Choose this day whom you will serve
Joshua 24:14–24 regarding the call to choose:
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness… Choose this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
(Joshua 24:14–15)
This verse is often quoted to support human free will, but it must be read in context.
Immediately after the people respond confidently, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord…” (v. 16), Joshua corrects them:
“You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.”
(Joshua 24:19)
Even after Joshua says they cannot serve the Lord, they again insist:
“No, but we will serve the Lord.”
(v. 21)
To which Joshua replies:
“You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him.”
(v. 22)
And the narrative ends with Joshua establishing a witness against them (v. 27), which proves prophetic, for in the very next generation, Israel falls into idolatry (Judges 2:10–13).
Joshua is not merely offering a neutral choice. He is confronting the people with the holiness of God, exposing their inability to serve Him in their own strength. This passage isn’t about the power of free will; it’s about the danger of presumption.
The people say they will serve the Lord, but Joshua says:
“You are not able to serve the Lord, for He is holy.”
Their hearts are not changed. Their choice is not accompanied by the necessary grace to follow through.
This is a dramatic instance of the law exposing sin, preparing the way for the gospel.
Always read Scripture in context; a doctrine built on an isolated verse can be misleading.
What about the Old Testament call to “Choose life”?
Deuteronomy 30:19 says:
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”
At first glance, this seems to affirm human ability, but it must be read in context.
Just a few verses earlier, in Deuteronomy 29:4, Moses declares:
“But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.”
God commands them to choose, yet also reveals that they cannot, unless He first gives the heart to do so.
This is not a contradiction. It’s the profound tension of law and gospel:
- The law commands what is righteous and good;
- The gospel supplies what the law demands.
This gospel promise shines through just a few verses later in Deuteronomy 30:6:
“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
The command to “choose life” reveals their inability and prepares them for the promise: God Himself must act.
This promise is echoed and expanded in Ezekiel 36:26–27:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
As long as the heart is stone, there is no movement toward God. But when God gives the heart and puts His Spirit within, He causes the sinner to walk in His ways. Grace precedes obedience. Regeneration precedes faith.
Historical Context: The doctrine of regeneration preceding faith is not a novel idea; it has been supported by significant theologians throughout history, including Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. These figures have contributed to the understanding that faith is a result of God's sovereign act of regeneration
Further Reading: Dr. R. C. Sproul on Regeneration precedes faith
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