ALONE WITH GOD------

MAN CREATED A FREE MORAL AGENT

    The question of freedom is vital to theology. No systematic statement of Christian doctrine can be complete, that is silent concerning the will. The question of free will has ever been regarded as the utmost importance to correct understanding of the subject of sin and grace. The view taken of the nature of the will is logically determinative of both theology and religion. The fact of freedom of choice is that which gives character to sin and virtue. If men’s wills are determined as the Calvinists say, sin is not to be rebuked, or blamed, and goodness deserves no reward. Under a law of necessity, moral character is impossible.

Man possesses free will. Through the use of this power he approaches near unto God. The exercise of this faculty is the greatest privilege given to a creature.

The faculty of conscience shows that man is a moral creature. This power reveals that man is a creature of duty, that he is responsible for his deeds, and responsible to someone.

A function of the conscience is to decide whether an act is right or wrong. The decision is made in the light of the knowledge possessed by the individual. All men have an intuition of right, which is quite safe, yet conscience, being subject to education, may wrongly decide as to the rightness or wrongness of an act.

It is also a function of conscience to impel its possessor to do what it has decided is right. The intensity of this urging, depends upon the moral state of the person, whether his conscience be tender or seared.

When the decision is made or deed is done, the conscience sits as judge of the doer, either to approve or to condemn. The decisions of conscience are forced upon the owner, who cannot escape. It is useless to argue with one’s conscience.

All men intuitively consider themselves free. It is only in the realm of speculation that free will is denied. In all the practical things of life, man acts like he is free and unconsciously shows this belief in the freedom of his will.

The feeling of responsibility concerning our actions is a proof of freedom. Why should a man feel remorse over an act he was powerless to prevent? And on what ground may God reward or punish men for what they are compelled to do and in which they had no choice? The denial of freedom is the denial of moral responsibility.

Freedom is shown in deliberation. Men hesitate before making a choice, wishing to make the right choice. But why deliberate if there is but one choice a man can make? If he is at liberty to do only what he is predestined to do, there is no occasion for deliberation, or delay.

Man’s freedom is limited. Choice must be made between available alternatives. The sinner is represented as not free, and such freedom is promised through Christ. The sinner’s lack of freedom is due to the lack of righteous character. “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” This loss of power is the result of sin and is restored in redemption. Adam was not so limited. Adam’s was not a fixed character, Adam’s pure character did not determine his conduct, will does that. It gives an inclination to do right and to please God. It could be lost, and was lost by Adam. Thus redemption is made necessary.

The biblical account of the original testing and fall of man clearly supports that man was created a free moral agent, endowed with the power of choice. (Gen. 3:1–6, 17–19) This included power to choose between alternatives, and does not hold that only one course is possible, and that the will is so determined, it must choose that course as the Calvinists teach.

The probation of Adam was a period of testing through which he passed. The result of such a test must be the reward for obedience or punishment for disobedience. Probation was necessary because of man’s moral nature. Since man is a creature of free will it was necessary that he be so situated as to give opportunity for the exercise of this freedom. There can be no exercise of freedom without the opportunity of contrary choice. The temptation to disobey permitted to come to him, gave occasion for choice. Under such circumstances, man of necessity used his power of free will.

It is the test that proves the character. Strength of character comes through overcoming temptation to do wrong. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” The true test of love is obedience. That there may be obedience, there must be a law to obey, which also implies power to obey.

God endowed Adam with the highest blessing, giving him a disposition to do right. But such goodness could merit no reward, he was created that way. Blessings undeserved can not bring the pleasure of those that are merited. The reward of obedience carries with it a high satisfaction. This pleasure comes only through doing right because of free choice.

The justice of the test was not impossible nor difficult. Man had free access to all other trees of the Garden of Eden, including the tree of life. He had done without this tree heretofore and it was unnecessary to his comfort or pleasure. He was not asked to forfeit anything hitherto enjoyed, or to do anything but merely to refrain from eating of a certain tree. The requirements were very easy to comply with.

He had power to obey. The power of free will was sufficient to meet this demand. Adam was not too weak to obey so simple a requirement. Besides the power of will his natural bent to righteousness would incline him toward obedience. He was told of the penalty. Man was not moving in the dark, for the results of disobedience was foretold. In this, God was perfectly fair with man. A test was necessary, and no fairer test could have been made. To blame God for man’s fall is to blame God for making man.

The Bible story of the fall cannot be misunderstood. There is no reason for not accepting the account as literally true. In addition to the Mosaic account, the fall is distinctly mentioned by Paul. (see Rom. 5; I Tim. 2:13–14) The whole plan of salvation is based on the fact of the fall. If there was no fall, there is no redemption. The downward trend of man is proof of a fall. The prevalence of sin cannot be accounted for on any other assumption. The theory that man is naturally good and constantly getting better lacks much of demonstration.

Several steps are noticed in the temptation. It is well to notice these, for many of our temptations come in much the same way. They will show how a man morally pure can be led into sin.

The first approach was to get man to doubting God’s command. The tempter sought to weaken God’s word. “Yea, hath God said?” was the first reply. Eve’s reply was definite, yet slightly weakened.

The second attempt was questioning God’s motive. The fact that the mere eating of this fruit did not appeal to reason or moral sensibilities, as anything wrong gave occasion for questioning God’s motives. The tempter boldly charged that God had false motives in keeping man from the tree.

Denying God’s Word was the third approach. The tempter now boldly challenges the truthfulness of God’s Word. He asserts that God knows man will not die by disobeying the command, but will be better for it. God’s Word to Adam and Eve was “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” (Gen. 3:3–4)

Having broken down the defense, the appeal is not made to ambition and curiosity. Would it not be great to be like a God? As it is stated, “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” —Gen. 3:5. Eve yielded and the world knows the result.

The sin was disobedience. There was deliberate violation of a known law with full knowledge of the consequences. The act, especially on the part of Adam, was done deliberately and with no excuse. Whatever inducement the temptation presented, the responsibility for the act must rest with the will. Steps in the fall included: Eve first listened, looked, desired, took, ate, then gave to Adam, who also ate. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin” —James 1:15. When the will gave consent to the act, sin entered.

The sentence, “Thou shalt surely die” means more than physical death. Spiritual death is the sure result of sin. It is the inevitable consequence of sin. It could not be otherwise.

The common doctrine of Calvinists is: that motive determines choice, and that choice is always and must be according to the strongest motive. To state the theory more in detail, it assumes that we do an act because we will to do it, but that we will to do it only in harmony with our strongest motive and that this motive is determined by character and external influences, and that these are ultimately determined by God so that all events will certainly come to pass as he has predestinated. It is held by some supporters that this theory is compatible with real human freedom, that according to it man chooses freely. But what is the nature of the freedom of this theory? It is freedom only in one direction. It is freedom to do an act, but not freedom to refrain from doing something else. It is only such freedom as water has to flow in one direction between the banks of a river, or the hands of a clock to move round the dial when unobstructed. It amounts to nothing more than mechanical freedom as far as objectives are concerned. According to it the happening before is absolutely determinative of the consequence. It admits no power of choice between alternatives. It holds that only one course is possible and that the will is so determined it must choose that course.

The Calvinistic theory of predestination is not scriptural true, nor is it in harmony with, or according to God’s standard and plan of the creation of man in the beginning. It destroys his free moral agency, takes from him the power of choice, and makes of him nothing more than a human robot, which amounts to nothing more than mechanical freedom, determined solely by character, and external influences. God gave Adam the power to choose between alternatives, which means he was endowed with power to obey or disobey, to choose the right and live, or to choose the wrong and die. Adam and Eve were created with a freedom of will, and will is the power of the soul by which it is the conscious author of an intentional act. If man is determined in his acts he is not an agent, but only an instrument. Freedom is an indispensable condition of moral agency.