Does God's Sovereignty Destroy Human Agency?

A common objection to God's exhaustive control over all events is the claim that such determinism would make humans "robots." However, the Historical Calvinist never claims that man does not possess a will or that he is coerced into making decisions. Man makes decisions according to his nature and desires. Therefore, in one sense it may be properly said that man's will is free, if we just mean this in the sense that his choices are voluntary. However, the libertarian position that assumes man's will must be autonomous and independent from his character and any other outside influences is clearly false. Man's will is bound by his condition and his condition is evil. Because man freely chooses evil (in the sense that he is not forced or coerced), he is responsible for his actions. But because man is dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and a hater of God (Rmns 1:30), he does not have the desire or the ability to do anything other than evil. Jesus explained this best when he said:

43 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45; ESV)

Of course he may do actions that are morally redeeming from a human perspective. However, these actions are not morally pleasing in the sight of God because unregenerate man cannot have faith (Rmns 8:7) and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Rmns. 14:23). How accurate was the prophet Isaiah then when he said, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away (Is. 64:6)." If even our righteous deeds are tainted with sin, how much more repugnant are the rest of our actions? There is a striking conclusion we must draw from all this: man's remedy does not lie in the will. As Walter Chantry said:

Our LORD has taught that the tree must be made good. Man must be renewed in his entire character. He must have a new heart to bring forth good fruit; the will cannot make the tree good; it may only exercise liberty to be what the tree already is. The will cannot reload the treasure chest with a new kind of goods; it may only freely bring forth what is there. The will cannot cleanse the fountainhead; it may overflow only with the waters available in the soul. (Walter Chantry, "Man's Will-Free Yet Bound")

How then can anyone be saved? I will respond with this with the same response our Lord Jesus gave, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Mtthw 19:26)." Soli deo gloria!