Part 5: A Final Exhortation – The End of Self and the Glory of God
I. Introduction: From Argument to Awe
If you have followed this journey from the beginning, you’ve seen how the idea of libertarian free will—so cherished in modern thought—has no foundation in biblical theology. It is absent from Jewish tradition, foreign to the teachings of Christ, introduced into the Church through speculative minds like Origen and Pelagius, and sustained today not by Scripture but by sentiment.
But this series has not been about merely proving a point. It has been about recovering a posture. The posture of a creature before the Creator. Of a sinner before a holy God. Of a son kneeling in joy before the will of his Father.
The truth is simple and terrifying and beautiful all at once:
You are not your own.
II. The Lie That Runs Through History
The first lie ever told was this: "You will be like God."
Not like Him in holiness. Not like Him in mercy.
But like Him in sovereignty—in knowing good and evil, in defining truth, in directing your path.
That lie was not just told in the garden. It was told again through Origen, when he taught that souls choose their own destiny apart from God’s decree. It was told again through Pelagius, when he claimed the will was able to obey without grace. It is told today in pulpits, books, and classrooms that call man "capable," and treat grace as helpful rather than essential.
This lie is everywhere. It appeals to our pride. It sounds like justice. It cloaks itself in language about responsibility. But it is a lie nonetheless.
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” – Romans 1:25
The root of all sin is not mere disobedience. It is self-exaltation. And the theology of libertarian free will is a shrine to that self.
III. The Truth That Stands Eternal
But the gospel is not for the autonomous. It is for the broken. The dead. The helpless. The dependent. The gospel is not the story of man choosing God. It is the story of God choosing sinners and raising them to life.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” – John 15:16
“It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” – Romans 9:16
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” – John 6:44
“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ.” – Ephesians 2:5
The biblical story is not about freedom. It is about revelation. It is about a God who makes Himself known in our weakness, who shows mercy in our guilt, who displays power in our inability. It is about a Christ who obeyed perfectly, died sacrificially, and reigns sovereignly—not waiting for permission, but ruling as Lord.
IV. The Call: Repent of Autonomy
If this series has revealed anything, it is this: autonomy is not a virtue. It is a rebellion that must be repented of.
• Do not justify your independence in the name of moral responsibility.
• Do not build a theology that protects your will more than it magnifies His mercy.
• Do not fear the death of self. Fear the preservation of pride.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
Christ does not ask for partnership. He demands surrender. He does not negotiate. He calls. And those whom the Father draws come—not because they are able, but because He is merciful.
Autonomy must die if the Church is to live.
V. The Invitation: Behold Your God
When autonomy dies, worship is born. The soul set free from the illusion of self-rule begins to behold the One who truly reigns. And in that beholding, it finds joy—not in the power to choose, but in the power of the One who chose us.
This is the heartbeat of God’s Great Love and Mercy in Making Himself Known to His Creation: that God has not left Himself hidden. He has revealed Himself in grace, in wrath, in sovereignty, in suffering, in election, and in mercy. And we come to know Him not by grasping but by receiving—not by willing, but by worshiping.
“From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” – Romans 11:36
This is the final word: God is God. We are not.
And this is not defeat. This is salvation.
To be made low before the throne of grace is not to be erased—it is to be restored.
VI. Let the Church Return
Let us return to preaching the gospel of the helpless.
Let us return to praying like beggars, not bargainers.
Let us return to worshiping with reverent fear, not casual entitlement.
Let us return to evangelizing with truth, not manipulation.
Let us return to songs that exalt Christ, not celebrate our own response.
Let the Church return to the God who saves—not by permission, but by power.
Let the will of man bow once again to the will of the Father.
Let the proud be humbled. Let the weary be carried. Let the Church be restored.
And let the words of Christ be our anthem—not only in Gethsemane, but in every breath:
“Not my will, but Yours be done.”
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