Divine Freedom

Concerning God’s will, we have seen the distinction between the hidden or decretive will of God and the revealed or preceptive will of God (Deut. 29:29). Our Creator’s hidden will determines whatever comes to pass, even the things that are not in themselves pleasing to the Lord. Even sinful acts are part of God’s foreordination, for He works out all things according to His will (Eph. 1:11). Yet He is never pleased with sin, and we alone are guilty of our sin. God’s revealed will—His moral law given in nature and in Scripture—tells us what is good and pleasing to Him. The hidden will of God cannot be thwarted and is always done, but sinners frequently disobey His revealed will. Note, however, that Scripture’s distinction between God’s hidden will and revealed will is an accommodation to our finitude and ultimately not a distinction within God Himself. Since God is one and not made up of parts, He actually has only one will, though how this is so remains a mystery to us. John Calvin writes that while in God “the will is one and undivided, to us it appears manifold, because, from the feebleness of our intellect, we cannot comprehend how, though after a different manner, he wills and wills not the very same thing.”

This discussion of the will of God leads us to consider divine freedom. Theologians have asked whether the Lord is bound to will what He has willed or whether He is free to will otherwise. The answer depends on what we are talking about. Since the doctrine of divine simplicity tells us that the will of God is identical to His essence and to His existence, theologians have argued that God necessarily wills Himself. The idea here is not that God chooses to exist but that God wills Himself as the final and highest good. This must be so, because God is the ultimate source and measure of goodness (James 1:17); thus, it would be wrong for Him to will anything but Himself as the highest good.

The Lord wills Himself necessarily, but He wills other things freely. In other words, nothing compelled God to ordain what He has ordained or even to ordain anything outside Himself in the first place. It is good that God has willed other things to exist and that He has willed His plan for creation. But He could have done otherwise. As Psalm 115:3 states, the Lord does whatever He pleases. This is why Westminster Confession of Faith 2.1 says that God is “most free.” God’s intent in what He wills outside Himself is always good, but what He wills, He wills without any compulsion.