Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 9)

Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 9

Of Free Will

(Part  2)

III. 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.

The third paragraph deals with the effect of the fall on man’s will. This is where the distinctive view of Reformed theology concerning fallen man’s abilities is grounded. The fall of Adam affected his will so that, following his rebellion against God, he lost the ability to will any spiritual good that might result in his salvation. When Adam exercised his will and chose to disobey God, he was sealed in that decision, so to speak, and was unable to undo that decision. It is important to note that it was Adam’s sin that brought about the bondage of his will to sin; as created, and as the opening paragraph teaches, man’s will had liberty prior to Adam’s transgression.

We don’t want to misunderstand what is being said here. It is not that Adam sinned against God, regretted what he had done and wished, thereafter, to make things right. It is not that Adam wanted to go back and undo what he had done once he saw the consequences of his actions. The Confession is saying that Adam’s exercise of his will to choose evil permanently bound him in that state of rebellion against God so that he was, from that point forward, predisposed to evil and unable, even unwilling, to choose the good. This is the doctrine of total depravity.

When Adam disobeyed God, he died, spiritually speaking, just as God had warned him. Once he died, there was no turning back; Adam remained in that state of spiritual death and did not have the power to bring himself back to life. He could not restore his broken fellowship with his Creator. Adam’s will, from the time of his transgression, was permanently turned against God and against good. This is the state of every descendant of Adam. (It should be noted that this paragraph is, of course, relying upon Chapter VI, which forms a foundation for the brief remarks that are made here.)

IV. 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, as that by reason of his remaining corruption, he does not perfectly, or only, will that which is good, but does also will that which is evil.

At conversion, the sinner is awakened from his spiritual death and translated into a state of grace. In that regenerated condition, the sinner is freed from the consequences of Adam’s fall to the extent that he is supernaturally enabled to exercise freedom of choice once again. So, the converted sinner is in a state in which he can choose the good or choose the evil, just like Adam in the Garden of Eden. The difference is, of course, that the converted sinner has been brought to life by God and will be preserved in that state eternally by the power of God. Therefore, the freedom of will that belongs to the converted sinner has to do with those choices he makes within the context of his salvation. He can choose to obey God and he can choose to disobey God. In this sense, then, the saved sinner is returned to a position of free will.

The difference between man in the state of grace and man in the state of innocence is that man in the state of grace must battle against the continuing influence of the sin that is found in his flesh. Whereas Adam had freedom of choice, within the bounds of the nature of his will, and had no indwelling sin to deal with, the regenerated sinner has a freedom of choice that is burdened by his corruption as a son of Adam. The Bible teaches that it is the supernatural aid of God through His Spirit that enables the regenerated sinner to persevere even under these conditions and be eternally saved.

V. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone in the state of glory only.

This final paragraph states that man’s will is confirmed in holiness so that he is not susceptible to choosing evil only when his earthly life has ended and he has entered heaven. Only then does the corruption of the flesh cease to be a threat to the regenerated sinner so that he no longer has to battle against it in his pursuit of holiness.