📖 Biblical Definition
Scripture teaches that man was created with a will capable of choosing God, but that after the Fall, the human will became enslaved to sin. "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them" (1 Corinthians 2:14). Jesus Himself declared, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him" (John 6:44). The free will debate is not about whether man has a will — he does — but about whether that will, after Adam's fall, retains the moral ability to choose spiritual good apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. The biblical answer is no: "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot" (Romans 8:7).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The power of directing our own actions without constraint by necessity or fate.
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FREE WILL. The power of directing our own actions without restraint by necessity or fate. Note: Webster acknowledged the concept of free will as the ability to act according to one's desires. The theological question is deeper: whether fallen man's desires are themselves free or enslaved to sin. The Reformers argued that the will always acts according to its nature — and a sinful nature always chooses sin apart from grace.
📖 Key Scripture
• John 6:44 — "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him."
• Romans 8:7-8 — "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God... those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
• Ephesians 2:1 — "You were dead in the trespasses and sins."
• John 8:34 — "Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin."
• Philippians 2:13 — "It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Free will has been elevated to an absolute human right that trumps God's sovereignty.
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Modern theology has made free will the non-negotiable foundation of human dignity, as though God's sovereignty and man's responsibility were in competition. The popular claim — "God would never violate your free will" — has no basis in Scripture. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, turned the heart of the king of Assyria, and opens hearts as He pleases (Exodus 9:12; Ezra 6:22; Acts 16:14). The modern free will doctrine is not biblical anthropology but Enlightenment autonomy dressed in religious language. It makes man the sovereign and God the suitor — waiting, hoping, powerless to save unless man cooperates. This is the opposite of the gospel, which declares that God saves whom He will, raises the dead, and gives life to whom He pleases.
Usage
• "The free will debate is not about whether man has a will but about whether that will, after Adam's fall, can choose God apart from grace."
• "Luther's 'Bondage of the Will' settled it: the unregenerate will always chooses sin because sin is its nature — only grace liberates."