A Free-Will Prayer

In his sermon “Free Will – A Slave“, the famous Baptist preacher of the 1800s – Charles Spurgeon – showed the error in thinking that spiritually dead sinners can ‘accept’ Christ as their Saviour of their own “free” will. In that sermon, Spurgeon recited a pharisaical prayer in order to illustrate the human pride underlying the idea of any lost, unsaved, ungodly rebellious man exercising his “will” to choose Christ:

“Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to Hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; They had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am, It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not – that is the difference between me and them.”

May the above prayer never be our prayer.

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