Free Will

God has endowed the will of man with a natural liberty and power of acting upon choice so that it is neither forced nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.¹

Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God.² But this innocence was unstable so that he might fall from it.³

Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation.⁴ Such a natural man is altogether averse from that good and dead in sin.⁵ He is not able by his own strength to convert himself or to prepare himself for it.⁶

When God converts a sinner and transfers him into the state of grace, he frees him from his natural bondage under sin.⁷ God’s grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good.⁸ However, due to his remaining corruptions, he does not perfectly nor exclusively will that which is good, but he also wills that which is evil.⁹

Only in the state of glory will the will of man be made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone.¹⁰

1. Matthew 17:12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. James 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live ↩︎
2. Ecclesiastes 7:29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. ↩︎
3. Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ↩︎
4. Romans 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ↩︎
5. Ephesians 2:1, 5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…. But God…even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.  ↩︎
6. Titus 3:3–5 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ↩︎
7. Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.  John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  ↩︎
8. Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  ↩︎
9. Romans 7:15–23 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ↩︎
10. Ephesians 4:13 Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. ↩︎