1 God hath indued 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.¹

¹Matthew 17:12; James 1:14; Deuteronomy 30:19

2 Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God,² but yet was mutable so that he might fall from it.³

²Ecclesiastes 7:29 ³Genesis 3:6

3 Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation;⁴ so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin,⁵ is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.⁶

⁴Romans 5:6; 8:7 ⁵Ephesians 2:1, 5 ⁶Titus 3:3–5; John 6:44

4 When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin,⁷ and by his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good;⁸ yet so as that by reason of his remaining corruptions, he doth not perfectly, nor only will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.⁹

⁷Colossians 1:13; John 8:36 ⁸Philippians 2:13 ⁹Romans 7:15, 18, 19, 21, 23

5 This will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone in the state of glory only.¹⁰

¹⁰Ephesians 4:13