means, when they say that man is free. Are there various concepts of freedom?
Obviously there are various concepts of freedom, and most of them have little to do with the present topic. For example, we say today that American citizens are free men, but that the victims of communistic governments are not free. Freedom therefore has a political and an economic sense; but that is not what concerns us here.
More to the point is whether or not the will of man is free from his intellect. Theologians in the past have discussed this at length. But that the will is free from the intellect is not what the Confession means by natural liberty. Calvin, for example, asserted that "the intellect rules the will;" Charles Hodge said that man's "will was subject to his reason;" and Robert J. Breckenridge taught that our primary conception of will includes the notion of its being directed by intelligence. The theology behind all this may be a little intricate, and the matter is mentioned only to show that freedom from intellect is not what Presbyterians mean by the concept of freedom.
Then does freedom, free will, or natural liberty mean that man is free from sin? Or, more pertinently, does it mean that man is free not to sin? Perhaps an Arminian might claim that man has a free will in the sense that he can choose not to sin. But the Confession, in the same chapter, section iii, says, "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 . . . is not able by his own strength to convert himself or to prepare himself thereunto." Some Arminians seem to say that a sinner can choose to prepare himself for conversion; but the Bible says that man is dead in sin and needs to be raised from the dead. A dead man cannot choose to be raised.
Freedom from sin, complete freedom, is attained only in heaven; but even in heaven a completely free and undetermined will cannot be found. It is equally impossible for the glorified saint to choose to sin as it was for the unregenerate to choose not to sin. As St. Augustine said, the condition of man in heaven is non posse peccare: not able to sin. Heaven would be a precarious place if its citizens had this sort of free will.
What then does the Confession mean by the natural liberty of the will. The remainder of the section quoted answers this question as well as two lines can. Man's will "is neither forced nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined." These words were written to repudiate those philosophies which explain human conduct in terms of physico-chemical law. Although the Westminster divines did not know twentieth century behaviorism, nor even Spinoza, they very probably knew Thomass Hobbes, and they certainly knew earlier materialistic theories. That man's conduct is determined by inanimate forces is what the Confession denies. Man is not a machine; his motions cannot be described by mathematical equations as the motions of the planets can. His hopes, plans, and activities are not controlled by physical conditions. He is not determined by any absolute necessity of nature.
But this does not mean that man is free from God. The Confession does not deny, but on the contrary explicitly affirms that God controls the will of man. To say that physics and chemistry do not explain conduct is not to rule out God's grace. Section iv states that by his grace alone God enables a man freely to will what is good; the Holy Spirit effectually calls elect sinners to faith in Christ (III vi); he makes them willing and able to believe (VII iii); Christ certainly and effectually applies salvation to his people (VIII viii); and similar expressions occur in later chapters.
Unless God "governs all creatures, actions, and things" (V i), or "all his creatures and all their actions" (Shorter Catechism 11), he would not be actually omnipotent, nor could we be sure his prophecies would infallibly come true. An interesting though obscure case of God's control over the will of men is found in Exodus 34:24. The men of Israel are commanded to appear before the Lord three times a year. As such an occasion would offer an excellent opportunity for an enemy attack, the Lord assures his people that their enemies will not desire to attack at those times. In II Sam. 17:14 Absalom chose the worse advice because the Lord had planned to defeat the better counsel in order to bring evil on Absalom. God also caused Rehoboam to adopt evil counsel (II Chron. 10:15) in order to fulfil his promise to Jeroboam. Better known than these cases are the words of Paul in Phil. 2:12,13, "Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do."
Man has a natural liberty not acknowledged by materialistic philosophy, but Christians should never construe that liberty to the detriment of God's omnipotence and grace.
