Free Will Is Not 50/50

This morning Acts 9 stood out to me--Paul's conversion. I began to think about how this conversion really throws a wrench into the sadistic view of free will.

God gives us free will to choose Him. As good little Christians we've heard it time and again...We've heard it so often that it becomes cliche. God gave us choices so that we could make the right ones. God desires our love, and He can't get that from a bunch of robots. Yes, we understand. It makes sense...but on the other hand...

What about that weird gut-wrenching feeling that free will is just one big sick joke? That God gives us choices--desiring us to choose Him--knowing full well that we are going to do what we want instead. Why would a loving God allow people NOT to choose Him? If those who don't choose Him go to hell, then how can God even remotely call Himself loving? Free will is a sick joke, so...we might as well decide to believe that there is no God since we've sufficiently explained Him away enough to feel proud of ourselves...

This reminds me of something my students say every time they have a question on a test with only one of two possible answers--such as true/false or "A or B" questions. They say, "Miss Stephens! There is only a 50/50 chance we will get these right!" They say that the odds of choosing the right answer as opposed to the wrong answer are exactly divided down the middle. I used to say the same thing when I was a student. However, this point is completely ridiculous.

The chances are not 50/50. The chances are EXACTLY 100%! Why?...Because ONLY ONE ANSWER IS RIGHT! The problem in not getting the right answer is insufficiently studying or incorrectly reading the question.

Now let me apply that reasoning to free will. Every person on the planet is given a brain. No person on the planet had anything to do with deciding to be here. We choose to get wrapped up in other things like fame, money, sex, etc...BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO--especially since we never feel totally fulfilled with these things. We always want more money. There are always people with more friends and more notoriety than us. People have sex so much that they no longer find pleasure in it once they are married. The list goes on...

This point ALONE makes God a shoo-in for our 100% devotion; however, the fact that there are even more powers at work in the universe to help us make the right choices infinitely increases the odds in our favor. Look at Paul! His desire was to kill every Christian he saw! That didn't matter to God! God supernaturally intervened. He may not strike us with physical blindness, but He does deal with us individually. We would have to purposely REJECT God in order not to choose Him...and...That's what we do...because we would rather revel in the faulty logic of teenage test-takers than in reality.

Even the "tribes in Africa" conundrum fits this point. There are countless stories of tribes in remote places finally "waking up" and realizing that their methods of nature-worship or human sacrifice are empty, meaningless, and immoral. They call out to the true God to reveal Himself...and so He sends a missionary to them. It happens all the time. Testimonials all around the globe.

But I'm sure you want a little more proof than just hearsay...so...I encourage you look around yourself. Christianity is everywhere in some form. The Bible is the most accessible book of all time. This is because people in remote areas called out to God and God heard them and revealed Himself to them through His Word. I'm in Korea right now. South Korea is second only to the U.S. for Christian mission work. Less than a century ago it was almost 100% Buddhist.

Christianity has spread so much worldwide that there are hardly any people left who don't know of it. This global Christian influence is precisely what the Bible said would happen. God will not return until all people have heard His name. Until that time, His Word will spread, and all men will either accept or reject.

Choosing God as a part of free will seems completely impossible for humans. That's because it is. If it were up to us, no one would figure out this "God thing" and we'd all be atheistic nihilists...except we wouldn't even be here in the first place, b/c there would be no point to being here and we would have died out before we even began. However...put God in the picture and you find that He's been there all the time and waiting for you to desire Him.

Though He slay me...

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him." (Job 13:15) (NASB)

I had always heard the first part of this verse, but for some reason I never bothered to look at the second part.

This was my thought process:

"Though He slay me..." Well, that's depressing. It sounds like that doom and gloom message that people say fills the Bible.

The verse continues, "...yet I will hope in Him..." Now, that just sounds like fuel for a martyr syndrome. "Even though God makes all this bad stuff happen to me, I guess I'll just stay faithful to Him. Even though He wants me to suffer to the point of death--I know He really loves me...somehow... Ho-hum. Waaa-waaa-waaaa."

The context of this passage is Job telling his friends (and what little family he had left) about how God was merciful and deserved praise even though He was allowing Satan to put Job through all these trials. Still,...that doesn't make the above words sound any better. In fact, it sounds down right sadistic of God, and it sounds like Job is a masochistic pawn.

But that's not where the verse ends.

"...Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him." Well, that sounds pretty proactive for a martyr. The KJV says "maintain my ways before Him." Young's Literal Translation even says "to His face, I will argue"!!! This is quite a contrast from the supposed down-trodden spirit in the first part of the verse. It gives the idea that Job is applying the concept in Hebrews 4:16, even though the verse wouldn't be written for several millenia. It completely changes the mood of the verse.

This tells me two things. First of all, that God doesn't change. He was the same from Job's Antideluvian Era to the Apostolic Age. Not only did both Job and Paul come before God boldly, but also that was the right thing for them to do.

Secondly, We can know that God wants us to come boldly before Him not only because this principle is all over the Old Testament (see Judges, the Psalms, prophets,...everywhere...), but also because places like Galatians 4 in the New Testament where it tells us that we are not to act like slaves of Christ, b/c we are His children. We are not to say, "um...umm...Lord?...God?...um...are you busy?....'cause I have to ask you something...but you probably won't want it answered once you hear it...so...um..." We are to say, "Abba Father! You are the only one who can help me! Listen to me."

Now, this is not to say that complaining is right. Look at cases like Jonah or Moses where they made excuses and complained. Look at how God reacted. He was patient, but His wrath was kindled--and rightly so. Here is the God of the universe saying, "Go. Speak. I will be with you," and here are Jonah and Moses going, "Oh, no You won't!" That's not coming boldly...that's disrespect. In Moses' and Jonah's defense, though...I'm not sure how any of us would react. Their doubts were sin, but extremely human. However, they (especially Moses) are regarded in other parts of the Bible as men of righteousness. This shows that while God is holy, He is forgiving.

Also, This is not to say that Job didn't ever complain. He did, and God reprimanded Him...but for the most part, Job remained faithful during intense trial...and for that, he is remembered.

However, regarding the point at hand: there is a huge difference between saying, "God, I am weak, and You are strong. Give me Your strength," and "God! I can't trust you, because it's too hard!"

The difference is faith. Complaining is not placing faith in an infinite God. Requesting boldly is. We are saying, "God, I know you can do it. Please do it." That requires TONS of faith. It doesn't make God obligated to do what we WANT, but it tells Him that we have faith that he CAN.

Anyway, back to the verse. If we only ever look at the first part of the verse, we get a very different idea of God than if we look at the entire verse. In context, this verse displays--instead of a masochistic martyr--a man full of faith. A man who says, "God has the power to kill me, but that doesn't matter. I will still trust in the Creator's power, and I will show Him my trust by pleading my case before Him. I will remind Him of my faithfulness and I will appeal to His faithfulness."

Amazing.