# Question on free-will



## interested_one (Jan 21, 2005)

I was wondering about this, but when we speak of man's free will in regards to salvation, are we (Calvinists) saying that a man cannot come to Christ apart from the Holy Spirit? Are we also saying that afterwards that a man is still responisible (after the work of the Holy Spirit) to exercise faith and continue on in reaching the mark? So is the extent of the Holy Spirit's work merely on the part of regeneration (the part that man cannot do on his own)? We are not saying that the Holy Spirit overrides the individual's will after regeneration and therefore, moving him to do good works... I am not sure if I made my question clear. Can we say that man does have a free will and the qualify it in a sense? I know that people will refer me to Edwards, Owen, Calvin, Luther, etc., but I just want to know if we in a sense have a free will. To what extent is our will free? If you could clarify this fo rme I would appreciate it.

Dylan


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## ReformedWretch (Jan 21, 2005)

Go here please;

http://www.puritanboard.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=8615


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## bond-servant (Jan 21, 2005)

Good thread Adam


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## interested_one (Jan 21, 2005)

While I appreciate your reference to the link, houseparent, I don't think it quite addresses my question. I am in agreement with that post, in fact I read it before I posted this post. My concern is the act of the will post regeneration. The general recognition of radical depravity is acknowledged, but I am wondering is a person then responsible to the grace from God to live to godliness afterward, it may seem very easy question, but I have been having a discussion with my roommate and he find the idea of depravity in violation of man's will, while we were able to get ahead of that concern, the next thing was addressing well what about the Christian afterwards? His question simply stated: "In the Spirits regeneration of the individual, what was the nature of the change (whole or partial)? The question now is what role does the Christian play in their salvation if any? My thought was that man was in cooperation with the Spirit in sanctification and that justification was totally a work independant of the person and rather on Christ.


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Jan 21, 2005)

Man is responsible for His sanctification process (crucifying the flesh and sinful nature, doing more good than evil, progressively).

God works within us to sanctify us as He pleases.

It's part of the mystery of salvation and God's sovereignty, if you ask me, but our responsibility cannot be denied, neither can God's sovereign control over our salvation process.


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## Canadian Baptist (Jan 22, 2005)

We are at war with the flesh but do not "crucify the flesh". We ARE crucified with Christ, we ARE dead to sin. Before salvation we were slaves to sin, after salvation we are slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6) We are always slaves. Our will is never truly "free" as we are not God who never does anything of necessity. We are freed from our lost standing which brings obligation and bondage to a fallen nature and now can put off the old man in this war, but it is always God who works in us both to will and to do to His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) In our santification, we are fully armed and engaged. Heb 10:14 says "by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." What a blessing, perfect saints, yet fighting for holiness in this life. 
We should never forget Galatians 3:3 "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" In Sanctification we rely on grace just as much as in any other aspect of our salvation.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Darrin


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Jan 22, 2005)

I agree Darrin, we rely on grace in everything we do - but that doesn't mean we can be fatalistic and expect it just to happen to us without doing something. Man's responsibility is very much a part of everything that goes on in our lives, even spiritually, and that does not negate the fact of God's sovereignty. It is scary when many people over-emphasize either one, as they are compatible.


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