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The Bible emphatically affirms human responsibility for sin and God's justice, but it also clearly rejects libertarian free will. Scripture clearly affirms that 1) God is sovereign over all affairs, including the affairs of man; and 2) man is responsible for his rebellion against a holy God. The fact that we cannot completely harmonize these two biblical truths should not cause us to reject either one.

Prior to the fall, man could be said to have had a "free" will in that he was free to obey God or disobey God. After the fall, man's will was corrupted by sin to the point where he fully lost the ability to willingly obey God. This doesn't mean that man can't outwardly obey God. Rather, man cannot perform any spiritual good that is acceptable to God or has any salvific merit. The Bible describes man's will as "dead in transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1) or as "slaves to sin" (Romans 6:17).

When God ordains all things that come to pass (Psalm 33:11; Ephesians 1:11), He not only ordains the ends, but the means as well. God ordains that certain things will happen and He also ordains how they will happen. Human choices are one of the means by which God accomplishes His will. For proof of this point, look no further than the exodus. God tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart so that God's glory in the deliverance of Israel would be manifest through him (Exodus 4:21). However, as the narrative continues, we see that Pharaoh hardens his own heart (Exodus 8:15). God's will and man's will converge.