Either / Or vs. Both / And

Life goes in cycles. One of those cycles in my life deals with theological issues. I remember when I was 16-18 I entered a period of great debate about issues like Spiritual Gifts, Free-will vs. Predestination, End Times, etc. Every so often I will find myself touching on those topics again, and this seems to be one of those times. I have recently had many conversations with people about the issue of Salvation. Specifically the terms “Free Will” and “Sovereignty” have resurfaced.

One of the detriments of living in the Modern Era is that we have developed an outlook on the world that is either/or. Either it is raining or it is not. Either it is night or it is day. Either things fall when you drop them or they don’t. We like repeatable results, and we like to find singular reasons to explain those results.

This works to a great extent when dealing with the Natural world. But, when we move to the spiritual world I don’t know if it works quite as well. It seems to me that most of the argument over Free Will and Sovereignty occurs because people believe it has to be Either one Or the other. I don’t see why that is true. The Bible seems to clearly defend both schools of thought, so the more logical conclusion would be that it is Both one And the other. The fact that my brain has trouble with that concept should not keep me from holding to it. I have trouble with the concept of the Trinity, but I do not doubt it because of my inability to understand.

I think it would help many Christian “thinkers” (I put this in quotes only because some people seem more interested in defending their own opinions than entering into a serious time of thinking about God's Word and letting it form their opinions) would be well served to use the following process as they debate difficult issues:

1. God speaks first and foremost through the Bible, so I should use it as the source of my opinions. Many people make the mistake of using the Bible as a defense of their opinions, which is quite backwards.
2. God never gets it wrong. If I believe I have found a contradiction in the Scripture then I am wrong, not God. That means I begin to see “contradictions” as a source of my own lack of understanding rather than a failing on God’s part.
3. God is smarter than I am, and some things will be beyond me until I reach eternity. Quite possibly some things will be beyond me even then, but I will probably not care anymore. This became easier to understand when I had children of my own. My son is bright, and I love him to death. But, no matter how good of a teacher I am and how long I try I will not be able to get him to understand physics, calculus, or even rudimentary chemistry. His brain just cannot digest and sort the information yet. I believe the same is true of my brain and some Spiritual concepts. I just will not be able to grasp everything until I am changed.

So, do I believe in a world of Free Will where people have to make an actual choice to follow, serve, and submit to God? Yes. There is too much Scripture supporting that position for me to deny it. But, do I believe that all who come to God are first drawn by God? that He has chosen us before the foundation of the earth and elected us to be His children for now and all eternity? Of course I do, Jesus and the rest of the NT writers speak of it too many times to try to discount.

Do I believe there is a problem holding both of these views at the same time? No. The Bible clearly holds both views at the same time and God seems ok with that. I will choose to be ok with it as well.