Compatibilism is the view that God’s sovereignty and human free will can coexist. This has been a major debate among theologians for centuries. At the heart of the debate is whether God’s sovereignty eliminates human free will and responsibility.
God’s Sovereignty in Scripture
The Bible clearly teaches that God is absolutely sovereign over everything that happens. Nothing occurs outside of His divine will and purpose. Here are some key passages on God’s sovereignty:
Ephesians 1:11 – “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
Daniel 4:35 – “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Isaiah 46:10 – “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’”
These and other verses make it clear that God orchestrates all things and no one can thwart His plans. He works out everything for His purposes.
Human Free Will in Scripture
At the same time, the Bible presents human beings as morally responsible agents with the capacity to make choices. Here are some verses that indicate we have free will:
Joshua 24:15 – “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”
Deuteronomy 30:19 – “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
John 7:17 – “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”
These verses reveal that God gives us the freedom to choose between options. We are not robots simply doing whatever God programs us to do. We make real choices that have real consequences.
Attempts to Resolve the Tension
So how do we resolve this tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will? There are a few major perspectives:
1. Augustinianism/Calvinism – God’s sovereignty takes precedence over free will. God plans and ordains everything that happens including our “free” choices.
2. Open Theism – God voluntarily limits His sovereignty to allow for meaningful free will. He does not necessarily ordain every detail but allows the future to be open.
3. Molinism – God’s sovereignty and human free will are both fully true. God knows what we would freely do in any situation and places us in situations where we freely do His will.
4. Compatibilism – God’s sovereignty and human free will are compatible because free will is not absolute but limited by our nature, desires, circumstances, etc. Our choices are still real even though God ordains them.
Key Components of Compatibilism
Compatibilism has been the dominant view in Christian history and best handles the full teaching of Scripture. Here are some key components of compatibilism:
1. God is absolutely sovereign over everything including human choices and actions. Nothing happens outside His providential control.
2. Human beings make real choices that stem from their desires and intentions. We are not passive in our choices but active moral agents.
3. Our choices have real effects and real moral significance. When we choose evil we are accountable for sin. When we choose good we can please God.
4. God’s sovereignty does not eliminate or coerce the voluntary nature of our choices, but instead establishes their reality. God ordains the freedom of our wills.
5. Our wills, though voluntary, are limited by our nature and condition as fallen creatures. We do not have absolute free will. Our choices are bound by moral inability.
6. God knows what we would freely choose in any set of circumstances, so He ordains what comes to pass without violating the voluntary nature of our choice.
7. God can sovereignly direct our free choices through means like circumstances, inclinations, and the persuasion of the Holy Spirit to align with His purposes.
8. Therefore, our ability to make voluntary choices is compatible with God’s sovereignty over our choices. The two doctrines can consistently stand together.
Key Biblical Texts
There are several key texts that point to compatibilism in Scripture:
Genesis 50:20 – What man intended for evil, God intended for good, showing evil choices work within God’s plan.
Acts 2:23 – Jesus was delivered up to be crucified by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, yet wicked men voluntarily put Him to death.
Acts 4:27-28 – The Jews and Gentiles gathered to do what God’s hand and plan had predestined to take place, indicating God’s sovereignty over sinful human choices.
Philippians 2:12-13 – We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, while also affirming it is God working in us to will and to act according to His purpose. Our choices matter even as God guides them.
Key Historical Proponents
Here are some key historical figures who held to compatibilism:
Augustine – He taught that the human will, though voluntary, was in bondage to sin and could not choose God on its own. God’s grace frees our wills to make righteous choices.
Thomas Aquinas – He argued that voluntary choices require God’s help to move the will in its fallen state. God thus directs the will without eliminating voluntariness.
Jonathan Edwards – He famously said that we always act according to our greatest desire. God changes our desires so that we voluntarily choose His will, compatibly with His sovereignty.
John Calvin – He taught that the secret working of God’s providence does not take away the voluntary nature of our choices, but establishes them according to His purposes.
Westminster Confession – This Reformed confession affirms that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass yet does so in a way that upholds rather than removes the will of the creatures.
Key Objections to Compatibilism
Here are some common objections against compatibilism along with how proponents might respond:
1. If God ordains our choices, then we are not really free and responsible. Response: Our choices are still voluntary, stemming from our desires. Voluntariness rather than absolute freedom is the ground of moral responsibility.
2. Determinism (God’s sovereignty over everything) precludes free will. Response: This argument depends on a faulty definition of free will as absolute and uncaused ability to choose any option. Biblical free will is voluntary choices within the bounds of our nature.
3. If God ordains evil choices, then He is the author of evil. Response: God ordains that evil choices occur, not that they originate from Himself. His intentions are always good even in ordaining evil choices.
4. If God ordains the choices, they are not contingent or possible, but necessary. Response: From an eternal perspective, God knows and ordains what we will freely do in specific circumstances that have not yet occurred. The choices remain future contingencies to us.
5. Compatibilism is fatalistic and makes effort futile. Response: Scripture urges us to vigorously strive in working out our salvation because God is working in us. God ordains the means (our efforts) as well as the ends.
Pastoral Implications of Compatibilism
Here are some key pastoral implications if compatibilism is true:
1. We should take moral responsibility seriously, knowing our choices have real effects and that God will hold us accountable.
2. We should praise God for providentially guiding our free choices rather than attribute good choices to our own wisdom or righteousness.
3. We should seek earnestly to do God’s will, recognizing that He works through our choices rather than bypassing them.
4. We should avoid fatalism or passivity, knowing God calls us to actively follow Him and make wise, moral choices for His glory.
5. We can have confidence and hope that God is working even through our failures to conform us to Christ’s image and fulfill His sovereign plan.
6. We should emphasize the necessity and priority of God’s grace, since our fallen nature limits our ability to freely choose God without His intervention.
7. We should proclaim the gospel, knowing that God uses means to change hearts. We plant and water seeds even as God providentially produces the growth (1 Cor 3:6-7).
In summary, compatibilism affirms both God’s total sovereignty over human choices and actions along with human responsibility and real voluntary choices that have moral significance. This view sees no final contradiction between these two teachings of Scripture. While some details of God’s relationship to human choices remain mysterious, compatibilism seeks to be faithful to Scripture’s full witness on both truths.