DEWITT TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES
FREE MORAL AGENCY
“A SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE”
By C.W. Wood
October 2006
For 2000 years, since the days of the
Apostle Paul, a controversy has raged concerning God’s Sovereign Election of
those who are to be saved. And may I say that there is reason enough for such a
controversy, for the Bible is written in such a way as to cause men to miss the
true revelation. That is to say, if we do not have a revelation from God Himself
about the subject. A renowned man of God, one that I have read after for years
and that I highly respect as a Bible Scholar, Brother A.W. Pink, made the
following statement in his book “The Sovereignty of God.”
QUOTE: “Concerning the nature and the power of fallen man’s
will, the greatest confusion prevails today, and the most erroneous views are
held, even by many of God’s Children. The popular idea now prevailing, and
which is taught from the great majority of pulpits, is that man has a “FREE
WILL” and that Salvation comes to the sinner through his will co-operating
with the Holy Spirit. To deny the free will of man, his power to choose that
which is good, his native ability to accept Christ, is to bring one into
disfavor at once, even before most of those who profess to be orthodox. And yet
Scripture emphatically says, “It is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”
(Rom.
I am sure our readers will agree that the above Scripture, and others
like it, will leave the impression that man has no free will. But, I pray you
will also agree that there is another set of Scriptures that must be considered
before we pour concrete around this doctrine, or any other doctrine for that
matter! Our good Brother Pink is now with the Lord, and he left the scene before
he had a chance to study the Message of God’s End-Time Prophet. It is this
writer’s belief that had he known the Message, he would have had a different
view of man’s Free-Moral Agency and Election. He was a great Bible student,
and greatly used of God, nevertheless, it took a Prophet to unravel the
Scriptures concerning Free-Moral Agency. Many of us, including this writer, had
it wrong.
I would ask our readers to understand that I do not preach this message
to cause strife, nor to just be different, and most certainly not to lose
friends or to condemn any of them for what they believe. Some of them have felt
they needed to correct me, and I appreciate that very much. I have studied their
views, but when I take into consideration all the Scriptures, and the
Prophet’s explanation of them, I am compelled to take the stand that I have. I
would only ask that you do me the same favor that I have done you, in that I
studied your teaching, remembering that a closed mind is a dangerous thing.
Referring back to Br. Pink’s statement and the Scripture he quoted in Rom.
It is THEN that the man becomes responsible. If he chooses to repent and
serve his God, all the BLESSINGS named in Deut. 28:2-14 will take place
in his life. If he refuses to repent and serve God, all the CURSES named in Deut.
28:15-47 will take place in his life. How clearly does the Bible teach that
a man MUST CHOOSE his own destiny.
Deut. 30:15-19, “See, I
have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in
his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statues and his judgments, that
thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land
whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be
drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and
that ye shall not prolong your
days upon the land whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 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.”
It is scripturally true that man is not responsible BEFORE God has opened
his Spiritual eyes (John
We are investigating the Scriptures and the Message concerning the matter
of Free-Moral Agency. It is of vital importance that we understand Free-Moral
Agency so that we will be able to see that rather than our Righteous God
electing some to be lost without reason, He gives every man a CHOICE of Heaven
or Hell. And not only does He give him the choice, but He does all that is
possible to lead him to the right choice. Far from electing some to be lost
without cause, His great Heart is broken when we fail to choose Him!
Ezek. 18: 21-23, “But if
the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my
statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall
not die.
22
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto
him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Saith the Lord GOD: [and]
not that he should return from his ways, and live?”
Our Prophet taught that our eternal destination is a choice. That
is to say after God has called us and opened our spiritual eyes so that
we see our terrible need!
QUOTE: CHOOSING A BRIDE, 1965 PAGES 6-7, “Your eternal
destination is a choice, and maybe tonight some of you will make the choice of
where you will spend eternity—before this service ends tonight. There will be
one time that….If you turn God down many times, there will be one time that
you will turn Him down the last time. There is a line between mercy and
judgment, and it is a dangerous thing for a man or a woman, boy or girl, to step
across that line, for there is no return when you step across that deadline. So
tonight, it might be the time that many will make their decision where they will
spend the endless eternity.
Remember, when the Jubilee Year come, and the priest rode with his
trumpet sounding that every slave could go free, but if they refused to accept
their freedom, then he had to be taken into the temple to a post and an awl
bored him through the ear, and then he served his master always. And it was put
on his ear as a type of hearing. Faith cometh by hearing. He heard that trumpet,
but he didn’t want to listen to it.
And many times man and women hear God’s Truth and see It vindicated and
proven Truth, but yet they don’t want to hear It. There is some other reason.
There is some other choosing that they have than to face up to Truth and facts.
Therefore, their ears can be closed to the Gospel. They’ll never hear It
again. My advice to you, when God speaks to your heart, you act right then.
Elijah gave then a choice which they should, “Choose you this day whom
you shall serve. If God be God serve Him; but if Baal be God, serve him.” (End
quote)
Scripture teaches that man has a choice, and that he must choose. If he
must choose, then it stands to reason that he has the ability to choose, and
that ability is what we call Free-Moral Agency. We present the following
Scriptures as proof of this statement.
Mat. 13:15, “Their heart
is gross, their ears are dull of hearing, AND THEIR EYES THEY HAVE CLOSED.” (Not
that God refused them Salvation, but that they refused it. God called them but
they closed their own eyes and ears.)
John 5:40, “You WILL
NOT come to Me that you might have life.” (Life is offered to everyone
that will come.)
Mark 8:34, “And when He
had called the people unto Him with His Disciples also, He said unto them, WHOSOEVER
will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
Me.”
Mark 3:35,
“Whosoever shall do the will of
God the same is my Brother and My Sister and My Mother.”
Rev. 22:17,
“And 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.”
Joshua 24:15,
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve
the Lord, CHOOSE you this day whom you will serve…..”
QUOTE: SEAL BOOK, PAGE 126,
“Alright, He had to stay there, because He came to die for those that God had
ordained to Eternal Life. By His foreknowledge he saw them, NOT BY HIS OWN
WILL. His will was THAT NONE SHOULD PERISH.” (End quote) (Notice,
God did not, without reason, elect some to be saved and some to be lost.)
John 7:37, “In the last
day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man
thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” (Notice, the call was to “Any
These Scriptures and many more, teach Free-Moral Agency. But in no way do
they do away with the fact that man was not free in his will BEFORE God called
him and convicted him of sin. Free-moral Agency actually started in Heaven when
God set before all his God-like Angels the choice of following Lucifer or
Himself. Knowing before He created him that Lucifer would rebel, God still
created him, and placed him in Heaven to act out his Free-Moral Agency. From the
Scriptures that declare that one-third of the Angels rebelled with Lucifer, and
two-thirds stayed with their Creator, we clearly see that they were all
presented with a CHOICE. This choice would not have been possible had they not
been created Free-Moral Agents.
And so Free-Moral Agency, having been instigated in Heaven, was continued
on Earth with Adam and Eve. Again, we say that they were presented with the
choice of obeying or disobeying the Lord, thus proving that they were Free-Moral
Agents with the ability, and the right, to choose. Having chosen wrong, they
lost their Free-Moral Agency, and had God not Called
Them, they could never have come back to God. But thanks be to God He did
call them after thy fell, and lost their free will. Gen. 3:8-9, “And
they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the
day; And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord amongst
the trees of the Garden. And the Lord God CALLED UNTO ADAM, and said unto him,
Where art thou?”
In reading between the lines of Scripture, we can see that the Lord
explained His plan of Salvation to the couple, in that He would kill an innocent
lamb in their place, waiting the time when the true Lamb of God would shed His
own Blood. In other words, they were CALLED and made aware of their terrible
plight, and this call was the return of their Free-Moral Agency. It was Grace
all the way, up to the point of the return of their Free-Moral Agency, then they
had to accept God’s offer of forgiveness, or choose to stay hid in the trees.
They chose to repent and accept God’s Grace!
Now, let us look further into the fact that the Angels in Heaven were
created as Free-Moral Agents, including Lucifer, himself! We will see that
neither Lucifer, nor any of the Angels that followed him were “Elected” to
be lost without rhyme or reason, but rather that God had righteous reason for
their permanent ruin. Knowing the perfect, loving, merciful nature and character
of our God, we can know it was with a broken heart that He expelled them from
Heaven! The Scripture declares that Lucifer was created a perfect being, but was
later found with sin in him.
Ezekiel 28:1-2 & 6-8, “The
word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God;
Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the
seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though
thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
6
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the
heart of God;
7
Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations:
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they
shall defile thy brightness.
8
They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of [them
that are] slain in the midst of the seas.
Notice God’s reason for expelling
Lucifer and the Angels that followed him. It was BECAUSE his heart was lifted up
(in pride). In verse six, it was BECAUSE he set his heart as the heart of God.
Can we see that the Devil himself was not ELECTED to be lost without cause! It
was not just because God was God and had a right to do with His creation as He
willed. Although this is a true statement, He could have done whatsoever He
willed, but His will was that, “….Whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John
3:16) His will was that “…..The
wicked man turn from his wickedness that he has committed, and doeth that which
is lawful and right, and he shall save his soul alive.” (Ezekiel 18:27).
His will was that “…..Whosoever will
let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17) His will was that, “…Whosoever wants to come after Me let him deny himself, take up his
cross and follow Me.” (Mark
Can we see that the Devil himself was not elected to be lost for no
reason. His choice was to rebel, therefore, God’s Hand was forced. Now if
Satan himself was not elected to be lost without cause, how can we accuse God of
doing so with any others of His Creation? We are taught that God “Changes not” and that He is “The
same yesterday, today, and forever.”
I have chosen some statements that Br. Branham made after the Seals were
opened, concerning the Bible doctrine of Free-Moral Agency.
QUOTE: MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 1965, PAGE 25, “Now, He could not be
just and make a man to fall. He had to put him on equal basis of free-moral
agency to make his own choice but knowing he would fall. Now, He can’t be a
Saviour unless something’s lost. He can’t be a Healer unless something’s
sick. These things had to be that way. God made them thus, so that His great
attributes could be displayed. If there wasn’t none, He’d never been a
Saviour. But we know He was; even before there was a time, He was a Saviour. He
was a Saviour. So there has to be something lost. How is it going to be? If He
takes and loses it just in order to save it, then it isn’t justice to His
judgment. He couldn’t send a man to Hell and be just. He’s kind, gentle,
true, honest, and He’s a great Judge. See, He’d be working against Himself.
So He had to put a man out here and make him on free-moral agency so he
would-knowing would fall.” (End quote)
QUOTE: THINGS THAT ARE TO BE,
QUOTE: POWER OF TRANSFORMATION,
He just let them out there on free-moral agency to let them act. He
couldn’t make them do it, and then still be just. But He could put them equal
with Him in free-moral agency, and then let them do it themselves. And He knew
they would do it.” (End quote)
QUOTE: CONFERENCES,
QUOTE: LEADERSHIP,
May God bless His Word and His End-time Message to our hearts! Amen.
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