible (Romans 1:18–20) but our ability is constrained by our nature (John 8:34, 43).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The Old Testament is foundational for understanding God as the sovereign Creator whose will is never constrained by His creatures or other external circumstances. God is always shown to act with completely unfettered freedom. He declares, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9–10). All of His purposes are accomplished because there are no competing wills. This is why the Psalmist could say, “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” (Psalm 135:6). These statements are not limited to God’s moral authority but speak to His absolute freedom to act according to His own will.
• That sovereign freedom also extends to God’s rule over human decisions. For example, Proverbs 21:1 says, “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will.” God also raised up foreign nations to judge Israel (Isaiah 10:5–7; Habakkuk 1:6), while also holding those nations accountable for their own sinful intentions. These examples of God as sovereign but men and women as morally responsible exemplify the tension regarding salvation in the New Testament.
• In addition to God being sovereign, the Old Testament also describes humanity as universally sinful and unwilling to seek God rightly. Psalm 14:1-3 says, “There is none who does good, not even one.” People suppress truth and pursue rebellion. Human freedom after the fall includes a natural bent away from God.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Rather than portraying sinners as morally neutral, Scripture describes them as spiritually dead and hostile toward God. Paul wrote that unbelievers are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), that the mind set on the flesh “does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). He also noted that an unbeliever “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). These passages teach that men and women are helplessly unable to choose Jesus on their own.
• Jesus taught that no one can come to Him by their own choice: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44) and “no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65). Jesus also described sinners as slaves to sin (John 8:34), unable to hear or understand His words because of their bondage to it (John 8:43).
• Indeed, the New Testament consistently attributes salvation to God’s sovereign will rather than autonomous human choice. Believers are said to be born “not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). God saves according to His purpose and grace (2 Timothy 1:9), calling people to Himself (Romans 8:30). These verses show that God must act first to rescue sinners from their spiritual death if they are ever to respond rightly to Him.
• Though we can’t choose God unless He chooses us, Scripture insists that all men and women are fully responsible if they reject God; salvation isn’t just about more knowledge. Paul explains that all people already know God through what He has made, yet they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18–21).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

God is entirely sovereign over salvation. No one can choose Him unless He intervenes, yet every person is responsible for their choice. The Bible does not treat these truths as contradictions; it simply presents them side by side. God rules over all things and accomplishes His purposes without fail, yet He also calls every person to respond to Him. Our inability to respond does not excuse our guilt since the cause is our rebellion against God in the first place. Being born sinful means that we continue to sin because we want to, despite knowing that God will hold us accountable for our sin.

That is why the Gospel is such good news. When we realize how helpless we are to be saved, we should be compelled to praise God, knowing that our eternal hope is due solely to His grace. But does this mean that there’s no need to tell others about Christ? Not at all! Jesus has commanded that we share the good news about Him (Matthew 28:19-20). We may not understand the tension that exists between God’s sovereign grace and human responsibility but trusting in God means that we will obey him anyway.

UNDERSTAND

• Libertarian free will claims humans can choose independently of God or sin.
• The Bible shows humans are spiritually unable to turn to God without His intervention.
• God alone has unlimited freedom, but humans are still responsible for their choices.

REFLECT

• How often do you rely on your own strength to make moral choices, and how does that reflect your understanding of your need for God’s guidance?
• How have you experienced the limits of your freedom when it comes to choosing what is right or pleasing to God?
• How does knowing that God must first act for you to turn to Him affect your gratitude and trust in His grace?

ENGAGE

• How do you reconcile the tension between human responsibility and God’s sovereignty in salvation?
• How does the idea of spiritual inability before God challenge modern ideas of free will?
• How can understanding our dependence on God motivate us to share the Gospel with others?