Maclear and Williams on Article X: Of Free-Will

i. Connection. The Tenth Article continues the subject treated of in the previous one, and deals with the results of the Fall as they affect the human will, and necessitate the help of Divine Grace.

ii. The Title of the Article, “Of Freewill,” hardly corresponds with the contents, for it does not directly assert the freewill of man at all, or define its powers, but deals with it rather by implication. It might be more truly entitled, “Of the Necessity of Divine Grace1,” and it is drawn up almost exactly in the words of S. Augustine’s Treatise, “Concerning Grace and Freewill.”

iii. History and Language. As it now stands, the Article is considerably longer than in the original draft of 1553. Then it began with what is now the Second Clause,

“We have no power to do good works,” and lacked entirely the first Clause. This was added in 1563, and was derived in great measure from the “Confession of Wurtemberg1,” which was presented by the ambassadors of that State to the Council of Trent in 1552.

iv. Object. The Article is mainly directed against the doctrine of the Anabaptists, who revived in the Sixteenth Century the teaching of the older Pelagians, that the human will was possessed of such force and power, that without any special grace of Christ man could live a life acceptable unto God ’.

v. Analysis. The Article consists of three parts :

(i) It asserts as one of the results of the Fall that man’s will has been so crippled that he cannot turn or prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God ;

(ii) It states that the Grace of God is absolutely necessary to enable him to do this ;

(iii) It explains that this Grace acts in two ways; (a) It is a Preventing Grace (Gratia prtzveniens) going before us and giving us a good will ; (b) It is a Cooperating Grace (Gratia coopcrans) work- ing in us and with us when we have that good will.

vi. Man’s Freewill. The whole of man’s responsibility

arbitrio roboris et nervorum ponunt, ing reason,’ and the limitations which ut eo solo sine ulla speciali Christi do not destroy the reality of freewill, gratia recte ab hominibus vivi posse but clog its action, and hem it in with con*tituant.” ” Pelagianism, in its the meshes of habit.” DrBright’s /fay- reckoning up of human possibilities, maris in Church History, p. 192.

rests upon the freedom of his will. “If there is no freedom, there can be no virtue nor vice, no merit or fault, no moral government of the universe1.” How indeed God knows all things and orders all things, and yet leaves man’s will free is a question which has occupied the ablest intellects2. The solution of the problem must for the present be left under the shadow of God’s throne for a higher state of intelligence. This, at any rate, is certain, that as the sin of Adam was an abuse of freewill, so ever since then the human will has been sorely weakened and crippled, and retains no longer that proper controlling power which it ought to possess. It is not sufficient, alone and unaided, to enable man to save himself, to resist temptation, or to make any effective exertion towards active holiness. For this purpose he needs the assistance of a Higher Power, and the Gospel justifies its name by announcing that God is able and willing to repair the mischief which has crippled man’s will, and to impart the strength he requires3.

vii. Grace. The word which expresses this provision for human needs is Grace. It comes from the Latin Gratia, and is the equivalent of the Greek Xapi9. In its first and most simple meaning this word denotes (1) a favour; then (2) the unmerited favour of God toivards

2 “The question of the relations bent in a direction from God. The between the liberty of man and the mind of the flesh is enmity against Divine power, of the influence of God God (Rom. viii. 7), it does not sub- upon the moral activity of men, is not mit to God’s Law. The help man peculiar either to the fifth century or needs must come from without and to Christianity, but is a universal from above. God alone can undo problem, whichall religions, allsystems that which by his Fall man has in- of philosophy, have propounded to flicted on creation and on himself, themselves, and have endeavoured to The great Message of the Gospel is solve.” Guizot’s Hisloiy of Civilisa- that God is not only able so to do, Hon in France. but willing also ; and that He has, in

sistently to recover its strength, but

humanity at large as displayed in the Incarnation of His Son; then (3) the operation of the same unmerited favour in its application to individual souls. In reference to the present subject it may be defined to be the strengthening power1 freely bestowed upon us by God the Father for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son and wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, to enable us to know and do the will of God2.

viii. Prevenient Grace. The Grace of God, then, corrects the natural bias of the will in fallen man towards evil. It attracts, persuades, and aids the will to a right choice. The very first movement of the will towards what is good comes from God, and is known in theological language as Prevenient or Antecedent Grace. Thus it is a supernatural motion of the soul to will what is good and to refuse what is evil. Hence our Lord says, No man can come to Me, except the Father which sent Me draw3 him (John vi. 44), and again, Apart from Me ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). Hence also S. Paul writing to the Ephesians says, By grace have ye been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God (Eph. ii. 8); and to

2 ” Grace is power. That power whereby God works in nature is called force. That power whereby He works on the wills of His reason-

able creatures is called Grace.” Mozley On Predestination, p. 302. The potency of Grace as contrasted with the impotence of Law is a marked conception of S. Paul’s. With him Grace is an invigorating and pro- tecting force. Cf. Rom. vi. 14 ; viii. 3. Grace is ” the vital force of the Body of Christ.” Liddon on Rom. xii. 6.

3 ‘EXuvaTj. ‘E\kv£u differs from trvpeiv. Lvpuv implies force, and = to drag (see Acts viii. 3 ; xiv. 1 9 ; xvii. 6). EX/aW implies an attraction of some kind, and inducement to come. Comp. Jer. xxxviii. 3, LXX. “With lovingkindness have I drawn thee,” dXuvaa re; John xii. 32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself,” AxSra n-pbs i/j.avToi.

the Philippians he writes, // is God which worketh in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure (Phil. ii. 13). Thus the Grace of God prevents, or goes before, us, that we may have a good will.

ix. Cooperating Grace. But the Grace of God is needed not only that we may desire what is right, but also that we may do it when we desire it. Hence we need Cooperating or Assisting Grace, whereby God “cooperates with us to will and to do that to which He had previously stirred us up.” So our Lord, who says, Apart from Me1 ye can do nothing, also says, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself1, except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me (John xv. 4, 5). Having united our humanity in an indissoluble union with His own Divine Nature, He has become to it a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. xv. 45). He is the Fount and Source of that holy inspiration, whereby man not only thinks those things that are good, but is mercifully enabled to perform the same3. His Grace, however, never constrains or forces the will ; it never supersedes man’s self-determination4. On our part there is much to do. Hence the same Apostle, who tells the Philippians, It is God wJricIi worketh in6 you both to will and to work, bids them on their part work out their own salva-

1 Xwpts ifiov = apart from Me; not Lilt. xxx. (51). simply “without My help,” but “sepa- 5 God’s grace works with us, not

rated from Me.” Comp. xwP’5 X/>«r- merely in us. In 1552 and 1563 it

toO, Eph. ii. 12, and S. John i. 3, had been “in” and not “with.”

[…]

• ‘A iavrov = not simply “in it- in harmony with Article ix. Hence

self,” but “from itself,” as the source it is well laid down in the Necessary

of its own vital energy. Comp. Doctrine, ” All men be also to be

S. John v. 19, vii. 18, xi. 51, xvi. 13. monished, and chiefly preachers, that

Westcott in loc. in this high matter, they, looking on

3 See the Collect for the First both sides, so attemper and moderate Sunday after the Epiphany. themselves that they neither so preach

4 ” Liberum arbitrium non evacu- the grace of God that they take atur per gratiam, sed statuitur, quia away thereby free will, nor on the gratia sanat voluntatem, qua justitia other side so extol free will, that libere diligatur.” S. Aug. de Spir. ct injury be done to the grace of God.”

i6o

tion with fear and trembling1 (Phil. ii. 12), and he exhorts the Corinthians to beware that they receive not the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. vi. 1).

x. The Early Fathers teach the same doctrine. Thus

(a) Irenseus writes, “No man, who does not partake of the blessing and assistance of the Lord, can procure for himself the means of salva- tion2” ;

(b) Tertullian writes, ” In order to imitate the pattern, which Christ has left us, we have need of the Grace of God3”;

(c) Clement of Alexandria writes, ” While a man strives and labours of himself to subdue his vicious affections, he can do nothing ; but if he manifests an earnest and vehement desire to do so, he is enabled by the Divine Power to accomplish his purpose ; for God favours and cooperates with the willing mind4”;

(d) Once more, S. Augustine says, ” If without God we can do nothing, certainly we can neither begin His work nor bring it to an end. For of the beginning it is said, ‘His mercy shall go before me ’ ; and of the end it is said, ’ His mercy shall follow me all the days of my life’5.”

[…]

vation, he acknowledges om free will; nec perficere; quia ut incipiamus

but when he adds with fear and dictum est, misericordia ejus prceveniet

trembling, he warns us against the me (Ps. Iviii. 11); ut perficiamus,

pride of ascribing our good works to dictum est, misericordia ejus subse-

ourselves, and therefore adds that it t/uctur me (Ps. xxii. 6).” S. Aug.

is God which worketh in us.” Bp contra duas Epist. Pelag. Lib. ii. 21. C. Wordsworth on Phil. ii. 12.

xi. The Teaching of the Prayer Book. With the teaching of the Fathers we may compare that of the Prayer Book. Twice a day, at Matins and Evensong, we pray, ” O God make clean our hearts within us,” and ” Take not Thy holy Spirit from us.” Again in the familiar Collect at the close of the Communion Service we pray, “Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with Thy most gracious favour, and further us with Thy continual help.” So also in the Collect for Easter Day we ask of God that, ” as by His special grace preventing us He puts into our minds good desires, so by His continual help we may bring the same to good effect.” Again in the Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity we pray, ” Grant to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful ; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without Thee1, may by Thee be enabled to live according to Thy will.” Lastly in the Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity we say, ” Lord, we pray Thee, that Thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works2.”

xii. Conclusion. These passages from the Prayer Book conspire with the teaching of Scripture and the Primitive Fathers, and bear witness to the need on man’s part of Prevenient Grace that he may have a good will, and of Cooperating Grace when he has that good will. For the will is not blinded but enlightened by Grace, and the whole man is enabled to act with the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Rom. viii. 2i). Grace does not enslave the will, but enfranchises it*.

1 “Omne bonum opus hominis pro- Pelagian.” Bright’s Waymarks in

cedit a prima gratia sicut a principio: Chinch History, p. 203, n.

non autem procedit a quocunque 3 “Not Grace alone,” says S.

humano dono.” S. Thorn. Aq. , Augustine, ” nor man alone, but Grace

Summa ii. Q. CXIV. Art. 5. working with man, will save;” and

a ” The Prayer Book in this, as in again, ” He who created thee without

all other respects, is consistently Anti- thee, will not save thee without thee.”

M. II

Notes

• Bp Forbes On the Articles, p. 152.
• Ilardwick, Hist. Articles, p. 127. omitted a class of very discouraging
• Comp. Reform. Legum, c. vii., facts, — the inclination to self-will, ” Similiter nobis contra illos progre- which, explain it as we may, is ob- diendum est, qui tantum in libero servable ’ from the moment of dawn-
• Bp Forbes On the Articles, p. 153. more it is in various degrees positively
• ” Man’s will is not only sprained fact, done it in the Person of I lis Son and weakened, not only so much en- Incarnate.” Mason’s Faith of the feebled that it cannot set itself per- Gospel, p. 121.
• “The Gratia gratum faciens is that inward help, freely bestowed, which God for the merits of Christ grants to fallen man, both to help his infirmity in the way of abstaining from that which is evil and doing that which is good.” Bp Forbes On the Articles, p. 157. ” Grace is not simply kindly feeling on the part of God, but a positive boon conferred on man. Grace is real and active force; it is, as the Apostle says, ’ the power that worketh in us ’ (Eph. iii. 20), illumi- nating the intellect, warming the heart, strengthening the will of re- deemed humanity. Liddon’s Uni- versity Sermons, First Series, p. 44.
• Mera (pbfiov Kal rp6p.ov Try eavrdiv 2 Iren. Adv. Hares, iv. 27. coiT7)p’iav KarepyafcaOe. The verb de- 3 Tertull. de Orat. c. iv. notes -work out with perseverance to * Clem. Alex. Quisdiv. salv.,c. 21. the end. “When the Apostle com- 6 “Si enim sine illo nihil pos-