In a chapter entitled “God Dethroned by Free Will,” W. E. Best wrote the following:
The heresy of free will
dethrones God and enthrones man. Supporters of free will insist that God would
be unjust and tyrannical to control the will of man. They see nothing egoistic
or Satanic in attempting to fetter and direct the will of God. These
natural-minded men suppose their own foolish wills cannot be gratified unless
the all-wise God consents to relinquish His will. The doctrine of the free will
of man tears the reins of government from the hands of the sovereign God. God’s
character is maligned by every person who believes in free will. Depraved
natures make men unwilling to submit themselves to God’s will. Their inability
prevents their coming to Jesus Christ: “And ye will not come to me, that ye
might have life” (John 5:40).
The Arminian theory is
polytheistic in its concept of the first cause. It yields to the same
temptation of Satan that Eve did in the garden of Eden: “ . . . ye shall be as
gods . . . “ (Gen. 3:5). Free will is attractive to natural men because it
appeals to their pride. It impresses upon them the fact that they have natural
power which gives them self-determination toward God, righteousness, and
holiness. It is blasphemous to think that a man has the ability within himself
to control the will of God! . . . Arminians believe that man’s will precedes
God’s will. . . . self-will is the essence of anti-Christian religions. . . .
Arminians assert that free will belongs as much to man as it does to God.
However, God’s will alone is absolutely free. Once a person grants that the
Creator is subordinated to the creature, he has joined forces with all the vain
philosophies of the world. (W. E. Best, Free Grace Versus Free Will [Houston,
Tex.: W. E. Best Book Missionary Trust, 1977], 35-36, 37)
