Man’s Moral and Natural Ability, Part 1

It was Jonathan Edwards who helped to make a distinction between man’s moral and natural ability. 

Natural ability has to do with the powers we receive as natural human beings. I was born with natural abilities, such as the power to walk, think, talk, see, hear, and above all, to make choices. Of course, there are certain natural abilities I lack.  Some creatures have the ability to fly unaided by machines.  It would be nice to be able to get around like Superman. That would sure help beat the problem of traffic. But I don’t have that natural ability. The reason I cannot fly has nothing to do with a moral deficiency in my character. Very simply, God did not give to me the necessary equipment needed to fly. I have no wings.

Man’s will is a natural ability given by God. The Lord has given to us all the natural faculties necessary to make choices.  We have a mind and we have a will. We have the natural ability to choose what we desire.

So what is our problem?

The problem lies with the nature of our desires – the heart (Gen. 6:5). Jesus made a close connection between man’s treasures and the desires of his heart. Find a man’s treasure map and you’ll find the highway of his heart (Matt. 12:35).

You see, man’s problem of choosing good over evil on a consistent basis stemming from pure motives, comes from his moral ability or lack thereof. Although man was born with a natural ability to choose, his moral ability that has been tainted with sin prohibits him from choosing well.

Here is the bottom line: Before a person can make a choice to please God, he or she must first have a desire to please God. Before we can seek God we must first have a desire For Him. Before we can choose the good, we must first have a desire for the good. Before we can choose Christ, we must first have a desire for Christ.

This is the bottom line of predestination. Does fallen man have a natural inborn desire for Christ?  The Bible teaches no, man does not. In Adam, at the Fall in Genesis 3, man lost the desire for the highest good – God Himself. As a result, man cannot choose God on his own. He needs divine assistance.  Those who do choose God are assisted by God with both a desire to come to Christ and are given by God the ability to come. God, therefore, gives to some this desire and ability and to others He does not. The whole teaching of predestination rests squarely on this point.

End of Part 1