Alan Dunn
Chapter 9: Of Free Will
The Structure of the Confession
Before we consider the content of the ninth chapter of The London Baptist Confession of 1689, we should appreciate where the doctrine of free will is placed in the overall structure of the Confession. Having, in the previous chapters, confessed the doctrines of Scripture, God and the Trinity, God’s Decree, Creation, Providence, Man’s Fall through sin into death, God’s Covenant, and Christ our Mediator, the Confession now deals with free will. This chapter is positioned immediately before the section that treats the subject of salvation. The Confession is about to speak of those aspects of salvation in which God is the actor (effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification), and those aspects of salvation in which man acts (saving faith, repentance, good works, perseverance). But before we study the doctrines of our salvation, we must first consider our free will.
The Implications of the Placement of Chapter Nine
Sadly, we often misunderstand and misrepresent the views of others. One misunderstanding about those of us who endorse our Confession is that we do not believe that man even has a free will. But our Confession validates the free will of man and views man’s free will as the context in which the salvation of God is experienced. Man does indeed have a free will. It is crucial that we understand how our wills act so that we can understand God’s saving dealings with us.
We are created as beings who freely choose and then act according. to our choices. Free choice is an essential aspect of our moral responsibility to God. As unconverted sinners, men freely choose to sin, and even though they are enslaved to sin, their wills yet freely submit to sin. So too as converted saints, we freely choose to obey God’s commandments and to serve the Lord, our new Master. As those created in God’s image, we never act as unthinking, unwilling robots, passively directed as though by some external imposing force. No. Essential to what it means to be human is the faculty of the will. What the Confession teaches us is that our wills always operate freely, but in accordance with our spiritual character. Sinners willingly sin. Saints willingly serve Christ. A Christian delights to learn how to live by grace in the privilege of willing service to Christ. Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power (Ps 110:3a). Before we ask what God does to save sinners and what a sinner does to be saved, we must first answer questions concerning man’s free will.
An Outline of Chapter Nine
The articles in this chapter read as follows:
1. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.
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 was unstable, so that he might fall from it.
3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath 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.
4. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He freeth 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 corruptions, he doth not perfectly, nor only will, that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.
5. This will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone in the state of glory only.
In the first article, the Confession defines free will. Free will is by definition, our personal liberty of choice.
In the remaining four articles, the confession describes the operations of free will in man’s four spiritual states. Man’s spiritual state is the key to understanding why man wills what he wills. Man’s spiritual state determines the moral direction of his will. Man will choose only that to which his spiritual state orients him. In article two we see man in the state of innocence. In that state, he freely chose that which honored God, but his will was as yet unstable. In article three we see man in the state of sin. Man has now fallen through sin into death. His will is conditioned by spiritual death and he freely chooses rebellion against God. In article four we see man in the state of grace. In this state, man has been born again and is converted. He now has a will which is endowed with a new ability to actually choose to do good and to be godly. The Christian man desires and chooses to honor God, but as he wrestles with remaining sin, he sometimes chooses to disobey God. In article five we see man in the state of glory. Finally, in the glorified state, man will freely choose only that which glorifies God. Then he will have a free will that will be perfectly aligned with the will of God. When we survey what the Confession says about man’s free will, we see that at every point in man’s spiritual development, his choices are determined by his spiritual state.
Article One: The Definition of Human Freedom
God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.
The will of man in article one, refers to the will of the first man, Adam. In other words, we are considering “human” will. What is the will of a human being? God endued refers to God’s act of creating man in His own image. Man’s free will must be defined in terms of what man is as the image bearer of God. Man’s will images God’s will. Since God exercises free will (LBC 3:1), we, His image bearers, also exercise our free wills. We must always maintain the distinction between God as Creator and man as the creature. We image God’s free will and therefore our free will is similar to God’s. But the will of God and the will of man are different since they are the wills of two very different beings. Divine free will is the will of the Creator. Human free will is the will of the creature. We must not confuse our creaturely will with the will of our Creator. We cannot think that God wills as a man or that man wills as a god. No. God wills as God and man wills as man. But as God, God wills freely. As God’s image bearers, men also will freely. We are not divine, but we do image God.
The Confession defines our free will as that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil. Our free will is part of what is natural, what is created. As created human beings, we freely exercise our wills. As image bearers of God, our wills determine our choices, and our choices determine our actions. We have the liberty and power of acting upon choice. In other words, we do what we want to do.
There are no created influences (any necessity of nature) which compel us to act against our wills. As God’s image bearer, Adam had dominion over the creatures (LBC 4:3). Like Adam, we are made to rule creation, not to be ruled by creation. We are made to image God’s rule by freely choosing to do God’s will and by bringing all creation to glorify its Creator. Human will is thus the determining factor in the affairs of created life. What we choose has immediate and far reaching consequences in this created realm because we image the God whose free will determines all. The Confession says that the human will is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil. There is no external coercion, or pressure in the created realm which forces us to act against our wills. Again, we do what we want to do.
The truth of our free will needs to be confessed in our day when people are encouraged to blameshift and make excuses for wicked and careless behavior. Since we are endued with free will, we must accept responsibility for our choices and conduct. We must not be quick to profile ourselves as victims, as those acted upon. No, we are actors: willing, bona fide actors.
Article Two: Free Will in the State of Innocence
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 was unstable, so that he might fall from it.
This description of man’s will prior to the Fall repeats the emphasis on the freedom and power to will and to do. Remember that this chapter is focusing on the nature of the will as defined in article one as the liberty to choose in keeping with man’s spiritual state. In the state of innocence, Adam was free to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God. Before the Fall, that is what Adam wanted to do, and that is what he did.
The Confession is not teaching that Adam’s will was morally neutral, but that his will was genuinely free. Adam’s will, like Adam himself, was made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness (LBC 4:2). God created man upright and perfect (LBC 6:1). Adam was not morally neutral. He was morally upright and he exercised his free will to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God. He was in a state of innocence: without sin, without guilt.
Yet this was an undeveloped, relatively immature state. Although innocent, he yet needed to learn and to mature in his capacity to image God more completely. This state of relative maturity means that Adam was created with the capacity to change and to grow. He would change according to the choices he made. His choices were made in keeping with his spiritual state in ethical innocence. But the capacity to change meant that this was an unstable, changeable state. The Confession describes his will as unstable, so that he might fall from his state of innocency. In 4:2 we learn of man in creation as being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change.
Perhaps the closest analogy we have by which to understand man in this innocent state is the life of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus the sinless and perfect man. He was born by the Holy Spirit without sin. Yet He needed to grow and develop as a man. He matured in wisdom (Luke 2:40,52) which means he developed in His ability to understand and apply the Scripture to the practical issues of life. He matured in His capacity to make righteous choices. Jesus never chose to sin, but He matured in His essential humanity as He chose to obey His heavenly Father. He always freely choose to do only the will of Him who sent Him. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded.
Article Three: Free Will in the State of Sin
Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath 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 words man, by his fall into a state of sin describe the choice that Adam freely made to eat of the forbidden fruit. As we see Adam take of that fruit and eat it, we observe the image of God acting with genuine, created freedom. We see him exercising his will and power to commit an act of unprecedented and unfathomable disobedience. Adam ate. Adam’s free will was neither forced nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil. Adam sinned because he wanted to sin. He chose to sin. Adam freely violated God’s command of Gen 2:17. He was not a victim. The Serpent did not hold him down while Eve forced the fruit into his mouth. Eve did not force him to eat against his will. The Devil did not make him do it. Indeed, the Devil could not make him do it. Adam acted out of the choice which he freely willed. Adam chose to disobey. Adam freely sinned.
I cannot explain the Fall. I cannot tell you why Adam chose to sin because sin is unexplainable. Sin does not make sense. I cannot explain sin and make it sound reasonable. Sin is essentially irrational. In the Fall we see the incomprehensible mystery of man’s created free will. In 1 Tim 2:14, Paul tells us it was not Adam who was deceived. Knowingly and deliberately, Adam chose to sin! John Murray writes, “How could a being perfectly holy and upright become sinful? We cannot tell. It constitutes an insoluble psychological and moral problem. Every reason was against the commission of sin. It was in the deepest sense, an irrationality” (Collected Works, Vol. 2, Banner of Truth Trust, 1977, p.75). Our Confession lays the blame squarely on the man: Adam, who without any compulsion, did willfully transgress the Law of their creation and the command given unto them, in eating the forbidden fruit (LBC 6:1). He acted in whole-souled rebellion and really “fell!”
The Confession simply describes the results of the Fall on the human will. Since this chapter precedes the chapters on salvation, it focuses on the human will in relation to salvation. Man hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation. Man lost the ability, the freedom to chose to save himself. When we read the exchange between Adam and God in Gen 3:9-12, we see a man who does not want God. Rather than receive his Creator when He came to the garden, Adam chose to cover himself with a fig leaf and to run from God. When God summoned him to give an account, Adam chose to be silent about the Serpent’s lies, and to shift the blame to Eve and then ultimately back to God. Why did Adam not own his sin, expose Satan, and seek to be restored to God? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Adam did not want to be restored to God. His will was now fallen. He had wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation.
The horrible truth about natural man is that he is altogether averse from that good. Natural man willingly opposes the salvation which God freely chooses to give. Fallen man is dead in sin, and is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself to be saved. He can do nothing to save himself. These words of the Confession express what has come to be known as the doctrine of total inability.
Total inability is closely related to the doctrine of total depravity. Total depravity means that every aspect of our humanity, our “total” humanity, is fallen into sin and conditioned by death. This includes our wills. While in the state of sin, our wills are depraved. Eph 2:1 says you were dead in your trespasses and sins. The Fall killed man’s ability to choose to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God. Spiritual death has rendered our wills totally without strength to change ourselves from a state of sin, guilt and death to a state of grace and salvation.
Jesus explained that the Pharisees were opposed to God’s salvation because of their wills. They willfully refused to receive Him as the Messiah. Their problem was not that they were without the Scriptures, or without the testimony of John the Baptist, or without the demonstration of Jesus’ signs and wonders. Their problem was that they simply did not want Jesus or His salvation. Jesus told them, You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life (John 5:39,40). If they had been willing to come to Him, they could have had eternal life. But they did what they wanted to do. They freely rejected Jesus.
The Bible uses metaphors to describe the state of sin. It is a state of death. It is a state of blindness and deafness. It is a state of slavery and bondage. (cf. Rom 6:16,20; John 8:31-34; Eph 2:1; 2 Cor 3:14; 4:3,4; Jn 3:3) Man in this state of sin is not oriented to God. He does not desire God. He does not want to be saved. Like Adam, man chooses idolatrous fig leaf religion in an attempt to hide from God. He willingly runs from God. All men who go to hell want to go to hell, in that they do not want God nor do they choose His salvation freely given in Jesus Christ. The state of sin is also a state of enmity. This may sound harsh, even shocking and insulting, but the truth is, man in the state of sin hates God (haters of God Rom 1:30). He does not want God and therefore he does not chose God. He has a mind set on the flesh (which) is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (cf. Jer 13:23; Mat 7:17,18; 12:33-37; Lk 6:43-45; Jn 3:3,5; 6:44; Rom 7:18; 8:7,8; 1 Cor 2:14).
Unconverted men generally despise and deny the doctrines of total inability and total depravity. It is thought that the responsibility to obey must assume man’s ability to obey. It is argued that if men are unable to respond to God’s salvation, then God would be unfair to require men to do something that they are unable to do. However, human responsibility to God is established in the fact that man was made in the image of God. Man is responsible to image God accurately, to be good and well-pleasing to God. The standard of what is good and well-pleasing to God did not fall. Man fell. Man’s responsibility to God did not change in the Fall, but man’s moral ability changed. Fallen man is still responsible to God, yet he is unable to fulfill his responsibility. He should, but he cannot love and obey his Creator. Paul rebukes men who argue with God on this issue. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? (Rom 9:19,20a) The Bible places moral responsibility upon morally unable men. Men are commanded to make for themselves a new heart (Ezek 18:31), but they cannot change their own hearts (Ezek 11:19). Men are called to believe (Acts 16:31), but they cannot believe (John 6:37,40,44,65). Men are called to repent (Acts 2:38), but they cannot repent (2 Tim 2:25,26).
Yet fallen man is still truly human. Even in his fallen state, he has a free will. But his free will is now directed by his fallen spiritual state. In this state of sin, man freely chooses sin and is unable to choose any spiritual good accompanying salvation. We must understand that man is responsible both for getting himself into the state of sin, and for the sins he commits while in this fallen state. He is responsible both for his spiritual condition and for his conduct. Consider the illustration of a drunk driver. He gets himself drunk and then drives and violates the traffic laws. A policeman stops him and is about to write him a traffic ticket. But the drunk man argues, “Officer! Why are you writing me a traffic ticket? You should not do that. Can you not see that I am drunk? YOu cannot hold me responsible for my driving. You cannot expect me to obey the traffic laws when I am drunk, can you?” Do you think the policemen would still issue a traffic ticket? Yes? Why? Because the driver is responsible both for getting himself drunk and for breaking the law while driving in that drunken state. So too with fallen man. He is responsible for having gotten himself into the state of sin, and now in that sinful state, he is responsible for breaking the laws of God. When the gospel is preached to men and they are urged, by the authority of the risen Lord, to repent and believe, they are responsible for how they freely respond to the gospel. When a fallen sinner chooses to reject the gospel, he does so freely, in keeping with his spiritual state, and he is responsible for that choice.
Total inability and total depravity do not mean that men are as bad as they could be in this world. Total depravity does not mean absolute depravity. God surrounds men with “common grace” and prevents them from committing many sins that their hearts would otherwise desire. God also enables men to do much that is ethically good. Unconverted men can be civilly heroic, honorable, and benevolent. But they cannot, by those virtues, be saved. A virtuous man can choose to build a hospital and fund an orphanage, but he cannot by his own strength convert himself. Unconverted men can choose to be relatively moral in their dealings with other men, but they cannot, and apart from saving grace, they do not, choose to be saved.
Some Christians have difficulty with this doctrine because of false assumptions. They wrongly envision an unconverted man who though willing to be saved, is yet unable to be saved. It appears unjust that a who wants to be saved is yet unable to be saved. It is concluded that somehow God must be keeping this willing man back from salvation. It is often thought that the doctrines of election and sovereign grace (which are taught along with the doctrines of total depravity and total inability) must be to blame for this imagined injustice. Therefore the theological system of the Confession must be rejected. But Scripture would have us understand that, in reality, there never will be such a man who wills to be saved, but cannot be saved. Rather, the truth is that if a man wants to be saved, then he certainly can be saved! The mere desire for salvation is evidence of the saving grace of God which is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil 2:13). Anyone who wants to come to Christ, can come to Christ.
Some Christians misunderstand the doctrine of total inability and become practical fatalists. They tend to view men as in an utterly hopeless state and so they refrain from evangelizing and preaching the gospel. The disciples were susceptible to this kind of despair. In Mark 10:24-27, Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking upon them, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” You see, if we were to rely upon men’s ability to be saved, salvation would be impossible. It is therefore necessary that men learn not to trust in themselves, because man is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto. Men must despair of saving themselves, and then realize that salvation is only possible with God. It is only when men realize that they cannot choose to save themselves that there is true hope. It is God alone who saves sinners. When a sinner hears the gospel, he hears the promises of the God who wants him to believe and repent. If that sinner wants to respond to the gospel, he can! His mere desire to respond by faith is evidence of the mysterious working of the sovereign Spirit. In his case, God is sovereignly making the call of the gospel effectual. The Spirit is opening his eyes, giving him ears to hear, resurrecting his spiritually dead heart and causing his will to want to be saved. If a sinner wants to be saved, he can choose to trust in the God who calls him and be saved! His choice is thus a response to God’s sovereign choice and to God’s effectual call. It is God who then receives the praise, not men. Men cannot save themselves. God saves sinners and enables them to repent and trust in Jesus.
Article Four: Free Will in the State of Grace
When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He freeth 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 corruptions, he doth not perfectly, nor only will, that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.
The Confession testifies that it is God who changes a man’s state from sin to grace: when God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace. We do not congratulate ourselves for our salvation, but we give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:12-14) Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory because of Thy lovingkindness, because of Thy truth. (Psalm 115:1)
In the state of grace, God liberates the will from its natural bondage under sin. Jesus says Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. But, if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (Jn 8:34,36) When a sinner is converted by grace, it is because he has been born again, and has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. He is now dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11). As such, he has a new spiritual and moral nature and his will now functions according to this new life principle.
In each state, man’s will is directed by his spiritual disposition and moral state. The will is not forced by external factors, but operates in keeping with the moral nature of the heart. That is what free will is – the liberty to act according to one’s wants and desires. Free will is not the ability to chose the moral opposite of one’s spiritual state. Spiritually dead men cannot and do not chose that which is spiritually good. But when a man is translated into a state of grace, grace enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good. In other words, with a new spiritual nature, a born again sinner wants to do good. He freely chooses, according to the desires of his regenerated nature, to repent of sin, to trust Christ, and to do that which is spiritually good.
It is thus by a man’s choices that we see whether or not he is truly converted. If he is converted, he will choose to do what is spiritually good and thus evidence that God has translated him into the state of grace. He will act according to his new nature. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Mt 7:17-20) Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. (Mt 12:33-35) The spiritual condition of the heart directs the moral content of the life: one’s choices, one’s speech; one’s behavior.
If this is so, then why do Christians still choose to sin? We still sin because we are still being sanctified. Although we have a new nature in Christ and are free to act according to that new nature, we yet contend with this body of death (Rom 7:24) in which the principle of sin remains until the resurrection of the body at the second coming of Christ. The Confession therefore acknowledges our remaining corruptions. Because of remaining sin within us, the Christian is not perfect in the doing of that which is spiritually good. Even in our most sincere service to God, we doth not perfectly that which is good. While doing those things which are supremely good like praying or preaching, we can simultaneously be sinning. Pride is certainly a remaining sin that will plague us as Christians. While preaching, we can be congratulating ourselves for our religious piety. Worse yet, a Christian can still willingly, freely sin. He doth not only will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil. Christians can deny Christ and dishonor His name, like Peter. Christians can profane the Sabbath; disobey human authorities; indulge unrighteous anger and impure lust; steal; lie; and seethe with envy and covetousness.
Christians ought not to sin because we who have been delivered from sin ought not to choose to sin. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Rom 6:1,2) But the fact is, the Christian contends with sin, not only the sin external to him in the world, but the sin yet internal to him in his heart. He fights a spiritual war within himself. Paul describes his own war with remaining sin in Rom 7:14-25. He wants to do good, but often finds himself not doing what he wants to do, but doing what he does not want to do. We must therefore learn to live by the power of the Spirit (Rom 8:9-13). We must prove the genuineness of our profession by choosing to live according to grace by faith. The righteous man shall live by faith (Rom 1:17). But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Gal 5:16,17) What are the things that please a Christian? A Christian is pleased with loving obedience and faithful service to Christ. However, due to remaining sin, we do not always chose loving obedience and faithful service. This is a cause of grief which brings us continually to the cross of Christ in repentance and renewed faith in Him who pardons and saves (cf. 1 Jn 1:9). There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1) Although we yet struggle with remaining sin, we are yet joined to Christ and are justified in Him. We believe that. We must now demonstrate that belief and work out (our) salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in (us), both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Phil 2:12,13) We therefore press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14) Paul wrestled with remaining sin, but Paul overcame by faith and triumphed by grace. He fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7). By God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we can do the same!
Article Five: Free Will in the State of Glory
This will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone in the state of glory only.
The constant warfare of the Christian life makes us live with constant longing for the second coming of our Lord. We yearn for that day when Christ will glorify Himself in us; when He will complete our sanctification by resurrecting us from the dead; when He will bring us into the state of glory. Finally in that state our wills will be made perfectly and immutably free to good alone. In the state of glory, we will no longer sin. We will purely and constantly will only what is good. We will no longer serve Christ with the imperfection of this present body. We will choose to obey God perfectly: sinless in motive and in act; and immutably: never to change or vary. Our wills will not fluctuate in glory as they do in this present age as we wrestle with remaining sin and temptation. In the state of glory, every free choice we make will be a choice of perfect sinless obedience to God – for all eternity.
If we are to understand salvation, we must understand man’s free will. This is why chapter nine precedes the next chapters which treat the several doctrines of salvation. We, as human image bearers of God, freely make choices according to the spiritual condition of our hearts. We no longer have wills like that of Adam before the Fall. Ours is a fallen will, naturally bent upon enmity with God and disobedience to His Word, naturally intent upon worshipping self and satisfying pride. But, as Christians, God has changed us. He has transferred us into the state of grace, joined us to the crucified and risen Savior, and given us His Spirit. He enables us to live by grace through faith and to learn to choose, by the power of the Spirit, to put the deeds of the body to death (Rom 8:13), and to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-25). By faith, we can choose to run our race and to fight the good fight. We can choose to obey Christ, not our old master, sin (Rom 6:15-23). We can live by faith as Christ’s free men (1 Pet 2:16). We can live with the wondrous hope of the resurrection before us, anticipating the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom 8:21). We can live in the hope of an eternity of perfect communion and sinless service to Christ in glorified bodies in a new heaven and new earth. Brethren, with such abundant encouragement of grace, let us freely choose Christ!
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:7-14) AMEN
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