Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

Today, The Doctrine of Man, Part 26.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

Welcome to Defenders. I'm glad that you could join us.

In our discussion of the doctrine of man,

we've been thinking now for many weeks about man as sinner, and we've just finished a discussion

of the doctrine of original sin. Today, we want to turn to the topic of the freedom of the will.

And the operative question in this section is this, given our fallenness and sinfulness

before God, do we have the freedom to respond to God's gracious initiatives? Or are we completely passive, if not resistant,

such that all of the activity and efficacy of salvation

comes from the divine side?

Well, let's begin by looking at some biblical data on this question.

Let's look first at four Pauline passages from the New Testament that speak to this subject.

First is Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

For by grace, you have been saved through faith,

and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God,

not because of works,

lest any man should boast.

Second is Romans chapter 9 verses 6 to 25. Romans chapter 9 verses 6 to 25.

Speaking of Israel's failure to attain salvation, Paul writes,

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