Opus 2024-267: Yes, You Can

As I was reading in Psalms, I came across a passage that seemed to imply the free will of man.

(Psa 36:9-10 KJV)  For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.  O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

For those of you who are concerned about salvation, coming through grace from God and not from our own works, you will find verse 9 encouraging.   It is very clear that David considers God as the source of his salvation and his “life”.

On the other hand, look at to whom He is extending that salvation.  Notice that it is people who know Him, people who have His righteousness in their hearts.  Now, if they need God’s “fountain of life” extended towards them, then there is still a lack.  But if God is extending it towards those who are already seeking it, free will is very important.

Nothing can water down the truth, that we cannot deserve our own salvation.  There is nothing that we can do within our power, except for trusting and obey, to make ourselves sin free.  Only Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross could offer up a sufficient price for our sin.  That concept is a done deal and is consistent through scripture.

But what I also see consistent through scripture, but widely denied by theologians of all camps, is this idea that there can be a desire for the things of God that comes from my heart, and not just from the gift of faith.  I believe that Psalms at least teaches that we can have a desire for the things of God on our own initiative.  What I am seeing is that some people are, by their own choice, inclined toward evil, and some people are inclined toward righteousness.

Feel free to disagree.  If you disagree, you have to somehow work out these two verses.  You also need to go back to the beginning of the Psalm where David goes into great detail about the planning that goes into the evil that surrounds us.

homo unius libri