What Is Free Will?

Renewing Your Mind

Ligonier Ministries

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

People have many ideas about what "free will" means. But what does God's Word teach? Today, R.C. Sproul helps us rightly understand the relationship between God's sovereignty and human choices.

Get R.C. Sproul's Teaching Series 'Chosen by God' for Your Gift of Any Amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3489/chosen-by-god

Meet Today's Teacher:

R.C. Sproul (1939-2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God's Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Calvin says that if we mean by free will that fallen man has the ability to choose what he wants,
0:10.5	then of course fallen man has free will.
0:14.8	If we mean by that term that man in his fallen state has the moral power and ability to choose righteousness.
0:25.8	Then, said Calvin, free will is far too grandiose a term to apply to fallen man.
0:46.3	For some Christians, it seems that they believe that there is only one thing more powerful than our sovereign God, free will. Believing that free will is ultimately the reason why some people repent and believe the good news of the gospel and others don't. But is that
0:56.0	true? And at the end of the day, what do we mean when we speak of free will? Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham,
1:03.5	and this is the Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. What I articulated earlier was once my view of free will, and when men like R.C. Sprole helped me to understand the sovereignty of God and introduced me to reform theology, I still struggled and had questions surrounding free will.
1:23.6	And it was Dr. Sprole's teaching on our will in chosen by God that brought clarity
1:29.6	and helped me to understand what the Bible teaches. So if you have questions about free will,
1:35.5	be sure to keep listening today and also request the series and 25th anniversary edition book
1:41.4	with the donation of any amount at Renewing Your Mind.org.
1:46.4	Well, here's Dr. Spraw on Free Will.
1:51.2	Anytime that we examine the question of predestination, I think the question that is raised
1:56.9	more often than any other is the question of the relationship between God's sovereignty
2:03.6	and our free will as human beings. And so in this session, I want to direct our attention
2:11.6	to an examination of what we mean by those words, free will.
2:18.3	What does it mean to have a free will?
2:21.3	What does it mean to be a free moral agent,
2:23.3	a volitional creature under the sovereignty of God?
2:28.3	First of all, let me say that there are different views
2:31.3	of what free will comprises that are bandied about in our culture.
2:38.5	And I think it's important that we recognize these various views.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ligonier Ministries, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ligonier Ministries and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.