Westminster Confession of Faith Adult Sunday School class Chapter 9

1. Theology of the
Westminster Confession
Adult Sunday School
2017

2. Free Will
Salvation
WCF
9

3. Free Will
• What do we mean by “free will”? What are we
talking about here?
• Man-in-the-street definition: The ability to
choose (or resolve) and carry out those choices
autonomously – without any coercion or control
by any other.
• Pelagius’ definition: The ability to choose and
carry out all of God’s commands and thereby
satisfy them fully, out of the natural ability
inherent within one’s self
WCF
9
Salvation

4. Free Will
• What do we mean by “free will”? What are we
talking about here?
• John Wesley’s definition: The ability to choose
to obey all of God’s commands, but needs God’s
grace in order to have the ability to do them,
and then to be able to fulfil the commands.
• Reformed definition: The ability to choose and
to do ONLY what fall’s short of God’s commands
– the INABILITY to choose and do what fully
satisfies God’s commands.
WCF
9
Salvation

5. Free Will
• 9.1 God-given free will – a natural liberty,
neither good nor evil in itself
• 9.2 Before the Fall, mankind was:
able not to sin, and
able to sin
• 9.3 After the Fall, mankind was:
able not to sin, and
able to sin
WCF
9.1-3
Salvation

6. Free Will
Therefore, we are
• averse to all that is divinely good and wholly good
• dead in sin
• unable to convert to faith, or even prepare to do so
• John 6:43-45: Jesus answered them, “Do not
grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will
raise him up on the last day. It is written in the
Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’
Everyone who has heard and learned from the
Father comes to me.
WCF
9.3
Salvation

7. Free Will
• Wait a minute! Don’t we believe that even the
unregenerate can do good things? Yes, but…!
• It depends on who’s definition of “good” we use! If
we use the man-in-the-street’s definition of good,
then we can say a man who donates millions of
dollars to build a new hospital wing has done a good
thing. But if we use the Bible’s definition of “good”,
we have to recognize that such a good thing that was
done is still tainted by sin – by selfishness (what a
great tax-write-off), or self-aggrandizement (The
John F Kadiddle-Hopper Hospital Wing), or out of a
sense of guilt (making up for past evils). Not wholly
out of a sense of obedience to God.
WCF
9.3
Salvation

8. Free Will
• When God converts a sinner, He frees him from
sin, and restores
“able not to sin”, but in part.
• There is still remaining corruption, so we do not
do what is spiritually good perfectly, but yet
truly.
• We also remain
“able to sin”;
we have the leaning to go that way.
WCF
9.4
Salvation

9. Of Free Will
• Only in heaven* will God make us “not able to
sin”.
• Editorial comment: the redeemed long for
that day (check your switch).
* either where our souls go when they depart from
the body, or a later time, where our souls are
rejoined with our glorified bodies
WCF
9.5
Salvation

10. Summary of key points
• 9.1 God-given free will – a natural liberty,
neither good nor evil in itself
• 9.2 Before the Fall, mankind was: able not to
sin, and able to sin
• 9.3 After the Fall, mankind was able only to sin
• 9.4 When God converts a sinner, He frees him
from sin, and restores “able not to sin”, but in
part.
• 9.5 Only in heaven will God make us “not able
to sin”.
WCF
9
Salvation