Dynamic Doctrines of the Faith

Topic #2: Free Will (Part 1)

Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, was a debate with Erasmus of Rotterdam on the will of fallen man.

"Augustine [Aurelius Augustinus (354 – 430), Bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa] defined ‘free will’ as the ability to make voluntary decisions free from external constraint or coercion."[Willing to Believe, Sproul, RC, Baker Books, 1997, p. 62.]

Q: What do we mean by "fallen man" and "The Fall"?

Key Question: "How fallen are we?"

Pelagius. AD 354-?. A monk. Incited by Augustine’s prayer, "Grant what thou commandest, and command what thou dost desire."

Pelagius declared 18 premises. We will NOT look at them all. Some premises:[IBID, p. 41.]

  1. Human nature is indestructibly good.
  2. There can be sinless man.
  3. Adam’s progeny did not inherit from him natural death.
  4. Neither Adam’s sin nor his guilt was transmitted.
  5. All men are created as Adam was before the fall.
  6. The grace of God facilitates goodness but is not necessary to achieve it.
  7. The grace of creation yields perfect men.
  8. Grace is given according to justice and merit.

Pelagius’ bottom line: All are naturally and essentially capable of obedience.

Augustine. AD 354-430.

Some essential premises:

Q: We call this doctrine, the Doctrine of _________________ Sin.

Man before the Fall

Has free will.

Able to sin

Able to not sin.

(NOT "inability to sin.")

"The will, therefore, is then truly free, when it is not the slave of vices and sin. Such was it given to us by God; and this being lost by its own fault, can only be restored by Him who was able to first give it." [Augustine, The City of God, trans. Marcus Dods et al., in Augustine, Basic Writings, 2:255-56 (14.11). Quoted in Sproul.]

Man after the Fall

Has free will.

In slavery to sin.

Able to sin.

Unable to not sin.

Romans 3:10-18: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

1CO 15:22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

ROM 5:12-19. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

 

Q: Why did Adam and Eve have the ability to not sin? Why is fallen man unable?

GAL 5:1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Q: Liberty versus freedom? What’s the difference?

Q: Freedom versus ability? What’s the difference?

GEN 6:5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1 KI 8:46. "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin) …

ROM 3:23. … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

JER 13:23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Q: Can fallen man do good?

 

Regenerate Man

Has free will.

Able to sin

Able to not sin.

(NOT "inability to sin.")

Glorified Man
(in Heaven)

Has free will.

Inability to sin!

God

Has free will.

Inability to sin.

Q: Why would Sproul write that Heaven will not be "Paradise Restored"; it will not be like going back to Eden?

Q: How is our condition as believers now different from our condition when we are in Heaven with respect to free will and sin?

Q: How is it different from God’s condition with respect to free will and sin?

 

 

Pelagianism was declared a heresy by the third ecumenical counsel in Ephesus in AD 431, one year after Augustine’s death. The heresy of Semi-Pelagianism is alive and well in the evangelical church. (More on that when we cover "Election.")

Next week: Free Will, Part 2 – The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 9.

 [All Scripture quotes from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.]