Do We Choose God…Or Does God Choose Us?

Therese Ann
May 20
5 min read

Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before Him in love. Ephesians 1:4

You may or may not know it, but the title of this blog is kind of a contentious question among some Christians. One side of the argument is that we have free will and can choose for or against God. The other side is that God doesn’t give us a choice but chooses for everyone—some for eternal salvation and the rest for eternal damnation.

However, my answer to the title question is a simple one—it’s both. We have free will and can choose for or against God, but also that God absolutely does choose us just as our opening verse states.

The concept of no free will, a.k.a. limited atonement, is the perfect example of how major doctrines taught by very respected Christian theologians happen because of Bible verses taken out of context. It is the reason why Christians must know the whole, complete word of God.

Sometimes I feel like, “who am I that I should not agree with the likes of great Christians with Bible doctorates or who have been teaching for decades and are very highly respected and have large churches and followings? I am nobody. I don’t even come close to these teachers’ accomplishments. What makes me right and them wrong?”

I’m pretty sure that if I feel this way, that many others do too. And I’m also pretty sure that is the reason people will not question popular doctrines taught by educated teachers. But even though I really am nobody, the Bible teaches that someone like me is to question what we’re taught and not just take for granted that what anyone teaches is correct just because they are more educated. The Bible says that people who question are noble.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11

The people of Berea (the town that this verse is talking about) were actually checking on the great Apostle Paul’s teaching. God calls this noble. Plus these people were brand new Christians! If that doesn’t encourage us to check, then what will?

It’s with that reasoning that I have examined the Scriptures to see if the teaching that we do not have free will is true. The first basic answer that I got from Scripture was the command for us to choose whom we will serve.

…choose today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. Joshua 14:15

This popular verse explicitly commands us to make a choice for or against Yahweh, the one true God. My point is proven if you read the entire verse because Joshua says that they are free to choose to serve other gods. Why would God command His chosen people to choose Him if they do not have free will?

and…

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants. Deuteronomy 30:19

This is Moses at the end of his life encouraging the Israelites to choose God’s way.

But for some, this is not enough proof of our free will because there are many verses in the Bible that talk about things that may seem contradictory to it. One such passage is Romans chapter 9. It talks about how God hated Esau while he was still in the womb before he had done anything bad or good. Doesn’t that prove that we have no free will? Well, let’s take a look at what is, in my opinion, the most difficult section in that chapter that seems to go against free will.

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor? Romans 9:20-21

This statement takes us back to how God created us. We are the clay, and Genesis chapters one and two make it very clear that every single human being was made from one lump of clay…that would be Adam. Adam was chosen by God and subsequently every human being that would come from Adam is also chosen. But along with that, Adam was given a choice, i.e. free will, regarding the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Bible tells us he freely chose against God.

We also know that God knew beforehand how Adam would choose. Because of this, God already had a plan in place to rectify the problem. Since Adam chose the path of death for himself and all his offspring, i.e. the entire human race, God Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ would die in our place. Now, we who are another part of the same lump of clay as Adam also have the free will to choose the path of death or the path of life in Christ.

Since God’s plan and foreknowledge were before the foundation of the world, it only makes sense that those who would choose the path of death will be made vessels of dishonor. God’s foreknowledge never, ever negates our ability to choose freely for or against God.

God doesn’t change. What goes for Adam also has to go for us because we come from Adam. No teacher of limited atonement would ever say that God created Adam for eternal damnation because of his choice in the garden. God’s plan from the very beginning for everyone was always life through His Son, Jesus Christ.

If we take the argument from Paul in Romans chapter 9, it’s this in a nutshell: We either choose the plan of God for our lives, which is life, or we choose death. There is no mercy for anyone who chooses against God because choosing against Him is choosing death. It’s plain and simple. We can’t argue against it or say that God is not fair. We cannot expect God to make exceptions for the people that we love who choose against God. It doesn’t matter if they were good parents or our beloved children or anyone else who is important to us. Everyone must choose for himself either life in Christ Jesus or death. There is no in between.

In fact that’s the beginning of Paul’s argument. He’s grieving for his beloved nation of the Jews. He says that even if he were to offer to trade places with those who chose death, it won’t happen. First of all because Jesus already traded places and those people rejected the trade. Secondly because there is no possible way for a person who has chosen life to be subjected to death.

On the other hand, there is no possible way for a person who has refused God’s way to be able to live. Each and every person has to make the choice for himself. This is the mercy and justice of God. Another huge part of God’s mercy is allowing us the opportunity to choose life as long as we are in these clay bodies (see Romans 9:22-23). How awesome is that?

So back to our opening verse, before the foundation of the world God has chosen us to be holy and blameless before Him, and He gives us the choice to agree or disagree with Him.