Freedom Old and New

Augustine makes a distinction between the freedom of the first man and the freedom of the last men, or as he puts it, the freedom of the first immortality and the freedom of the second immortality. The freedom of Adam was that he had the ability to not sin. The choice was his. The freedom of the resurrected is that they are unable to sin. In this way they are more like God, who also cannot sin. This inability is a gift from God and something for which we will be eternally thankful. The inability to sin must proceed from our hearts, which must then have no desire to sin. If the resurrected wanted to sin but were unable to, then their inability to sin would be bondage and not freedom. If Adam's freedom was less than the new freedom, then freedom is both doing what one wants and wanting the right things. Because Adam did not want the right thing, his freedom was less than the new man's. The freedom of the resurrected will be freedom from the battle of the soul which Paul talks about, freedom from wanting to please God but doing things that will displease him.