FREE WILL
Free will in its simplest element is the ability to make choices. It is the freedom of self determination and the ability to take action Independent of external factors. A persons choice is free if it is consistent with a person's desires and nature. Often in debates in the Arminian and Calvinist camps Arminians with excerpt that Calvinism states that people do not have free will. This is not true Calvinism never states this exertion. People have free will to make choices that are with in their ability to choose from but not outside the nature of their ability to choose. There are two main categories with in free will Compatibilism and Libertarian.
Compatibilism free will is the position in which man’s free will is restricted by his sinful nature and as a result he can only make choices that his sinful nature will allow him to make. This view of free will means that he can not choose God on his own because he is enslaved to his sinful nature (Roms 3:10-12; 1Cor 2:14; Roms 6:14-20). This view is held by those holding to Reformed theology.
Compatibilism is the biblical view of Free will and what we hold to hear at Empowered by Christ.
Libertarian free will is the opposite of Compatibilism and means that man’s free will is not restricted by his sinful nature. In other words man is not restricted by his sinful nature and that he is freely able to choose God or reject God on his own accord. This view is held by those who hold to the Arminian theological view point and is loosely justified by the use of John 3:16 and John 3:36.
