Definition of 'Will'
"One of the two basic powers of the soul, the other being the understanding.
"The will is that faculty or mode of the soul which self-determines, inclines, desires and chooses in reference to moral and religious objects and ends. These objects and ends are all centered and summed up in God...Speaking generally the voluntary and moral desires relate to God. They are either inclined or averse to Him; they are either love or hatred" (W.G.T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 2:119). Shedd's definition rejects the idea of later psychology, that the powers of the soul are intellect, sensibility, and will. This later analysis is defective because it fails to recognize that sensibility (i.e., moral affections and desires) belongs to the will. It makes the mistake of limiting the activity of the will to volitional acts. Shedd's definition, on the other hand, rightly sees that inclination is voluntary, i.e., it belongs to the power of the will.
Scripture Terms
The Scripture's use of terms supposts this view of the will. The NT employs three terms to denote te activity of the will; kardia, 'heart,' thelema,'will' and boule, 'will' or 'counsel.'
[/i]kardia: The NT includes inclination as part of the will (Rm.1:24; 2:5; 10:9,10; Luke 1:17). "The heart in scripture is the practical principle inthe soul, and so includes the will also. It is the actual compliance of the will and affections with the mind and understanding, with respect to the objects proposed by them" (John Owen, 'On the Spirit', 3:III).
Boule, boulema: These denoe volition, as distinct from inclination, a particular decision as distinct from the continuing disposition of the will (Lk. 23:51; Acts 18:15 'will be' = 'decide to be';19:30; 25:22; 2 Cor.1:15)
The NT uses all these terms as definitive descriptions of the will, thereby establishing the definition with which we commenced.
Thus the will is more than the mere power of volition. It includes the desire or inclination behind the volition, for as Jonathan Edwards long ago pointed out (Will, 1:3) a man never wills anything contray to his will, i.e., he does not decide contrary to the prevailing [i]inclination of his will. Only natural or instinctive desires are involuntary; all other desire is voluntary and belongs to the power of the will.
Voluntary Inclinations
The importance of this definition is great, for it emphasizes that not only fallen man's inclinations, but his volitions as well, are sinful and culpable. Some modern psycologists think of the will not as a faculty but as an expressing of the entire personality. This view, while lacking the clarity and consistency of Shedd's definition, may serve to emphasize that the entire expression of the total personality (which must include inclination as well as volition) is sinful and culpable.
In saying this we make man responsible for his inclination as well as for his volition. Sin does not consist merely in acts. We also recognize the enormity of the guilt of the great change in the human will at the fall. Adam's sin brought about a radical and total change of inclination in the human will, disposing it toward self and away from God. That was a voluntary act, one in which we all participated (Rm. 5:12)
The selfish inclination of the fallen will of man is something in which every man naturally delights, and for which God holds him accountable. Every volition, or choice, flows from this wicked bias of the will. This bias is the 'ungodliness' which produces the 'unrighteousness' of Rm. 1:18. Fallen man is powerless to originate a new inclination of will. He is 'free' only in the sense that he chooses according to the inclination of his will and a wicked inclination cannot produce godly volitions.
Thus, if a man is to be saved, God must create a new inclination or disposition. "The new man....after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph.4:24). Summarizing, we note;
1. When God first created man, He created him in righteousness and holiness. That is, He placed a positive bias toward God in his will. He did not create man sinless and then leave his will in a state of balance between good and evil.
2. the fall wrecked this bias of the will and substituted a bias toward self and sin.
3. Salvation can be experienced only when God 'creates' a 'new man,' imparting a new disposition of will. Thus, all godly volitions, such as repentance, faith, and evangelical obedience, are the results of a sovereign, gracious work of God renewing the will--for godly volitions can never be the responses of the unregenerate will. (Rm.8:7)"
From the Theological Dictionary by Alan Cairns, Faith Free Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC

Pilgrim[/b]

Inability
The corollary of total depravity, this term denotes the absence fo any ability in fallen man to will that which is good, in the sense of being meritorious in the sight of God. The Westminister Confession of Faith sums up the case as follows:
"Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse froom that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto" (Chpt. 9. Sec. 3)
This makes man's inability flow from the voluntary disposition of his depraved will. by the fall, man is 'utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil" (Confession, Chpt. 6. Sec.4)
This inability does not contradict the principle of the freedom of the will. It does not arise from ay constitutional deficiency in the faculties of the soul as created by God. It flows from the voluntary aversion of the human will to God and His law, and therefore is said to be 'moral' (stressing the fact that such inability is the result of the exercise of a self-determining responsible, moral agent), and 'natural', in that it is innate in all fallen souls. This inability is said to be 'total' or 'absolute': Man's case is, by his own strength and efforts, beyond remedyor hope of change. Thus inScripture, fallen man is said to be 'without strength,' 'dead,' 'blind', and 'darkened.' As Jer. 13:23 puts it, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the lopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil."

Same ref. as above.

I maybe too naive, but I difine Will as as response to whatever God told us to do and not to do. Either we follow Him or Not. We make not law, He alone Make it. We Obey Him and Only Him can Demand for it.
Thank you (and please make allowance for English, I am not good at it)

Brother theophilus,

Yes you are correct, our will determines if we decide to follow God's will or not, however, what we are trying to say, is that God's Will is sovereign, and our will does not coincide with His Will, unless His Will determines it. If His Will determines that our will follows His, then our will must be in complete submission to His will.

We do have the ability(this is NOT in contrast to Total inability) to have a will apart from God's Will, however, this does not mean that it is a free will. When we choose to follow our own will, we have tried placing ourselves back under the bondage of sin, from which we were set free upon our salvation.

The freedom of our will is not determinate upon anything of ourselves(I am not speaking concerning salvation, but of everyday life as a christian). To have a "free" will means that their would be no consequence to anything we decide to do, whether our choice is made out of selfishness or upon the urging of the Holy Spirit.

We see this in:

A man who goes his way and forgets, is a man who is living his life selfishly, and not for God. I am so guilty of this, I am ashamed very often. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ that He is a Father who allows His children to return to Him after they have gone astray. God's mercy is infinite and His ways wonderfully past finding out.

Love in Christ,

Jim



Love in Christ,

Jim