Anthropology 8 - Man's Will in Light of the Tripartite Model

St. Augustine stated (and later, Martin Luther and other reformers adopted) that there were four stages of man’s will. This is discussed at length in the Lutheran Confessions. I previously posted  diagram of man's will during the different stages here, but now I will go through them and relate them to the body, soul, and spirit, and it will become apparent how many aspects of doctrine are related.

1.)   Before the fall - Able to sin

Paradisal man originally had a body, soul, and spirit, and a will that was aligned with God's.

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. -Ecclesiastes 7:29

2.)   Since the Fall - Not able to not sin (total depravity)

After the fall, we all inherit a dead spirit and are steeped in original sin and total depravity.

… since the fall of Adam all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with concupiscence; and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost.” -AC: Article II: Of Original Sin

…man's will has some liberty to choose civil righteousness, and to work things subject to reason. But it has no power, without the Holy Ghost, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness.” -AC: Article XVIII: Of Free Will

“…men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins.” -AC: Article IV: Of Justification

3.)   After regeneration - Able to not sin

After regeneration, when God, through the Holy Spirit, regenerates our spirit we have two competing wills; one from the sinful flesh and the other from the spirit. We are simultaneously justified and sinner (Simul Iustus et Peccator).

“God’s sovereign grace does not annihilate man’s will: it overcomes his unwillingness. It does not destroy his will but frees it from sin. It does not stifle or obliterate his conscience but sets it free from darkness. Grace regenerates and re-creates man in his entirety, and in renewing him, causes him to love and consecrate himself to God freely.” -The Reformed Reader (Calvinist)

“the person who has been reborn and renewed through the Holy Spirit has free will toward spiritual good, in fact, a will freed from slavery to sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet in this life this freedom is far from the perfect freedom of the life to come.

“Thus, until the last day, the Holy Ghost abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He brings us to Christ, and which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing [this community] daily to grow and become strong in the faith and the fruits of the Spirit, which He produces. In these words the Catechism does not mention our free will or cooperation with a single word, but ascribes everything to the Holy Ghost, namely, that through the office of the ministry He brings us into the Christian Church, wherein He sanctifies us, and brings it about that we daily grow in faith and good works….

“And although the regenerate even in this life advance so far that they will what is good, and love it, and even do good and grow in it, nevertheless this (as above stated) is not of our will and ability, but the Holy Ghost, as Paul himself speaks concerning this, works such willing and doing, Phil. 2:13. As also in Eph. 2:10 he ascribes this work to God alone, when he says: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk therein….

“Herewith I reject and condemn as nothing but error all dogmas which extol our free will, as they directly conflict with this help and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ….

“For since we receive in this life only the first-fruits of the Spirit, and the new birth is not complete, but only begun in us, the combat and struggle of the flesh against the spirit remains even in the elect and truly regenerate men….

“…after such conversion, in the daily exercise of repentance, the regenerate will of man is not idle, but also cooperates in all the works of the Holy Ghost which He does through us.” -Johan Gerhard

4.)  After Death - Not able to sin (the saved after death)

The Reformation got rid of the superstition of purgatory, pardons and indulgences. But getting rid of a place of purgation for sins not atoned for by penance on earth, the reformers also lost all the sense of contrast between the intermediate and the state of final blessedness. Now it is widely taught that sudden death brings sudden glory, like the thief on the cross. This complicates the doctrine of the bodily resurrection, so it is not talked about much.

The intermediate state after death, but before regeneration is a Sabbath for us. It is one of bodily death, but spiritual life. In life the body reigns and the soul serves it. In the intermediate state, the spirit reigns and the soul serves it. The next day is the day of new creation, where body, soul, and spirit are with God and our will is aligned with God’s will.

When Scripture talks about death, the condition of the believer between death and the resurrection, and the resurrection itself, its primary purpose is to proclaim to the Christian what great things God has done for him through Jesus Christ. Through this witness, God offers to believers the sure hope of everlasting life with Jesus Christ. Thus the Holy Spirit creates in the believer joy and hope in the face of the last enemy, death. This is our Gospel hope. -The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the LCMS, in their “Statement on Death, Resurrection and Immortality”

Also they teach that at the Consummation of the World Christ will appear for judgment, and will raise up all the dead; He will give to the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but ungodly men and the devils He will condemn to be tormented without end. -AC: Article XVII: Of Christ's Return to Judgment.