MAN A FREE MORAL AGENT

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Sep 13, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 37.

MAN A FREE MORAL AGENT.

GOD made man with a free will. "Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." Gen. 2:19. That he was able to disobey God if he had a mind to do so, is shown by the fact that he did disobey.

After Adam's fall, the Lord placed a limit to the exercise of his will, for the purpose of limiting human life in sin, and, in course of time, bringing sin and death to an end. "Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Gen. 3:22-24.

The wisdom of cutting man off from the possibility of living forever in sin was demonstrated in the age before the Flood. During that period men lived to a great age, comparatively, and the longer they lived the worse they became. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5.

But God did not attempt to forcibly or arbitrarily put a better mind in men. He did not in the beginning, nor after the Fall, nor after the general destruction by the Deluge, make man a mere machine without a will. The one remedy provided for a change in the situation, for a change in the course of every fallen man, was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All the way through this Gospel is not a command, not an arbitrary application of a check on man's will; but it is an invitation, a merciful appeal, to the free will of the sinner.

To Solomon the Lord said: "And thou, Solomon My son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts; if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee out forever." 1 Chron. 28:9.

To Israel in the wilderness it was said: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Deut. 30:19.

To Jerusalem in the time of Christ's earthly mission, He said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Matt. 23:37. Israel was His chosen people, yet He did not compel them to choose His salvation. He wants only willing obedience. Nothing else will conduce to a peaceful kingdom.

The apostle Paul exhorts us to choose to be like-minded with Christ. He says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. . . . Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This humiliation was voluntary; and all true humility, as all true obedience, is voluntary, the fruit of the Spirit's working upon a willing mind.

The last appeal in the written Word is to those who will accept the overtures of mercy. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." There is no hint of making men righteous by law. After accepting righteousness by faith, they become voluntarily obedient through faith. God works in such "both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Having yielded their wills to Him, He helps, or strengthens, them by His Spirit.

It is a true saying, "You can force a horse to the water, but you can not make him drink." So men may be forced to the place of worship, but they can not be compelled to love the Lord with all their heart, or to love their neighbors as themselves. You can compel them to hear the Word, but you can not compel them to imbibe its spirit. The water of life may be presented to their lips, but no law can enforce them to drink it. Belief in Christ can not be forced into the heart, and "he that believeth not the Son [voluntarily] shall not see life."

"The devils believe" (Mark 1:24; James 2:19) by force of outward evidence, but it does them no good. They become devils through refusing a voluntary heart service. Like all other intelligent creatures, they were not involuntary machines, without will or choice, but were free moral agents, and had followed the counsel of their own wills. The devils, who have passed their probation, are a standing testimony that God does not compel His creatures to be righteous. Their doom to destruction is irrevocably fixed (Matt. 8:29), as they have already been cast out of heaven. Luke 10:17, 18; Rev. 12:7-9.