During the 20th century, there has been in Baptist churches a great falling away from the faith of our fathers. Nowhere is this more evident, perhaps, than in what is popularly taught in contemporary Baptist churches concerning the free will of man. Most modern-day Baptist churches believe and teach that man has the ability to voluntarily choose to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and, thereby, produce his own regeneration or new birth. In stark contrast with this idea, our Baptist forefathers believed and taught that man has no ability to voluntarily choose to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith until he is first regenerated or born again by the Holy Spirit. Today’s Baptists, by and large, believe in the free will of man, but our Baptist forefathers believed in the bondage of man’s will. Obviously, someone is right and someone else is wrong about this matter. The question is, are present-day Baptists right to believe in the free will of man, or were yesterday’s Baptists right to believe in the bondage of man’s will? Which viewpoint is actually taught in the Holy Scriptures?

I. The Contemporary Baptist Position: Man has the ability to voluntarily choose to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and, thereby, produce his own regeneration or new birth.

A. This would require man to voluntarily choose to do something that is contrary to his own depraved nature and character, and even God Himself does not have this kind of free will (II Tim. 2:13; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18).

B. Man can only voluntarily choose to do those things that are consistent with his own depraved nature and character.

1. Man cannot see the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3).

2. Man cannot hear Christ’s speech or word (Jn. 8:43,47).

3. Man cannot understand spiritual truth (Rom. 3:11; I Cor. 2:14; II Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 4:18).

4. Man cannot come to Christ (Jn. 6:44,65).

5. Man cannot submit to God’s Word (Rom. 8:7).

6. Man cannot please God (Rom. 8:8).

7. Man cannot say from his heart that Jesus is Lord (I Cor. 2:13).

8. Man cannot bring forth any good fruit (Mat. 7:17-18; Jn. 15:4-5).

9. Man cannot contribute anything to bring about his own spiritual birth (Eph. 2:1).

10. Man cannot do anything but serve Satan, sin, and self (Jn. 8:32,34,36,44; Rom. 6:17-20; Eph. 2:2; Col. 1:13; II Tim. 2:26; II Pet. 2:19).

II. The Historic Baptist Position: Man has no ability to voluntarily choose to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith until he is regenerated or born again by the Holy Spirit.

A. The will of man plays absolutely no role in the supernatural work of regeneration or the new birth (Jn. 1:11-13; Rom. 9:13). It is produced strictly and entirely by the will of God.

B. Regeneration is the cause of conversion; conversion is not the cause of regeneration (Jn. 1:11-13; I Jn. 5:1). In regeneration, God finally makes us willing and able to do His will (Ps. 110:3; Phil. 2:13).

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