The sermon, titled 'Of Free Will,' delivered by Eric Bechler, explores the concept of free will as outlined in the Second London Baptist Confession, chapter 9, paragraph 1. It begins by discussing the natural liberty endowed to human will by God, which allows humans to make choices without being forced or predetermined. The sermon contrasts the humanist view, which sees the will as neutral, with the biblical perspective, which acknowledges the impact of sin on human freedom. Despite sin's profound effect, humans still retain the ability to make moral choices. However, true freedom from the bondage of sin is made possible only through Christ's intervention. The sermon emphasizes that even though humans are free to choose, these choices are within the framework of God's sovereignty. Examples from scriptures, like the story of Joseph, illustrate how God uses human choices, even those made with evil intentions, to fulfill His divine purposes. The sermon concludes by urging believers to use their freedom to serve others in love, aligning their wills with God's desires, and relying on the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Our reading today from the Second London Baptist Confession comes from chapter 9 of free will. Today is paragraph 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. Today we start a new chapter of free will. There have been and will probably always be many discussions, disagreements, and misunderstandings about what actually is free will and how that fits with God's sovereignty, election, predestination, and original sin.

So the next five weeks we will look at the will of man in a general sense and then proceed to looking at how the will of man exists in each state each of the states humanity finds itself from the state of innocency from the state of sin from the state of grace and finally from the state of glory. Let's start with how do we how do we answer the question if God has already chosen who will be saved how can we be held responsible for our choices and am I free to make my own decisions do we actually have free will. One of the issues that arises with this topic and most other doctrines is defining terms. What do we mean by free? Is our will free?

From the humanist worldview, the will is neutral. It supposes that we have the ability to make spontaneous choices contrary to our dispositions and inclinations, that nothing nothing determines our choices, that we are always able to choose good or evil and totally free. This is not quite the case. Although we have freedom to make choices, we are still in bondage to sin. And this affects our ability to choose.

Dr. Sproul comments, the prevailing view of free will in the secular culture is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered by sin. In this view our wills have no predisposition either toward evil or toward righteousness, but remain in a neutral state from birth. This view of human freedom is on a collision course with the biblical doctrine of the fall, which speaks of the radical corruption of our human condition. The whole person is caught up in the fall, including the mind, the heart, the will, and the body.

The ravages of sin have affected us profoundly and deeply. Nonetheless, we are still able to think. Similarly, although the will has been tragically marred by the fall, we have not lost our ability to make moral choices. We still have wills which are able to make choices without being coerced by God. The fact remains however that when the Bible speaks of our condition, It speaks of bondage or slavery to sin.

We are free to make our own choices, free from coercion. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we are held responsible for these choices. But unless regenerated, we are not free from our prison of sin, from our own sinful inclinations. Paul tells us that the mind of the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so, Romans 8-7.

That the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. 1st Corinthians 2-14. We are in banj de-sin and the only freedom comes through Christ. So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. When God gives us a new heart, our will can now be inclined towards Him, towards righteousness.

Unfortunately though, there is still a conflict of desires even after regeneration. There is a battle raging within us between the old man and the new. Even Paul discovered, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Romans 7, 19. Sometimes we let evil desires become stronger than our desires to love Jesus.

We don't rely on God's grace and we choose to sin. Jonathan Edwards in the Freedom of the Will suggests that man is free to choose according to his disposition. That people always choose according to their strongest desire at that moment And so we make free choices. Ultimately, we do what we want to do. J.I.

Packard reiterates this. Free will has been defined by Christian teachers from the second century on as the ability to choose all the moral options that a situation offers. And Augustine affirmed against Pelagius and most of the Greek fathers that original sin has robbed us of free will in this sense. We have no natural ability to discern and choose God's way because we have no natural inclinations Godward. Our hearts are in bondage to sin and only the grace of regeneration can free us from that slavery.

Again are we free to make choices? Did God create man with not only a body and soul but also will? Yes. God created man with a will that faculty of the mind by which we determined to do or refrain from an action. No Webster's explains our understanding or reason compares different objects which operate as motives.

Our judgment determines which is preferable, and our will decides which to pursue. As believers, we've been set free from the bondage of sin. Paul exhorts us to stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery Galatians 5 one furthermore do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another Galatians 5 13 the last point of our paragraph the last point our paragraph makes is that man's will is neither forced nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil. First, no one is being forced against their will. God gives us a choice.

Jeremiah records the Lord's words in Jeremiah 21, 8. Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death. And Moses speaking to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 30 19 says, I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live. God gives us a choice.

He does not force or coerce us. He doesn't even tempt us. James writes, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire enticed James 1 13 and 14 God does not force or coerce us and he does not tempt us our will man's will is the expression of our own desires and inclinations. Dr.

Sproul comments, the problem with the the sinner is not that the sinner has lost the faculty of choice in the fall. Sinners still have minds. Sinners still can think. Sinners still can have desires. Sinners still can have wills.

And the will is still free insofar as it is able to do what the sinner wants to do. The problem is in the root of the desires of the heart in fallen man. Because he has an evil inclination, a desire for sin, he sins. When we read about the necessity of nature, that the will is not determined by nature, we understand this to mean that the natural world or the laws of nature do not force a man to do good or evil. Again, it is our desires or inclinations.

No one or no thing compels any human to do anything they do not will to do. We are all familiar with that personally. We do what we want to do. We always have a choice even if one of the choices is unpleasant. Before I close out I want to stress that man's will, his free choice made without coercion, is still not outside God's decree.

Yes, even man's free will lies within his sovereignty, God's sovereignty. To reinforce this point we can look at an example from Genesis 50 verses 19 through 20. After Jacob died in Egypt, Joseph comforted his brothers explaining to them God's sovereignty. Joseph said to them, ''Do not be afraid for am I in the place of God, but as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive. God allowed Joseph's brother to sell him into slavery.

He didn't force them or coerce them. Joseph's brothers freely chose to sell Joseph to the slave traders to get rid of him. They were jealous of Jacob's glaring favor towards him. They hated and resented his wearing that special coat and claiming that they, his older brothers, would bow down to him in the future. Even though their motivation was evil, they freely made choices and were still within God's sovereign will.

God used this wicked act to accomplish his decree to do good. For the kids, I'm not sure if you've understood everything I've said today, but our discussion today and over the next few weeks is about free will. God gave us a free will when He created us. He made us so that we can make a choice. We can obey, we can disobey.

He wants us to choose Him, to love Him, and to obey Him, but He doesn't make us. He doesn't twist our arm, and He doesn't force us to do that. We're not robots, and we're not puppets. And because He lets us choose, we're also held responsible for the choices that we make. Free will is a gift that God gives to each one of us, but it comes with responsibility.

We face many forks in the road in our lives, even within each day. Do we choose to be kind, forgiving, patient, joyful? Do we choose to follow God, to love Him, and to obey Him? Or do we follow selfishness, greed, manipulation, or sin? Do we choose to reject God and disobey His commands?

God doesn't want you to be conformed to this world, but rather to conform your will, your desires, to His will, to His desires. Immerse yourself in prayer and in His Word. It is in Him that you'll find rest. It is in Him you'll find peace and God will not abandon those He has called. He has sent His Holy Spirit to indwell in you, to strengthen you, to guide you and to help you in your daily choices.

Yield your will to His, for you have been called to live in freedom, but don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Amen. You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you