FREE Moral Agency, C. H. Cayce As to “free moral agency” I will say that the Arminian world talks about this as though they think the human will is on an equipoise or equilibrium, without any bias to either good or evil. They claim that the sinner is free to either accept or reject the Lord—accept the Lord and be saved, or reject the Lord and be condemned. They claim that the sinner is free to act for himself either way, hence a “free moral agent.” As to the freedom, will say that man does act freely. The sinner acts freely in committing sin. The unregenerate sinner loves sin. He prefers sin rather than holiness or righteousness.
If he rejects sin or unrighteousness, then, and accepts holiness, or accepts the Lord, he does not act freely, for he prefers unrighteousness. The reason why he prefers sin and unrighteousness is because his nature is poisoned with sin. Unrighteousness is in harmony with his nature. No one can prefer that which is not in harmony with his nature. Therefore, the sinner is not free in the sense that his will is unbiased.
Will being a product of life, it necessarily follows that the will is like the life from which it springs; the will and the life are necessarily alike in nature. From the natural life springs a will for natural things. The natural life is poisoned with sin, and the will which springs from that life, must, therefore, also be a poisoned will. The will is, therefore, biased to evil or sin. This being true, if the sinner accepts Christ, he accepts what he does not really want. To say that God saves the sinner upon such a condition as that is absurd, to say the least of it. But that is about as good as any of the modern theology.
In order that one act freely in the service of God, he must first possess the holy or righteous life, the life of Christ, which is a higher order of life than the natural life.
From that holy or righteous life springs a holy will, or a will for righteousness. If one accepts Christ, then, because he prefers holiness or righteousness rather than unrighteous-ness, it is because he already possesses the righteous life, from which the righteous will springs. He is already a child of God. In talking to people who had not the love of God in them the Saviour said, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 6:40.
Those people had no will to come to the Saviour. ‘‘Ye will not,” is the language of our Lord. He certainly knew what He was talking about. These people did not have the love of God in them, and were destitute of a will to come to Christ. They had no such will as that. They did have a will for unrighteousness, but not for righteousness. (Cayce’s Editorials vol. 2, ppg 376,377)