The Freedom and Bondage of God

I reading through Calvin's Institutes for the 2nd time. I came across an interesting argument about free will. This comes from Book II, Chapter III, Section 5.  Calvin is discussing man's fallen nature and how that puts him into bondage, but does not eliminate his free will. Then he uses God's nature as an illustration. Here is the idea:

Can God sin? Right answer is, "No."

Is God free? Correct answer is, "Yes."

So God cannot do certain things and yet is entirely free. He is bound by his nature and yet his will is free.

He also uses Satan as an example.

Can Satan do anything that is rooted in good? Answer, "No."

Is Satan free? Answer is "Yes."

Calvin goes on to apply this to human beings. Human beings outside of Christ can do nothing that is ultimately good. They are totally depraved. They can do things that are good in some ways, but nothing a unregenerate human being does is at root good. (Calvin's reason for this is that they do not direct those actions towards God.) However, simply because they cannot do good does not mean their will is not free. They sin of "necessity" not of "compulsion." In other words, they sin because they must and because they wish, but they do not sin because of something forcing them to sin outside of themselves. They are not pushed into sin against their will.

The illustration I have often used with my children is that of lion and a goat. You put a big heap of greens in front of a lion and he will ignore them. You put that same pile of greens in front of the goat and he will eat them up. Put a freshly cut piece of deer in front of a lion and he will devour it in a moment. The goat would probably ignore it. Why? Is the lion being forced to eat the meat? No. There is no outside force pressing him to eat. He eats of necessity and with a free will. His nature is such that he must eat, but his nature and his will line up. His nature does not battle against his will.

So it is with man. Man is conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5).  He is born with a sin nature that directs his actions.  But that sin nature lines up perfectly with his will. Calvin notes that when man sinned in the garden he "was not deprived of will, but of soundness of will." Every unregenerate man, women, and child sins because they want to. No man yells at his wife against his will. No child lies to mom against his will. No employee steals against his will. When a man comes to Christ he is changed. That old nature hangs on, like a bad habit that won't go away. However, now the sin is against the will in some way. When a man comes to Christ his nature shifts and so his will shifts, but not all the way and not automatically. That is why a Christian is often at war with himself. His old nature, which is dying, fights against the new nature which Christ has given to him. Some Christians wonder why non-Christians can have such inner peace at times. The reason is simple: their nature and will always line up. Their nature is sinful and their will is sinful. Romans 7 makes no sense to them at all. For us as believers our nature is not sinful any more. We are new creatures. Our will is being brought into line with this new nature, but it is a war. Sometimes this war is internal as we shape thoughts and desires. Sometimes it is directed towards actions when we have learned to do things automatically, such as yelling, which are now contrary to our nature and our desires, yet we still do them out of habit.

Election does not mean that men are forced to sin against their will. Just as God cannot do evil and yet is entirely free. So unregenerate man cannot do good and yet is entirely free.