There are two forces at work in this world that are difficult to reconcile: human free will and God’s influence. On the one hand, those who accept the sovereignty of God believe that He can both foreknow and determine the result of any situation He desires. Scripture is full of examples where God has revealed ahead of time a particular outcome: Jacob’s supplanting of Esau; Pharaoh’s resistance and eventual release of Israel; David’s enthronement; Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity and recovery; Cyrus’ reversal of exile. The list goes on and on.
But what complicates these scenarios is the fact that God endows men with free will and even urges them to act in ways that are contrary to what He has proclaimed will happen. For example, God foretold in both ancient and contemporary prophecy that Jesus would be rejected by the Jewish hierarchy and put to death (cf. Lk 24:25-27; Jn 11:49-53; Ac 2:22-24; 13:27-33; etc.). Though God wanted the sacrifice of His Son to be offered and determined that it would be, His rejection by the Jews was sinful and prompted by hatred and rebellion toward God.
Since God knew ahead of time what would happen, does this mean that the Jews had no choice? And if men truly have free will and choose to do something other than what God declares will happen, would that negate God’s sovereignty?
Another clear illustration of this conundrum is the case of Judas. Judas’ betrayal was prophesied remotely as Jesus acknowledges: “Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (Jn 17:12). Peter also refers to OT prophecy in the search for Judas’ replacement: “This Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus … For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his habitation be desolate, and let no one live in it’; and ‘Let another take his office’” (Ac 1:16, 20).
Yet Jesus warned Judas numerous times, even addressing him directly during the Passover meal: “‘The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it’” (Mt 26:24-25).
If Judas’ free will had been negated by God’s foreknowledge, then it is a complete sham for Jesus to warn Judas of the true nature of his actions. (However Judas may have rationalized his plot with the Sanhedrin, Jesus clearly called it “betrayal.”). Jesus had warned Judas earlier: “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (Jn 6:70).
Consider the following observations:
1) Sin is always the freely chosen action of man. God cannot possibly predetermine that sin will happen, for that would make Him the author of it. James says God cannot even tempt a man to do evil (Jas 1:13). If God prophesies that transgression will occur, it must be the result of man’s free will: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (Jas 1:14).
2) There is a difference between God’s foreknowledge and causation of sin. This is difficult to comprehend for humans, for we are bound by the limitations of time while God is not. God knows what a man will or won’t do long before he is old enough to demonstrate character traits. For example, God knew from before birth that Jeremiah would be a “prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5). He also knew that in spite of fierce opposition, Jeremiah would fulfill His will in preaching to the faithless Jews (Jer 1:18-19). Of course, in the bigger picture God foreknew that sin would occur when He made mankind, and He set in place provisions to resolve the complications transgression would bring (Eph 1:3-14; 1 Pet 1:20).
3) God has plans and purposes for both individuals and nations, for sin and righteousness, for acts of man’s free will, that we do not know. All we can know about God’s will is what He reveals about it. And the vast majority of our lives – the decisions and choices of our free will that we make every day – God has not revealed. So this is where the discussion becomes practical. There are some who say: “I am not going to vote, for how do I know I won’t be voting for the one God doesn’t want in power (or voting against the one God does want elected)?” Others say, “I am not going to practice birth control; we’re going to have as many children as God determines to give us.” Since we are not privy to all the particulars of life relative to God’s will, should we just “take our hands off the wheel” and refuse to act for fear that we will interfere with God?
God will not hold us accountable for violating a purpose which He has not revealed. Such would not be sin, for sin is violation of divine law, and law must be revealed (1 Cor 2:10-14; Rom 7:7). In this we must not fret. God will accomplish whatever He wants regardless of our puny actions to the contrary. Do we really think we are going to foil God’s plans? Not hardly, and neither are we counted disobedient when there is no will revealed for us to obey. Moses’ statement of the Law remains applicable today: “The secret things belong the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Dt 29:29).
4) We can agonize over the unrevealed providence of God until we paralyze ourselves with worry. The bottom line for me is: God gives us wisdom, law, moral principles, prayer, guidance of the spiritually mature, a conscience and the capability to make rational decisions about a particular course of action – all the tools needed to make righteous choices. We should not worry whether a particular decision may interfere with God’s plans, for that we cannot know. Is it wise? Is it lawful? Is it moral? Is it helpful? Is it wrong? Is it foolish? Is it unloving? Is it selfish? Face the choice. Examine the options. Do your best to make the right decision. Don’t worry about God. He will accomplish His purposes regardless.