Ezra 7:13
Ezra 7:13 (see also Genesis 49:6; Luke 12:57; John 15:7; 1st Corinthians 9:17)
I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. [KJV]
This is one of 17 references to “freewill” that occurs in the Bible, as found in the King James Translation of the Bible. Additionally, you also have Genesis 49:6 which states: “Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; because in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen.”
In the New Testament, we similarly find: “For if I do this
voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have
a stewardship entrusted to me.” (1st Corinthians 9:17)
Although Calvinists acknowledge that man has a free will, they insist that it is enslaved to “wickedness,” known as The Bondage of the Will:
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer: “The bottom line, however, is that the will of man is not free, but responsive to either the wickedness of the heart or the sovereign work of God, which grants to some the ability to believe the gospel.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.173, emphasis mine)
Calvinist, Charles Spurgeon: “No man is saved by his own free-will, but every man is damned by it that is damned. He does it of his own will; no one constrains him.” (Jacob and Esau, emphasis mine)
If the will of man is left enslaved to do only that which is evil, all of the time, then how do you explain what Jesus said about our own “initiative”? Jesus says: “‘And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.’” (Luke 12:57-59)
What does “your own initiative” mean, except your own Free Will? Therefore, Jesus taught that you have a free will, in which you have the “initiative” to discern between “right” and wrong. And with that free will, God expects you to make the “right” decisions, and do not think that God does not help us. One of the key points in Arminian Theology is the doctrine of Prevenient Grace, in which God patiently reaches out to fallen man. (Isaiah 65:2; Acts 26:14)
The reality, however, is that with the immutable decrees of Calvinism, there is no free-will of any kind, that is, to do good or evil. For more on this point, see Why does Compatibilism Fail?
