Anthony, you asked,
Q1) How do we exercise our free will to do what is good and pleasing to God?
Q2) Is this a matter of consciousness and restraint in refraining from sin …..or more than that?
Q3) How does the free will of the regenerate differ from the unregenerate in exercising what is good?
Q4) How does the free will of the regenerate that does evil differ from the unregenerate that does evil?
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A1) First, we must know what God’s will is, both explicit in His word, and implicit from principles derived from that word (i.e., for example, matters pertaining to our healthy and godly living).
A2) Indeed it is “a matter of consciousness and restraint in refraining from sin” – and more, for we do not always know what God’s will is, and have to enquire of Him, and His word, and the judgment of mature believers we trust.
A3) The free will of the regenerate desires to please God, that is, the heart desires to please Him even if the mind is not sure of His will. In simple cases we know what is good and pleasing to Him because His word is plain, although even in these simple cases it may be a great battle as our heart wants other than what is clear in His word. Thus, we sometimes have to fight our own hearts (Prov 28:26), for the regenerate soul has at its core an Element that guides us, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Our indwelling Comforter and Guide influences our heart with the joy He gives us in desiring to please Him – and His joy in us as we so desire. We are so joined to Him that, as a hymn says, He is the “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall” (cf. 1 Cor 6:17; Rom 6:3, 4. 5).
The unregenerate has not the Spirit of Christ to move him. It is not the life or death of his soul to abide in His Saviour’s heart and word. He may choose what seems to him God’s will, but there is no merit in it, as he abides not in the glorious merit of the Righteous One. Many unregenerate who have a notion there may be a God, think their good deeds obligate Him to deal favorably with them, and are satisfied with themselves.
A4) When the regenerate sins he becomes aware of his transgression against the Law of God – whether at the moment, or later – and desires restoration to Him and His cleansing, whereas the unregenerate sinner cannot truly have this desire, for “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb 11:6). If these is any semblance of this desire it is without root, for the heart is apart from God, and in essence at enmity with Him and His righteousness.
In sum: Even in an old and weathered saint there are two factors – aspects – of his consciousness at play: what he desires and what he discerns his God desires. In the end, even if these differing aspects contend with one another for a time, eventually the heart, mind, and volition willingly and gladly yield to what God desires, as He is our very heart and life (Col 3:3, 4; John 15:4, 5). To choose according our “flesh” – i.e., the “old man” and his way – will taste of death to us, and the regenerate soul will flee from it.
