Volition

Hardness of Pharaoh’s Heart

I. Pharaoh hardened his own heart (right lobe). He went on negative volition. Exodus 7:22-23; 8:15, 23; 9:34. Jesus Christ died for Pharaoh’s sins, but Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

II. After Pharaoh continually rejected the gospel as he heard it, then we have the phrase, “God hardened Pharoah’s heart ,” which means that God used Pharaoh’s negative volition after he had hardened it. Why? For the purpose of judgement. After all, God had given him more information than nearly any other person. Exodus 9:12,16; 10:1,20,27.

The more gospel information Pharaoh received, the stronger his negative volition became. God did not tamper with Pharaoh’s volition.

III. God used the negative volition of Pharaoh to emphasise and reveal His own purpose and plan. This is why Exodus 9:16 is quoted in Romans 9:17.

IV. God in His sovereignty explained:

a) God in His sovereignty always saves anyone who will believe in Christ (Love and Eternal Life), and always deals with every believer on the principle of grace.

b) God in His sovereignty always judges every person who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ (+R and J).

c) Therefore God’s sovereignty is always consistent, absolutely perfect and without deviation.

V. Consequently God’s decisions, which come from His sovereignty, are consistent with His essence:

a) God always treats the believer in grace. (Love and Eternal Life)

b) God always treats the unbeliever in judgement (+R and J)

Such treatment is always fair and is never incompatible with either God’s +R or His love.

VI. When God treats someone in +R and J it is not incompatible with His love, or when God treats someone in Love and Eternal Life it is not incompatible with His +R and J.

VII. In the analogy the child is to the mother as God is to Pharaoh.

a) God: Keeps giving Pharaoh the gospel. Pharaoh keeps saying no! He becomes more hard (set) in rejection.

b) A Mother: A child keeps asking to go swimming. She says no! As he keeps on asking she becomes more hard (set) in her original decision.

Jacob — Esau: Romans 9:11-14

1. This category explains Romans 9:14, “Is there unrighteousness with God?”

2. The alternatives of volition toward Christ are given in John 3:36, “everlasting life … wrath of God.”

3. The difference between Jacob and Esau is not good and evil, but Jacob became a believer (used positive volition) and Esau did not (he used negative volition)

4. The Lord Jesus Christ died for both Esau and Jacob — 1 John 2:2. Obviously then if Christ did exactly the same thing for both Esau and Jacob on the cross, then the difference between them is their own decision. They had Free Will!

5. The Sovereignty of God expresses itself through +R and J in judgement, therefore when God judges, His judgement is perfect. Psalm 18:30

6. Esau was the recipient of the expression of God’s Sovereignty through His +R and J because he exercised negative volition in regard to the cross where +R and J were satisfied.

7. The Sovereignty of God also expresses itself through Love and Eternal Life. This is “Operation Grace.”

8. Jacob was the recipient of grace because he exercised positive volition in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ.

9. The Sovereignty of God expresses itself toward Esau, an unbeliever, in terms of judgement, and is declared in terms of “I have hated.” (God’s will: 2 Peter 3:9)

10. The Sovereignty of God expresses itself to Jacob, a believer, in Love and Eternal Life (Grace) and is declared in terms of “Jacob have I loved.”

11. God sovereignly chose to deal with Jacob in love, with Esau in judgement (hate) because of the choice that each of them made with regard to the cross.

12. God, omniscient, knew in eternity past that Esau would be an unbeliever and Jacob a believer. Therefore He simply expresses the direction of His sovereignty: God is free to save all who will believe. God is free to judge all who reject.

13. Romans 9:11, “purpose of God according to election”: This was God’s plan of salvation (grace) to be extended to the human race. Christ was elected and believers share His election.

Volition of Man

1. Definition: The act or power of willing or exerting choice.

2. Volition is the decider of the soul, located in the frontal lobe.

3. We have the right to make our own decisions and the obligation to assume our own responsibilities resulting from our decisions. Acts 3:23.

4. God has absolute will — Psalm 135:6. He does whatsoever He pleases — Psalm 115:3. God, in His Sovereignty, pleased to give man free will.

5. The Bible indicates the existence of human volition.

a) Every 3rd class condition

b) Every subjunctive mood (probability)

c) Every alternative such as John 3:36 indicates this.

6. The very nature of the fall of man presents the fact of free will, for the only way in which Adam could fall was his volition acting independently of God.

7. Any statement of the will of God and/or the will of God not being accomplished indicates the free will of man.

8. Man’s free will first meets the Sovereign wll of God at the cross — 2 Peter 3:9.

9. Therefore, the issue in the human race is: Will the free will of man act in conjunction with the divine will of God or act independently of it?

10. Volition operates in the realm of the soul for the unbeliever and the believer.

11. As a believer your volition also operates in the realm of the human spirit, where you learn and store doctrine — and this doctrine (epignosis) is the building material for the edification complex of the soul.

12. When the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit (operation positive volition, Ephesians 5:18) the Holy Spirit stimulates the proper doctrine at the right time (granted the doctrine has been moved from the mind to the human spirit by faith).

13. If your human spirit sends doctrine to your volition you have compliance with the will of God; when not sent, no compliance.

14. Be sure you understand the doctrine of volition, it is a major doctrine.

“Mercy on Whom I will Have Mercy” — Romans 9:14-18: Moses, Pharaoh

1. Explanation #2 to question in Romans 9:14.

2. God is Sovereign and He has the right to deal with man in Justice and +R, or the right to deal with man in grace (Love and Eternal Life). It all depends upon what man does about Jesus Christ — positive or negative volition.

3. Moses requested to see the glory of God — Exodus 33:19.

4. God answered “I will have mercy … compassion”: (v. 15) This was the basis on which Moses saw the glory of God. He didn’t earn it or deserve it. He was going to see the glory of God because of who and what God is, not who and what Moses was.

Mercy: Grace in Action

Compassion: Exercising grace toward someone.

5. Moses is used as an illustration that God deals with the believer in grace.

6. Moses went on positive signals and God is now free to deal with him in grace.

7. Pharaoh is used as an illustration that God deals with the unbeliever in wrath.

8. Pharaoh went on negative signals and God’s Sovereignty must now express itself in +R and Justice.

9. Through the negative volition of Pharaoh the whole known world was evangelised through the plagues.

Verse 18: “mercy on whom He will”: Grace in action. God had mercy on the entire earth.

10. “Whom He will, He hardeneth”: (The natural course of negative volition is scar tissue — there just isn’t any other avenue open)

11. God revealed Himself first in Love to Pharaoh. (Motivation for miracles was Love) He rejected love)

God revealed Himself in Wrath to Pharaoh. (Motivation for miracles was Love) He rejected love)

God revealed Himself in Wrath to Pharaoh — 10 plagues. He rejected revelation through wrath.

People responded in two ways to the gospel: a( Love of the gospel; b) Fear of the alternative.

Pharaoh had negative volition under both conditions, so he was fitted for destruction — verse 22.

Pride as a Hindrance

I. The Development

a) When the right lobe is conquered by pride (emotional revolt) it destroys the freedom of human volition.

b) Pride becomes a conqueror, an enslaver. It causes soul slavery. That is why mental attitude sins are the worst. Pride destroys objectivity and replaces it with subjectivity.

c) When pride gains complete control of the frontal lobe free will does not operate on a bona fide basis: the basis of dealing with the facts.

d) Instead free will operates on the basis of who and what I AM, instead of THE FACTS.

e) When pride gets into the frontal lobe it is no longer: “What are the facts?” “What is the doctrine?” etc. but it is “who and what am I?” — it is who he is that counts!

f) When people are operating on ego lust then doctrine does not stimulate them. No one can understand the issue of the gospel, or be interested in doctrine, when he is operating on ego lust. This emotional revolt leads to temporary or permanent insanity.

II. Illustration: Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4)

a) Nebuchadnezzar is not ready for gospel hearing yet. He has to go through seven years of living like an animal before he will consider the facts, rather than himself.

b) The principle of punishment for Nebuchadnezzar: Emotional revolt, category mental illness whereby Nebuchadnezzar who tried to exalt himself above man is going to be so mentally ill that he will go below man and live like an animal for seven years.

c) The purpose of this illness is so that God can keep His Word. God promises that when anyone reaches God-consciousness and goes on positive signals, God will provide information whereby they can be saved. John 7:17. God did “leave the stump” (vv 23-26) so that when Nebuchadnezzar’s ego got out of the way he could evaluate the facts and make a decision.

d) This terrible illness must take place in order for the issue to be clear, in order for Nebuchadnezzar to be objective toward the gospel.

e) Nebuchadnezzar could not make a decision until he could see the issue. Pride blinded him to the issue. Through this judgement God removed the pride so his volition could decide concerning the gospel. God had to keep His promises to show the gospel to anyone on positive volition at God-consciousness.

The Three Wills

I. Absolute Will (Sovereignty of God)

a) God is self-determining personality (Sovereign — Psalm 135:6)

b) His Sovereignty is Eternal (Everlasting), Psalm 45:6, and is infinite (Unlimited) — Luke 1:37.

c) God is the supreme being of the universe — 1 Chronicles 29:11,12; Hebrews 6:13.

d) God is the King of all the earth — Psalm 47:7; Hebrews 8:1; Isaiah 66:1; Psalm 24:10; 8:1; Psalm 47 & 93 call Him “King.”

e) God does whatsoever He pleases — 1 Samuel 2:6-8; Psalm 115:3.

f) God in His Sovereignty pleased to give angels and man free will.

g) God does not ignore His other characteristics, nor does He operate outside His plan — Phases 1,2,3.

II. Free Will of Angels ( see categories on Satan’s 5 “I wills,” as well as info in the Angelic Conflict).

III. Free Will of Man:

a) Every third class condition

Every subjunctive mood (probability)

Every “whosoever will”

Every alternative, such as John 3:36

Man in the “image of God” (who has volition) indicates the existence of human volition.

b) The very nature of the fall of man presents the fact of free will, for the only way in which Adam could fall was his volition working independently of God.

c) Man’s free will first meets the sovereign will of God at the cross — 2 Peter 3:9.

d) The issue in the human race: Will the free will of man act in conjunction with the sovereign will of God or act independently of it?

Vessels of Wrath — Romans 9:20-23

1) Explanation #3 to question in Romans 9:14.

2) God is sovereign and has absolute will. Psalm 135:6. He does whatsoever He pleases.

3) He pleased to give man free will.

4) He will not (Sovereign decision) and cannot (Immutability) coerce that free will. (+R and Justice)

5) God has absolute right and authority over His creatures (Vessels) by virtue of creation.

6) God has absolute right to dispose of His works as it may please Him. (Potter has power over the clay — Romans 9:21)

7) Regeneration and condemnation are the doing of God. He makes the vessel unto honour and dishonour.

8) But this doing of God is done only upon the exercise of the individual’s volition, either negative or positive.

9) The believer is a vessel of honour because of who and what God is, and what Jesus Christ did on the cross and the Holy Spirit did at the moment of salvation.

10) The unbeliever is a vessel of dishonour because he superimposes his volition over God’s volition (“not willing that any should perish”) — 2 Peter 3:9.

11. Therefore, the individual chooses (positive or negative) and God does the doing.

12) Romans 9:19, Paul is anticipating the question the heretics will present:

i. Why does God find fault with Pharaoh? (Keep judging)

ii. How can God blame Pharaoh for what happened when God is Sovereign?

The answer:

1. Application of divine essence: +R and J.

2. Points 6,7,8 above.

3> Point 11 of category, ‘Volition: Mercy on whom ...’

13) Will the free will of man act in conjunction with the Sovereign will of God, or act independently of it?