WCF 9.1
Westminster Confession of Faith
9.1. Of Free Will
God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined to good or evil.
Proof texts
- Matt. 17:12 — [12] But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”
- James 1:14 — [14] But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
- Deut. 30:19 — [19] I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,
For discussion
- The Assembly cited Matt. 17:12 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
- 3 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
- WSC Q29 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
- WSC Q30 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
Read alongside
WSC Q29 · WSC Q30 · WSC Q31 · WSC Q32 · WLC Q21 · WLC Q57 · WLC Q149 · HC Q53 · BC 6.1 · BC 6.2 · BC 6.3 · CD 3.1 · SC60 2.2 · IAR 4.5 · SHC 2.3 · SHC 2.4
Leader's notes
A Commentary on the Confession of Faith (A.A. Hodge): This Section teaches the great fundamental truth of consciousness and revelation, which renders moral government possible ; that man, in virtue of his creation, is endowed with an inalienable faculty of self-determination, the power of acting or not acting, and of acting in the way which the man himself, upon the whole view of the case, desires at the time. There are only three generically different views upon this subject possible : 1st. That which regards the actions of men as caused directly by outward circumstances and occasions, under the same great law of necessity which governs the movements of all material agents. 2d. That affected by the Arminians and others, which regards the will in man, or his bare…
An Exposition of the Confession of Faith (Robert Shaw): The human will is not a distinct agent, but only a power of tlie rational soul. It is essential to a soul to have a moral * Adam Gib on Liberty and Necessity ; Contemplations, p. 484. dlsjMsition, good or bad, or a mixture of both ; and, according to what is the prevailing moral disposition of the soul, must be the moral actings of the will. Hence there is a great diflPerence in regard to the freedom of the will in the different states of man. In the state of innocence, the natural inclination of man's will was only to good ; but it was liable to change through the power of temptation, and therefore free to choose evil…