"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding." Proverbs 3:13

While re-reading The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther, I came across an interesting statement touching on the freewill subject. This got me thinking about why affirming freewill is a matter of human ego.

"That is to say: a man without the Spirit of God does not do evil against his will, under pressure, as though he were taken by the scruff of the neck and dragged into it, like a thief or footpad being dragged off against his will to punishment; but he does it spontaneously and voluntarily. And this willingness or volition is something which he cannot in his own strength eliminate, restrain, or alter." (1957 Packer/Johnston translation, p.102)

The pride of sinful humanity manifests itself when people say there is something unfair about the total sovereignty of God over all the actions of men. There is some perceived violation against themselves only because they first assume their inherent goodness and go on to conclude God would be provoking good people to bad things--when in fact, this supposed inner goodness is non-existent. By nature, people are sinners in their very being. They love their sin. They desire evil and dwell in the darkness of ignorance. They act upon their evil intentions. They wouldn't have it any other way. (Rom 3:10, Eph 4:18) And all of this is under the control of God. He doesn't need to 'provoke' otherwise good people. They are already doing exactly as God intended from the foundation.

Not surprisingly, this same thought process (regarding freewill) leads to other doctrines in which God 'wants' to save all and 'tries' to provoke all to salvation, stopping just short of 'violating' us. Our supposed inner goodness needs to do the rest. When we (by the grace of God) stop trying to protect and elevate ourselves, then the absolute sovereignty of God becomes a joy to contemplate. It will no longer be seen as 'at odds' with other true Biblical propositions. No longer needed will be the desperate attempts to reconcile God's sovereignty with directly oppositional doctrines until we have some hot mess of 'mystery' (the more deceptive means of smuggling in various blasphemies against God and His New Covenant). Why? Because there will be no more reason for one to keep God 'safe' from the 'evils' of violating a man's 'goodness' once that man is humbled down to acknowledge his own lowliness and the great mercy and power of God in salvation.

God is not against Himself!

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. --Proverbs 29:23