Mathew 19:25-26
The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible.”
Do you have free will?
The will is "That faculty of the mind by which we determine either to do or forbear an action; the faculty which is exercised in deciding, among two or more objects, which we shall embrace or pursue."
We certainly do have a will. We have a faculty by which we choose one thing over another... but is it free?
Freedom is "the power to act without hindrance or restraint".
Paul asked himself this question and came to the conclusion, "I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate... I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."
Paul realized that, by the power of his will, he could not act without hindrance or restraint. That his will was not free.
He came to a further realization when he said, "If I know what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."
Further, he said, "I love God’s law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me."
Paul desired freedom concerning his will... He would have enjoyed the freedom to follow God's laws, which he loved. He realized though, that his will was not free and this caused him to cry out to God " Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?", at which point God immediately answered, speaking through Paul, saying, "The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."
I contend that our notion of free will is the linchpin of Satan's campaign to deceive believers.
There was, in the past, a method of serving God which required you to exercise your will properly.
This method is summarized in Proverbs 7:2, "Keep my commandments and live."
Under this system, priests were elected, serving as intermediaries between God and man. These priests offered sacrifices to atone for our failure to "keep His commands".
First, they would offer sacrifices for their own sins, then for ours.
This system, though, "was set aside because it was weak and useless." Under this old system, "the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sin."
Have you ever felt like that priest?
Have you gone through the cycle of day after day, coming to God with tears in your eyes, begging Him to forgive you for the mistakes you continue to make over and over again?
Have you experienced the weakness and uselessness of this system in which nothing is made right?
Have you experienced days where sacrificial tears felt sufficient, causing you to rejoice that God was now pleased with you, only for these feelings to come crashing down when you again failed, causing you to question if anything at all had changed?
Have you come to the place of Paul, who said, "I don't understand myself! I try, but I fail. I want to do good, but I do evil instead. Who can save me from this system in which right relationship with God is determined by the use of my will?"
It is only by the grace of God that you can receive the answer that Paul received, which is, "Jesus Christ, our Lord".
He is the new system.
He is the new priest.
The sacrifice He made, He made one time, and it is sufficient.
He offered Himself to God, and by this one offering, He forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
In planning this system, God said, "At this time, I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." When your sins have been forgiven, all of them, past, present, and future, there is no need to offer further sacrifices.
I ask you again... Do you have free will?
Are you able to act without hindrance concerning God's laws?
If you are, you should rely on that faculty. You should be judged, then, based on the evil that you knowingly and willingly do on a daily basis. In this scenario, Satan, the accuser, is right to bring charges against you.
If you are unable, if there is a power in you that is at war with your mind, making you a slave to sin, there is a solution.
Praise God! The answer is Jesus Christ, our Lord.
By His death, He opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. Since we have a great High Priest, who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly, without wavering, to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.