Much obliged.
Man, in his natural state, has the “free will” to sin or not sin.
We are in agreement on this, Irish. I am not sure your Reformed friends here are, but the Orthodox and Catholic most certainly are.
Man, in a regenerated condition (saved) can choose to sin, not sin, or (and this is what is different) this man can choose to please God. In other words, a saved man has more options, is in fact more free than the unsaved person. No one who is unsaved can CHOOSE to please God in any way.
I am not sure that by being regenerated we gain freedom, since our options actually narrow. In Orthodoxy we like to call the faithful "slaves" or "servants" of Christ; hardly a freedom-evoking concept.
Becoming a servant of God is gaining something immeasurably better while losing something immeasurably worse; so it is an even exchange that is at the same time liberating in a relative sense: it is liberating because we are no longer slaves to flesh and things carnal, indeed the world, but to things spiritual and holy. And this is not something that happens overnight, or in an instant.
We have to die unto ourselves before we can be born again. And from the likes of all of us, we ain't dead yet! Pride rules supreme in all of us to a greater to lesser extent. We continue to sin. We continue to give God crumbs while He gives us in abundance.
We also continue to exercise our will and make choices that aim at pleasing please us more than God. Do we give everything and all to the world and we give all of us to God? Of course not! Some don't even find time to give God an hour of their Sunday, especially if it interferes with sports!
Pleasing God should never be a choice, Irish. It should be unquestionable priority, not once a week but every minute of ever our lives. If we truly loved God above everything else, we would never tire of trying to please Him, we would never think of ourselves first, or anything earthly. But, do we?
Fortunately, we believe that God is not subject to pleasures, nor for that matter to anything or anyone. Our will is either in harmony with His or isn't. The degree or the proportion to which it is in harmony with His will, is the degree or proportion to which we have become Christ-like. And that is the degree to which we have been saved.
***Man, in his natural state, has the “free will” to sin or not sin.
We are in agreement on this, Irish. I am not sure your Reformed friends here are, but the Orthodox and Catholic most certainly are.***
I am absolutely positive that most, if not all, of my “refomed” friends agree.
***I am not sure that by being regenerated we gain freedom, since our options actually narrow.***
Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” This is my point. We are FREE, more free than the unregenerated. We have the freedom to love one another as Christ loved us. No unregenerated man can do this. So, we have the choice to sin (which is NOT a good choice, but we do it every day), not sin (which is better than sinning), or we can choose to serve, honor, and please God (which is ALWAYS the best choice). Can you see what I am getting at?