The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession states in Chapter 9: Of Free-will, Section 2 of 5, the following:
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, but yet was mutable[1] [unstable][2], so that he might fall from it. ( Ecclesiastes 7:29; Genesis 3:6 )
The 1689 Confession states: Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God
When God created Adam and Eve they were in a perfect state, and God created them with a will that was free and able to choose that which was good and pleased God. In this state, the will of Adam and Eve desired to do good and to be pleasing to God.
- See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Eccl 7:29 (ESV)
The 1689 Confession states: but yet was mutable, so that he might fall from it.
Our first parents were not coerced into pleasing God (see section 1), but sought to do so because their nature was uncorrupted; they were in a state of original righteousness. Their will was not in bondage to sin. There nature was not sinful. But it was evident by the fall that they did have the freedom of will to choose disobedience even in their state of original righteousness.
- So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Gen 3:6 (ESV)
It is important to see that God created Adam and Eve good; there is no shifting of shadow with God. As well, God did not coerce either obedience or disobedience. Adam and Eve chose of their own free-will. Somehow they desired what the serpent presented to them.
This concludes this brief commentary on Chapter 9, Of Free Will, section 2 of 5, from the 1689 Confession of Faith.
-
[1] 1689 adds this to the WCF and to the Savoy. The source is presumably Collins. The 1689 changes the WCF and the Savoy which states: “but yet mutably,” to “was mutable.”
[2] I have found “unstable” and “mutable” in two different 1689 Confessions. James Renihan’s (True Confessions) seems to be the most reliable source of the original 1689 and it has “mutable”, so I use that, but “unstable” does not really change the basic meaning. In the Baptist Confession of Faith published by Solid Ground Books and ARBCA it has “mutable.”
