Free Will compatible with Sovereignty

Many wrestle believing free will is incompatible with Divine Sovereignty. But I think the Westminster Confession, and the London Baptist confession solved this paradox nearly 400 years ago. From the LBC consider:

CHAPTER 3; OF GOD’S DECREE

Paragraph 1. God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass;1 yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein;2 nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established;3 in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree.4

1 Isa. 46:10; Eph. 1:11; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15,18

2 James 1:13; 1 John 1:5

3 Acts 4:27,28; John 19:11

4 Num. 23:19; Eph. 1:3-5

Here is the same (WCF) in modern English provided by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

1. God, from all eternity, did—by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will—freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass. Yet he ordered all things in such a way that he is not the author of sin, nor does he force his creatures to act against their wills; neither is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

The way I understand this is, we freely choose what we want but our choices always follow the reasons (secondary causes) under God’s control that we base our choices on.

Any thoughts or rebuttals appreciated.

 

Does God truly have free will? Can he will against his nature?

 

So God does not have a free will?

 

But if he cannot violate his nature, he has no free will.

 

But wills only according to his nature = not free to do otherwise.

 

Can God sin?

 

I agree, but in the LBC and Westminster, the will reacts to secondary causes. And a sinful nature is one of them.

 

What the Westminster and the LBC say, is that we freely choose according to secondary causes God controls. And wicked human nature is a secondary cause that sinners delight in freely yielding to. This way they are not automatons, but genuinely incur guilt for their choices.

 

No, but the beauty of it all is that the WCF and LBC circumvent all who accuse you of turning people into automatons. Give it a chance and read it a few times.