Although we admit that free will has the freedom and power to perform the supreme works of the Law, we do not assign spiritual matters to free will. These are to truly fear God, believe God, be confident and hold that He care for us, hears us, and forgives us. These are the true works of the First Table, which the heart cannot produce without the Holy Spirit, as Paul says, "The natural person [namely, a person using only natural strength] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God" (I Corinthians 2:14). People can determine this if they consider what their hearts believe about God's will, whether they are truly confident God cares for and hears them. Even the saints find keeping this faith difficult (which is not possible in believers). But, as we have said before, it begins when terrified hearts hear the Gospel and receive comfort.
~BOC, AP, XVIII, 73-74
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