Chapter 4.—The Divine Commands Which are Most Suited to the Will Itself Illustrate Its Freedom.

What is the import of the fact that in so many passages God requires all His commandments to be kept and fulfilled? How does He make this requisition, if there is no free will? What means “the happy man,” of whom the Psalmist says that “his will has been the law of the Lord”?45    Ps. i. 2. Does he not clearly enough show that a man by his own will takes his stand in the law of God? Then again, there are so many commandments which in some way are expressly adapted to the human will; for instance, there is, “Be not overcome of evil,”46    Rom. xii. 1. and others of similar import, such as, “Be not like a horse or a mule, which have no understanding;”47    Ps. xxxii. 9. and, “Reject not the counsels of thy mother;”48    Prov. i. 8. and, “Be not wise in thine own conceit;”49    Prov. iii. 7. and, “Despise not the chastening of the Lord;”50    Prov. iii. 11. and, “Forget not my law;”51    Prov. iii. 1. and, “Forbear not to do good to the poor;”52    Prov. iii. 27. and, “Devise not evil against thy friend;”53    Prov. iii. 29. and, “Give no heed to a worthless woman;”54    Prov. v. 2. and, “He is not inclined to understand how to do good;”55    Ps. xxxvi. 3. and, “They refused to attend to my counsel;”56    Prov. i. 30. with numberless other passages of the inspired Scriptures of the Old Testament. And what do they all show us but the free choice of the human will? So, again, in the evangelical and apostolic books of the New Testament what other lesson is taught us? As when it is said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth;”57    Matt. vi. 19. and, “Fear not them which kill the body;”58    Matt. x. 28. and, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself;”59    Matt. xvi. 24. and again, “Peace on earth to men of good will.”60    Luke ii. 14. So also that the Apostle Paul says: “Let him do what he willeth; he sinneth not if he marry. Nevertheless, he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.”61    1 Cor. vii. 36, 37. And so again, “If I do this willingly, I have a reward;”62    1 Cor. ix. 17. while in another passage he says, “Be ye sober and righteous, and sin not;”63    1 Cor. xv. 34. and again, “As ye have a readiness to will, so also let there be a prompt performance;”64    2 Cor. viii. 11. then he remarks to Timothy about the younger widows, “When they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they choose to marry.” So in another passage, “All that will to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution;”65    2 Tim. iii. 12. while to Timothy himself he says, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee.”66    1 Tim. iv. 14. Then to Philemon he addresses this explanation: “That thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but of thine own will.”67    Philemon 14. Servants also he advises to obey their masters “with a good will.”68    Eph. vi. 7. In strict accordance with this, James says: “Do not err, my beloved brethren . . . and have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect to persons;”69    Jas. i. 16, and ii. 1. and, “Do not speak evil one of another.”70    Jas. iv. 11. So also John in his Epistle writes, “Do not love the world,”71    1 John ii. 15. and other things of the same import. Now wherever it is said, “Do not do this,” and “Do not do that,” and wherever there is any requirement in the divine admonitions for the work of the will to do anything, or to refrain from doing anything, there is at once a sufficient proof of free will. No man, therefore, when he sins, can in his heart blame God for it, but every man must impute the fault to himself. Nor does it detract at all from a man’s own will when he performs any act in accordance with God. Indeed, a work is then to be pronounced a good one when a person does it willingly; then, too, may the reward of a good work be hoped for from Him concerning whom it is written, “He shall reward every man according to his works.”72    Matt. xvi. 27.

4. Quid illud, quod tam multis locis omnia mandata sua custodiri et fieri jubet Deus? quomodo jubet, si non est liberum arbitrium? Quid beatus ille, de quo Psalmus dicit, quod in lege Domini fuit voluntas ejus (Psal. I, 2)? nonne satis indicat voluntate sua hominem in lege Dei consistere? Deinde tam multa mandata, quae ipsam quodam modo nominatim conveniunt voluntatem, sicut est, Noli vinci a malo (Rom. XII, 21): et alia similia, sicut sunt, Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus (Psal. XXXI, 9); et, Noli repellere consilia matris tuae (Prov. I, 8); et, Noli esse sapiens apud te ipsum; et, Noli deficere a disciplina Domini; et, Noli negligere legem; et, Noli abstinere bene facere egenti; et, Noli fabricare in amicum tuum mala (Id. III, 7, 11, 27, 29); et, Noli intendere fallaci mulieri (Id. V, 2); et, Noluit intelligere ut bene ageret (Psal. XXXV, 4); et, Noluerunt accipere disciplinam (Prov. I, 29): et innumerabilia talia in veteribus Libris divinorum eloquiorum quid ostendunt, nisi liberum arbitrium voluntatis humanae? In Libris etiam novis evangelicis et apostolicis quid aliud ostenditur, ubi dicitur, Nolite vobis condere thesauros in terra (Matth. VI, 19); et, Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus (Id. X, 28); et, Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum (Id. XVI, 24); et, Pax in terra hominibus bonae voluntatis (Luc. II, 14): et quod dicit apostolus Paulus, Quod vult faciat, non peccat si nubat : qui autem statuit 0884in corde suo, non habens necessitatem, potestatem autem habens suae voluntatis, et hoc statuit in corde suo, servare virginem suam, bene facit (I Cor. VII, 36, 37). Item dicit, Si autem volens, hoc facio, mercedem habeo (Id. IX, 17): et alio loco, Sobrii estote juste, et nolite peccare (Id. XV, 34): et iterum, Ut quemadmodum promptus est animus voluntatis, ita sit et perficiendi (II Cor. VIII, 11). Et ad Timotheum dicit, Cum enim in deliciis egerint in Christo, nubere volunt (I Tim. V, 11): et alibi, Sed et omnes qui pie volunt vivere in Christo Jesu, persecutionem patientur (II Tim, III, 12): et ipsi Timotheo, Noli negligere gratiam quae in te est (I Tim. IV, 14). Et ad Philemonem: Ne bonum tuum velut ex necessitate esset, sed ex voluntate (Philem. 14). Servos etiam ipsos monet, ut dominis suis ex animo serviant cum bona voluntate (Ephes. VI, 6). Item Jacobus, Nolite itaque errare, fratres mei, et nolite in personarum acceptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Jacobi II, 1): et, Nolite detrahere de alterutro (Id. IV, 11). Item Joannes in Epistola sua, Nolite diligere mundum (I Joan. II, 15): et caetera hujusmodi. Nempe ubi dicitur, Noli hoc, et noli illud, et ubi ad aliquid faciendum vel non faciendum in divinis monitis opus voluntatis exigitur, satis liberum demonstratur arbitrium. Nemo ergo Deum causetur in corde suo, sed sibi imputet quisque, cum peccat. Neque cum aliquid secundum Deum operatur, alienet hoc a propria voluntate. Quando enim volens facit, tunc dicendum est opus bonum, tunc speranda est boni operis merces ab eo, de quo dictum est, Qui reddet unicuique secundum opera sua (Matth. XVI, 27).