Episode Focus: Free will, human responsibility, God’s sovereignty, saving grace
Audience: Christians concerned that Calvinism denies human choice or turns people into “robots”
One of the most common objections to Calvinism is the claim that it destroys human free will. Critics often argue that if God sovereignly saves, then human choices must be meaningless or coerced.
In Episode 5 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we examine what Scripture actually teaches about human responsibility, the condition of the will, and God’s sovereign grace. Rather than denying free will, biblical Calvinism explains why the human will needs to be freed by grace in order to truly choose Christ.
Does Calvinism:
Deny human free will and moral responsibility?
Or
Teach a biblical understanding of the will that explains humanity’s need for grace?
How the Bible speaks about human choice and responsibility
Why Scripture does not describe the will as morally neutral
The effects of sin on human desires and decision-making
How God’s sovereignty and human responsibility coexist
Why regeneration precedes faith
True freedom as Scripture defines it
Deuteronomy 30:19 — “Choose life”
Joshua 24:15 — “Choose this day whom you will serve”
Acts 17:30 — God commands all people everywhere to repent
Romans 10:9–10 — Call to believe and confess Christ
Jeremiah 17:9 — The heart is deceitful
John 8:34 — Everyone who sins is a slave to sin
Romans 8:7–8 — The flesh does not submit to God
Ephesians 2:1–3 — Dead in trespasses and sins
Proverbs 16:9 — Man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps
Proverbs 19:21 — The Lord’s purpose prevails
Genesis 50:20 — Human intent and God’s intent
Acts 2:23 — Christ crucified by God’s plan and human hands
John 1:12–13 — Born of God, not of human will
John 3:3–8 — Born again by the Spirit
Ezekiel 36:26–27 — God gives a new heart
Acts 16:14 — The Lord opens Lydia’s heart
John 8:36 — If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed
Romans 6:17–18 — Freed from sin, enslaved to righteousness
Galatians 5:1 — Christ has set us free
Calvinism does not destroy free will.
Scripture teaches that people choose freely according to their nature—and apart from Christ, that nature is enslaved to sin. God’s grace does not violate the will; it liberates it.
True freedom is not the ability to choose anything we want.
True freedom is the ability to choose Christ.
