The Shepherd Sets the Sheep Free
If the natural man has a free will to believe the gospel, then why does he need grace at all? If his will is naturally free then it would do away with the need for grace altogether ... he could simply come to Jesus Christ on his own, apart from grace. But the Bible teaches that it is precisely because man is in bondage to sin (2 Tim. 2:26; 1 Cor 2:14) that he needs Christ to set him free (John 8:34, 36) that he might indeed come to faith in Jesus (John 6:63, 65).
But lest anyone think the above is an attack on Arminianism, they would assume too much. It is meant to demonstrate the biblical truth that the natural man (the man without the Spirit) does not have a free will -- a slave to sin and corruption, something both Calvinists and Arminians agree upon. This statement is more directed toward the many semi-pelagian Christians out there who even deny the need for an Arminian-type prevenient grace - they actually exist in America in much greater numbers than Classic Arminians and thus the urgency to proclaim this message. I once had a discussion with Roger Olson (a Classic Arminian) a professor at Baylor who said he had many students who thought he was a closet Calvinist because of his belief in prevenient grace. So I propose that we stop debating about whether man has a free will or not. He doesn't and that has been established by the above. The debate is really more about what the Bible has to say about the nature and extent of God's regenerating/saving grace.
As much as they think it gets them off the hook, Arminnian prevenient grace really does not help Arminians escape this issue of free will and the ability of the natural man. Prevenient grace hides behind a mask in order to avoid the questions that dig a little deeper. For starters, prevenient grace elicits two major questions:
An argument frequently made against the biblical doctrine of irresistible grace is an appeal to Acts 7:51 which declares “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you."
I have not historically spent much time, if any, obsessing on the various sexual liberation agendas in our culture. But it has come to my attention that perhaps the most troubled and confused people in our current society are those who accuse Christians of hate speech and homophobia for simply wanting to share the gospel with them. Such groundless declarations of hate betray the speakers themselves as a people driven by irrational prejudice. In doing so they are creating a poisoned cultural, educational and political atmosphere which they teach others to hate Christians for something they don't even believe, nor has it crossed our mind .... since no true Christian believes he/she morally better and many of us have committed much worse sins. We are here to proclaim freedom to those enslaved, ourselves included. It is mercy alone which saved us, and certainly not any good in us.
At the fall, we changed, God didn't. By nature God is holy so He cannot become less-than-holy and still remain God. Even in our fallen state, God gives us commands to live in perfect holiness if we would live. For example, He calls us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, yet this is an impossible supposition for fallen man - but, notice, this does not stop God from commanding us to do so. Why? Paul says the purpose of the Law for lost men and women is not to reveal their moral ability but their inability... "Through the law comes knowledge of sin."(Rom 3:19, 20) Thus, when God humbles us through His law, we see our utter spiritual bankruptcy ... that there is absolutely no hope left in ourselves, and God does this to make room for the gospel, since in our helpess state, it becomes obvious that the mercy of God in Christ can ALONE save us.
Many Christians will (reluctantly) acknowledge that there indeed do appear to be passages in the Bible, especially in the Gospel of John and the the theology of the Pauline epistles which strongly suggest that salvation is by grace alone, apart from the will or effort or cooperation of man (John 6:63, 65, 37; Rom 9:15, 16). However these same individuals will then quickly point out the "many" passages which give the appearance of teaching the free will of man to believe and follow Christ, apart from such grace. For example they appeal to passages in the Bible which say "if you are willing", "if you will hear", "if you will do" and they assume that such appeals to man demonstrates that he has a free will to believe.