Puppets?

The discussions on the forum* continue unabated about topics such as the origin of evil and “free will.” Over the past month, an average of 47 messages per day were posted on the forum. Most of them dealt with these issues. *Forum is offline, 2026

Recently I read a post by someone who had compiled a list of Bible passages in which the Dutch word vrijwillig (“voluntarily”) occurs. It was a long list, because the word occurs no fewer than 40 times in the Bible! That proves that the word vrijwillig (“voluntarily”) is thoroughly biblical. Yet there is a catch…

For to what extent does man have a free will? Is man’s free will absolute? Would God Himself not also have control over the human will? There lies the catch – for the doctrine of “free will” effectively denies precisely that. So let me first cite a number of passages of Scripture where we read that God most certainly and actually does have control over the will. No matter whose. Believer or unbeliever.

“… whose heart the Lord opens up to heed what is spoken by Paul.”
Acts 16:14

“… for it is God Who is operating in you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.”
Philippians 2:13

A man’s heart considers his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

The heart of even! the king is in the hand of the LORD like streams of water; He directs it wherever He pleases.
Proverbs 21:1

But I (= God) will harden Pharaoh’s heart…
Exodus 7:3

He (= the LORD) changed their hearts, so that they hated His people and dealt craftily with His servants.
Psalm 105:25

Did Lydia voluntarily pay attention to what Paul had to say? Without a doubt! Was Pharaoh voluntarily disobedient to God’s command? Without a doubt! In the experience of both, there was no sense of compulsion whatsoever. Nevertheless, in both cases it was God Who acted upon the hearts of these people (opening one and closing the other).

The point is that God does not need to use coercion at all in order to bend the human will. Consider this. There are two kinds of factors underlying every choice: external and internal factors. By external factors I mean our environment (what part of the world are we in? what period of history? what country? what social class? what religion? what family? what parents? what events? what school? what friends? what books? etc., etc.). By internal factors I mean primarily our genes (and thus hereditary characteristics), and with them our sex, intelligence, temperament, etc.

Man has not the slightest influence on virtually any of these factors! Yet they do determine who we are, how we think, and therefore what we choose. “Man’s free will” is the product of trillions of factors and influences combined. Whether we like it or not. We did not make ourselves. If only we would come to this humble acknowledgment!

EVERYTHING we have, who we are, and what we choose is determined by countless factors that only ONE has completely in His hands… GOD. That is why the Bible says that even the heart of a mighty king (see above) is in His hand like a little stream of water: He directs it wherever He wants.

There once was an atheist who, in front of an audience, clenched his fist, raised it in the air, and shouted: “If God exists, let Him strike my hand down at this very moment.” At that same moment, a tiny fly landed on the man’s nose, and by reflex he swatted it away with his raised hand…

God did not need lightning or any other kind of force to make the man lower his hand. A tiny fly was enough to bring the man’s hand down! That is what “free will” amounts to before an almighty GOD.

People complain that an all-disposing God makes them into puppets. That is because they do not want to realize that they are not the Maker but “merely” what has been made. And that there is ONE Who holds ALL the strings.

Precisely that is the guarantee that everything proceeds “according to the counsel of His will” and that, one day, every tongue (not: lip!) will confess: Jesus is Lord!

To the glory of God the Father!

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