Showing posts with label free will. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free will. Show all posts

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Do we have free will?

What do you think about Romans 9:18? "Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden."
As I read this verse, I wondered how free will could come into play when God can harden whomever he wants, or have mercy on whomever he wants.  It doesn't seem like a situation where we could ever choose to follow God.  But Jesus himself said "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44).  However, perhaps God is calling all of us to him, drawing all of us to him, and not all of us are responding.  This would make sense because, as 2 Peter 3:9 states, God "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Does Romans 9:18 then mean that God hardens those who have already decided to ignore him?  In what other way could God harden someone and still allow them to have made a choice?