DAILY TRUTH - “Free-Will” ｜ The Christian Vs. The Non-Christian
Episode Stats
Words per minute
158.14304
Harmful content
Hate speech
15
sentences flagged
Summary
The Christian has more freedom of will than the non-Christian because of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit, and because of his nature as a new creature in Christ Jesus, the Christian has a wider range of choices than the unbeliever. The Christian is a new creation with a heart of flesh that is softened and malleable and receptive to the things of God.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
In less than a year, our podcast has gone from an average of 10,000 downloads a month to 50,000
00:00:05.320
downloads. What made the difference? You leaving us a five-star review. The more positive reviews,
00:00:11.660
the more the algorithm picks us up, and more people are confronted by the law and gospel
00:00:17.060
of Jesus Christ. Help us press forward the crown rights of King Jesus by leaving us a
00:00:23.480
five-star review on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks.
00:00:30.000
Jesus said, man cannot live on bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
00:00:39.960
And people humor themselves in thinking that we have, as human beings, free will.
00:00:46.920
But we need to understand that our choices as finite creatures are drastically limited.
00:00:56.680
The reason why God has at his disposal more choices than you and I is because his nature
00:01:04.460
allows for a wider spectrum of choices. This is because his nature is not creature but creator.
00:01:11.860
His nature is not finite but infinite. Now even God in his choices is bound as it were. He is bound
00:01:21.100
in the sense that he is bound himself by his word.
00:01:30.940
For instance, God is not a man that he should repent.
00:01:37.980
God is not a man that he should change his mind.
00:01:51.900
That which he deems as holy in terms of his law
00:02:02.640
And so even God with his nature, although infinite,
00:02:14.500
But you and I as human beings, as finite creatures,
00:02:18.020
we have a drastically more limited spectrum of choices because we have a drastically more
00:02:25.200
limited nature. I've argued in the past, and I would continue to argue and hold this view,
00:02:31.540
that the Christian has more freedom of will than the non-Christian. And this is because
1.00
00:02:38.340
the Christian has, in a sense, not exactly, not precisely, but in a sense, the Christian has a
00:02:45.880
wider spectrum of choices than the unbeliever because the Christian has two natures. The
00:02:52.700
Christian, on the one hand, is a new creature in Christ Jesus, a new creation with a heart of
00:02:59.760
flesh, no longer a heart of stone, but a heart of flesh that is softened and malleable and receptive
00:03:04.660
to the things of God. Spiritual eyes that see true spiritual things and spiritual ears that hear
00:03:10.940
true spiritual things. And so the Christian, because of the new nature and because of the
00:03:16.560
indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit, is able to choose certain things that the non-Christian
00:03:22.320
can't because our nature allows for it. And yet the Christian, at the same time, is still able to
00:03:29.920
choose certain things that the non-Christian can't, not because the Christian still has a sin nature,
0.97
00:03:35.520
but because the Christian still has the sinful flesh.
0.87
00:03:39.680
And there is a theological distinction between the two.
0.99
00:03:44.540
Perhaps the best way that I could describe this is like this.
0.92
00:03:48.160
The non-Christian, if we think the inside and the outside.
0.88
00:03:52.560
If we think of the inside for the non-Christian,
0.98
00:03:55.220
there is the heart of stone in the sin nature.
0.98
00:03:58.560
And if we think externally on the outside for the non-Christian,
0.99
00:04:01.620
there is the flesh, which Paul says in Romans chapter 7, sin resides within the members of
00:04:08.420
my being. Sin still resides within my flesh. So for the non-Christian, internally they have sin,
00:04:15.040
externally they also have the option of sin. The non-Christian, the only choice they have
0.99
00:04:20.600
when they wake up in the morning is, how do I want to rebel against God today?
0.99
00:04:25.580
I can rebel against God by doing things because I'm made in his image and because of
00:04:30.440
common grace. I can rebel against God by doing things which outwardly align with his moral will,
00:04:36.560
but ultimately with a putrid hatred within my inner being against him, simply spiting him.
00:04:43.160
Then I'm doing certain things that are truly good according to God's law outwardly. They are
00:04:48.600
outwardly good in terms of the outward visible manifestation of my words and behaviors and
00:04:54.520
actions, but even then, I'm not doing them with a desire for God's glory, and I'm not doing these
00:05:00.700
things with a reliance on God's grace. I'm doing these things with a fantasy perception, a reliance
00:05:09.480
on my own strength, as though I have any, and for my own glory, or at best, at most, the non-Christian
00:05:16.280
can say, I'm doing it with a reliance on the collective strength of humanity, and I'm doing
00:05:21.060
for the good of humanity. One small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind. But what the
00:05:27.120
non-Christian can never say is that I'm doing this with a reliance on the power of God and a desire
00:05:32.880
for God's eternal glory. And therefore, even when the non-Christian does outwardly that which aligns
00:05:39.260
with God's moral law, it is ultimately filthy rags. It is sin. Whereas the Christian, however,
1.00
00:05:47.460
can do that which contradicts God's moral law,
0.99
00:05:52.120
that which outwardly is against God's commandments
00:05:56.380
but at the same time by the power of the Spirit
00:06:17.940
and a true, godly, glorious desire for God's praise.
00:06:35.740
that is capable of doing that which is not sin.
00:06:40.540
I'm gonna tell you exactly how our spring 2024 conference
00:06:44.120
is going to go down. Here's the title of the conference, Blueprints for Christendom 2.0.
00:06:49.480
Subtitle, Seven Doctrines for Ruling the World. We're going to have seven primary sessions
00:06:55.220
covering each of these doctrines for ruling the world righteously. Number one, Reformed
00:07:01.400
Confessionalism. That's going to be Pastor Doug Wilson preaching on that topic. Then we've got
00:07:06.340
Covenant Theology with Pastor Brian Sauve. Then we've got Biblical Patriarchy with Pastor Michael
00:07:12.260
Foster. Then we've got presuppositionalism with Dr. Joseph Boot. Then we've got Kyperianism,
00:07:19.360
all of Christ for all of life, where we're going to welcome Pastor Doug Wilson back for a second
00:07:24.000
session. Then we've got general equity theonomy. We're going to have Dr. Joseph Boot come and do
00:07:29.580
a second session on that topic. And then lastly, we'll have Pastor Dale Partridge on post-millennial
00:07:35.300
eschatology. In addition to these seven sessions, we're also going to have not one, but two live
00:07:41.940
podcast on the first day of the conference that's friday march 1st we're going to have a live
00:07:47.060
theology applied podcast i'll be on the stage hosting the discussion with douglas wilson
00:07:52.540
michael foster and eric khan from it's good to be a man the topic is going to be all about
00:07:58.680
biblical patriarchy we're going to specifically be parsing out distinguishing the biblical
00:08:03.900
doctrinal differences between patriarchy and complementarianism again that's friday march
00:08:10.040
1st, the first day of the conference, a live theology applied podcast on biblical patriarchy.
00:08:15.580
Then we're going to have the next day, that's Saturday, March 2nd, a live haunted cosmos
00:08:21.440
podcast. I'll be hosting this discussion with Brian Sauve and Ben Garrett. We're going to be
00:08:26.940
talking about the Nephilim. We're going to be talking about the watchers. We're going to be
0.98
00:08:30.220
talking about what creatures currently are living underneath the surface of the earth and chasms of
00:08:35.480
the deep. It's going to be wacky. It's going to be weird, but it will also be thoroughly biblical
00:08:40.020
and incredibly unhinged. So you're not going to want to miss these two live podcasts. Theology
00:08:45.700
Applied on Friday, March 1st, the first day of the conference on biblical patriarchy with Doug
00:08:51.760
Wilson, Michael Foster, Eric Kahn, and myself. And then the next day of the conference, Saturday,
00:08:57.020
March 2nd, a live Haunted Cosmos podcast with Brian Sauve and Ben Garrett and myself on the
00:09:03.540
Nephilim, The Watchers, and What Lies Under the Surface of the Earth. And then the conference will
00:09:08.700
hold over for one final, the third and final day. That's going to be the Lord's Day, Sunday, March
00:09:14.640
3rd, where one of our speakers will be holding over to preach the Lord's Day sermon, and I'll
00:09:19.700
be leading us in worship through the liturgy. So we've got three days, a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
00:09:52.980
So go and take advantage of the early bird rate
00:09:55.100
right now by going to rightresponseconference.com. Again, that's rightresponseconference.com to
00:10:02.660
register for Blueprints for Christendom 2.0, March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 2024. Register today.