During 2020 (Covid year), one of the men here at Swartz Creek and I had some mock debates which we posted on the church’s Facebook page. We started with each point of Calvin’s Tulip. Calvin and his followers believe that God’s sovereignty is ultimate to such an extent that there is no free choice. Some Calvinist scholars say there is free choice, but humans can only choose evil. Then there are some Calvinists who believe that free choice is only an illusion. Man is so evil and corrupt that he cannot, on his own, make good choices.
The implication of this position is that God is responsible for all the evil in the world. Calvinists will deny that; they will agree that man is responsible for evil. But if God has chosen by His sovereign will all the events and actions and choices that man makes, then God is responsible for the evil choices which are made. You cannot get around the implications of the doctrine.
But, of course, the Bible teaches that man is free, to make good choices and to make bad choices. As Dr. Norman Geisler stated, “Forced love is rape.” Love allows choices, even if they are unpleasant choices. And sometimes our choices can conflict with God’s choices for us. The text that shows this point so very clearly is Matthew 23:37:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
The NASV’s translation obscures the fact that Jesus’ “wanted” and the Jews’ “unwilling” is the same verb. Jesus wanted one thing; the Jews wanted something different. So human choice, human freedom, can work against God’s will.
So God gives man choices. Was it God’s will for me and the team of which I was a part to preach the gospel in Romania? Well, it is God’s will that men and women hear the gospel and obey it (1 Tim. 2:3-4). Things worked out for us pretty well while we were there. But we also came back to America two years before we had originally intended. Did we work against God’s will by doing that? The Bible does not give any indication that God has made plans for each one of us like that.
Was it God’s will for me to preach in Paris, KY? I chose to move there (nobody else offered me a job!). God blessed me and my family while we were there. Was it God’s will for me to preach in Swartz Creek, MI? I have been blessed since I moved here; but it was my choice. There is no biblical evidence that God speaks to men outside of the Bible and there is no Bible verse that says, “Paul must preach in such and such a place.”
If I were to move to Idaho, back to Romania, or Zambia, God would either open the door for such a move or close it. But either way, He would allow me to make my own choice. And He would bless me if I were seeking to honor Him in whatever I did (1 Cor. 10:31).
Paul Holland
