Do we have freewill?

Firstly the concept of freewill that is prevalent in the world where man’s will is strong enough to override God’s will is a pagan / blasphemous concept and is not something that the Bible teaches.

Many theologians prefer to use the term ‘human will’ instead of ‘free will,’ as ‘free will’ can imply a level of independence that doesn’t align with biblical teaching.

The human will is not truly free because it is bound by our sinfulness and depravity (which we will explore in the next section). In this sense, we are ‘free’ only in our ability to choose sin, but we are incapable of choosing righteousness apart from God’s intervention.

An analogy to describe our human will is to compare it to a prisoner in a cell. Can you be free in prison? Well, you could say there is some freedom, but it is still contained within the walls. There is freedom to walk within the walls, to think about certain things, to act in certain ways and even cultivate relationships with others in a certain manner. There is freedom, yes, but it is all freedom within the prison. There is no freedom to get out and leave.

A person who is unsaved or unregenerate is free, but only within the parameters of their fallenness, where they choose the categories of sin and the nature of their behavior consistent with being a sinner. It is a freedom that is contained.

The only thing that can break that freedom is the intrusion of God’s sovereign power. God performs a miracle life-changing / will-changing work in whomever He wills and for whomever He wills. He does this through means of repentance and faith that He Himself generates, not apart from them.

The salvation of a sinner is a complete act of God, in which the prison bars are suddenly opened and the sinner is set free to live a righteous life.

When one is born again, he or she can experience true freedom and can freely choose what is right.

Here is a quick explanation from John MacArthur on freewill;

“No, God doesn’t give people free will if you take it to mean that they can choose anything they want. I would define free will as this: every human being has the freedom to choose whatever sin he wants. That’s free will. You can choose whatever sin you want to choose, you just can’t choose not to sin (because our sinful nature affects every part of us, making it impossible to live completely free from sin without God’s intervention). So yes, there’s free will, but there’s only free will within the framework of depravity and corruption. The one thing you can choose is to get out of there. For that, you have to cry for the mercy and grace of God to extract you, which God does by His own sovereign love and power. Sinners think they have free will, but the Bible defines sinners as being in bondage to sin. It is a bondage to sin so profound that the only thing they can choose is which sin to commit.”