All those whom God has predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.
That God effectively calls men and women unto himself reflects his goodness. Election and all that it entails are based upon God's good pleasure. He is not obligated to save any, but is free to save whom he chooses. God has not overlooked any of his people, nor does he amend his perfect decisions. His choice is not conditioned by anything foreseen in a man; it arises purely out of his own purposes and pleasure. This is the great difference between the Calvinist and Arminian perspectives on election. And all of this happens at the "appointed and accepted time."
God uses the means of word and Spirit to accomplish his purposes in his chosen ones. God so directs events that his elect are exposed to the preaching of the gospel. It may therefore be supposed that where the gospel is not preached or the word is not seen or heard God has no people, for God cannot be thwarted. God calls men out of their natural state of sin and death unto grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.
The Spirit's work within a man or woman so chosen is prevenient, monergistic, mysterious, sovereign, and effectual. By this work minds are enlightened, affording the ability to understand the things of God; hearts of stone are taken away and replaced by hearts of flesh; wills are renewed, such that the ability to will and do the good is restored; and men are thereby determined to that which is good by the almighty power of God.
The inevitable response is like that of a spiritual resurrection--once dead in sin and trespasses, the person is made alive in Christ. What does a dead man contribute to his resurrection but his own stinking corpse? By the Spirit are men effectively drawn to Christ, coming freely, being made willing by God's grace. They are spiritually quickened and renewed. And they are enabled to answer the call of God and embrace the offer of grace.
Praise God that he mercifully works within sinful men to save them and does not leave them in the wreck and ruin of their corruption!
Tomorrow: The outward call.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The Confession on Free Will
One of the more persistent canards perpetuated by theological opponents of Reformed Christianity is that it denies free will. As we have demonstrated through our discussion of chapter IX this is simply not the case unless one insists that the only acceptable definition of free will is the so-called libertarian definition that is more or less synonymous with autonomy of the creature. No creature is independent of his Creator.
Even in his fallen state man retains real liberty. He makes legitimate choices. He does what he wants to do. What Reformed Christianity, and the Westminster Confession of Faith, emphasize is that man is bound by his nature, and fallen man has a thoroughly sinful nature. He cannot will or do the good because it is not in him to will or do the good. Only when the Holy Spirit sovereignly regenerates a man and restores to him man's original ability to will and do the good is his rendered capable of obeying God; even then, the war between the new nature and the old sin nature results in many lapses along the way.
The day after tomorrow: How God calls a man to himself.
Even in his fallen state man retains real liberty. He makes legitimate choices. He does what he wants to do. What Reformed Christianity, and the Westminster Confession of Faith, emphasize is that man is bound by his nature, and fallen man has a thoroughly sinful nature. He cannot will or do the good because it is not in him to will or do the good. Only when the Holy Spirit sovereignly regenerates a man and restores to him man's original ability to will and do the good is his rendered capable of obeying God; even then, the war between the new nature and the old sin nature results in many lapses along the way.
The day after tomorrow: How God calls a man to himself.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Of Free Will, IX:5
The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone, in the state of glory only.
Man in glory is a free moral agent who is perfected in his abilities in like manner to the nature of Christ himself and is "forever perfectly free and immutably disposed to perfect holiness." Think of it--an eternity of living precisely as our Creator intended us to live with no fear of messing up. We will be allowed to realize our full potential, the handicap of sin and corruption having been put far behind us. We will enter fully into the joy of the Lord.
Tomorrow: Free will summarized.
Man in glory is a free moral agent who is perfected in his abilities in like manner to the nature of Christ himself and is "forever perfectly free and immutably disposed to perfect holiness." Think of it--an eternity of living precisely as our Creator intended us to live with no fear of messing up. We will be allowed to realize our full potential, the handicap of sin and corruption having been put far behind us. We will enter fully into the joy of the Lord.
Tomorrow: Free will summarized.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Of Free Will, IX:4
When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so, that by reason of his remaining corruption, he does not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but does also will that which is evil.
The Confession here speaks of the man regenerated by the Spirit of God. Freed from his bondage to sin, the Christian regains the ability to will and do the good. He is restored to a situation similar (not identical) to that of pre-fall Adam. Yet the residual effects of sin--the old nature--remain, so there is a conflict of tendencies. Sanctification in the life of the Christian leads to increasing victory over sin, though progress may be slow and sporadic, accompanied by setbacks.
Tomorrow: The will of the glorified man.
The Confession here speaks of the man regenerated by the Spirit of God. Freed from his bondage to sin, the Christian regains the ability to will and do the good. He is restored to a situation similar (not identical) to that of pre-fall Adam. Yet the residual effects of sin--the old nature--remain, so there is a conflict of tendencies. Sanctification in the life of the Christian leads to increasing victory over sin, though progress may be slow and sporadic, accompanied by setbacks.
Tomorrow: The will of the glorified man.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Of Free Will, IX:3
Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.
Fallen man retains his freedom; he is able to choose and act upon his choices. What he lost in the fall was his ability to will the good. He is free to will and do the good but cannot--his fallen nature will not permit it. Recall what was said in chapter VI, paragraph 4: "[U]tterly indisposed, diasabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil." The natural man (man in his current fallen state) cannot will any spiritual good accompanying salvation--none seeks after God, none are able to subject themselves to the law of God, and none can please God (see Romans 3). All are dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul says in Ephesians 2. Furthermore, fallen man lacks the spiritual wherewithal to effect his own conversion. A dead man does not breathe.
Tomorrow: The breath of new life.
Fallen man retains his freedom; he is able to choose and act upon his choices. What he lost in the fall was his ability to will the good. He is free to will and do the good but cannot--his fallen nature will not permit it. Recall what was said in chapter VI, paragraph 4: "[U]tterly indisposed, diasabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil." The natural man (man in his current fallen state) cannot will any spiritual good accompanying salvation--none seeks after God, none are able to subject themselves to the law of God, and none can please God (see Romans 3). All are dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul says in Ephesians 2. Furthermore, fallen man lacks the spiritual wherewithal to effect his own conversion. A dead man does not breathe.
Tomorrow: The breath of new life.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Of Free Will, IX:2
Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God; but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.
The Confession here embarks upon a discussion of the four states of man, starting with the state of original innocency. Adam was created as good. Prior to the fall, he had both the freedom and ability to obey God perfectly, yet it was within him to change subject to external temptations and the stimulation of his creaturely nature. Because we now have no experience of such a state it is not possible for us to comprehend either it or what exactly happened that produced the fall.
Tomorrow: The effects of the fall.
The Confession here embarks upon a discussion of the four states of man, starting with the state of original innocency. Adam was created as good. Prior to the fall, he had both the freedom and ability to obey God perfectly, yet it was within him to change subject to external temptations and the stimulation of his creaturely nature. Because we now have no experience of such a state it is not possible for us to comprehend either it or what exactly happened that produced the fall.
Tomorrow: The effects of the fall.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Of Free Will, IX:1
God has endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil.
Before proceeding with our discussion of this deceptively-brief paragraph, I'll set out a few definitions.
1. The will is a component of man's being, one of his faculties. It is the capacity of choice. Some synonyms include intentionality and inclination. Jonathan Edwards famously described the will as "the mind choosing." We always choose according to our strongest inclination at the moment; whatever we most want to do at any given moment, that we do.
2. Liberty is freedom, the state of lacking external coercion, not being forced to do anything. There are varying degrees of freedom, however. God is free, we are free, but God is more free than we are because he is a higher order of being.
3. Ability, on the other hand, is capacity or endowment. If one is able, one can. If one is not able, one cannot.
4. Autonomy is "self law." To be autonomous is to be completely free of any constraint outside oneself, beholden or responsible to no one else.
5. Determinism is the belief that all events in a finite world must be caused by previous states of affairs. In other words, there are no uncaused events. This would seem simply to be a statement of the law of causality, but there is an undercurrent of a lack of freedom that appears in some people's use of the word. There are two related concepts:
a. fatalism--the false view that because all things are caused human choices have no meaning or are irrelevant to the outcome. Fate is often conceived of as blind mechanical necessity. Karma and destiny are ideas linked to fatalism. But God is not fate, for he is a person.
b. self-determination--the idea that a man's choices are determined by himself. This is really the same thing as freedom. In fact, we often define freedom as self-determination.
So, taking all these into consideration, in what sense is the will free? We always do what we want to do; we choose according to our natures. There is no external coercion upon our wills. Our choices are real and are really ours. But this does not mean that we are able to make all types of choices. It is crucial not to confuse liberty with ability.
Hence the Confession affirms that God created man with liberty. He made free choices according to his nature, which was originally created good and righteous. This is the subject of our next discussion.
Tomorrow: Man's original state of innocence.
Before proceeding with our discussion of this deceptively-brief paragraph, I'll set out a few definitions.
1. The will is a component of man's being, one of his faculties. It is the capacity of choice. Some synonyms include intentionality and inclination. Jonathan Edwards famously described the will as "the mind choosing." We always choose according to our strongest inclination at the moment; whatever we most want to do at any given moment, that we do.
2. Liberty is freedom, the state of lacking external coercion, not being forced to do anything. There are varying degrees of freedom, however. God is free, we are free, but God is more free than we are because he is a higher order of being.
3. Ability, on the other hand, is capacity or endowment. If one is able, one can. If one is not able, one cannot.
4. Autonomy is "self law." To be autonomous is to be completely free of any constraint outside oneself, beholden or responsible to no one else.
5. Determinism is the belief that all events in a finite world must be caused by previous states of affairs. In other words, there are no uncaused events. This would seem simply to be a statement of the law of causality, but there is an undercurrent of a lack of freedom that appears in some people's use of the word. There are two related concepts:
a. fatalism--the false view that because all things are caused human choices have no meaning or are irrelevant to the outcome. Fate is often conceived of as blind mechanical necessity. Karma and destiny are ideas linked to fatalism. But God is not fate, for he is a person.
b. self-determination--the idea that a man's choices are determined by himself. This is really the same thing as freedom. In fact, we often define freedom as self-determination.
So, taking all these into consideration, in what sense is the will free? We always do what we want to do; we choose according to our natures. There is no external coercion upon our wills. Our choices are real and are really ours. But this does not mean that we are able to make all types of choices. It is crucial not to confuse liberty with ability.
Hence the Confession affirms that God created man with liberty. He made free choices according to his nature, which was originally created good and righteous. This is the subject of our next discussion.
Tomorrow: Man's original state of innocence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
