Man’s free moral agency suggests that a person is free to make their own choices. Specifically, they are free to make their own decisions about what’s right and wrong. Free moral agency implies or assumes that:

  1. A “free moral agent” understands the difference between right and wrong and is has the mental capacity to make a choice.
  2. A person operating under free moral agency is accountable for their choices.
  3. There is no other “agent” or higher power that is forcing the free moral agent to make certain choices. To say that one is has “free moral agency” is the same as saying that one has free will – something the Bible clearly teaches.

However, are there conditions that could lead to man’s free moral agency being lost? After all, God is sovereign and desires that all be saved.

How Scripture answers "Can our free moral agency be lost?"

Our free moral agency is progressively compromised through a “searing” of the conscience9 or a “hardness of heart”4,14 that can occur in one’s life. This is true even for a Christian’s1,3,5,6,9,12,14, or from the Old Covenant, one of God’s chosen1,8,13,15! Often, the Bible talks of this regression as being enslaved to sin2,3,5,9,10,11. There is a depravity1,10,11 and a craving for the carnal2,4 that can overcome someone to a point that God will essentially “call it”10, ending one’s chance to repent1,6.

Like alcohol or drug addiction, the web of sin can become a habit we can’t break6. However, from God’s perspective, it’s never too late to repent11,12,15, as we see in even extreme cases like Manasseh8. Through His word He encourages that we instead be enslaved to righteousness5,7, or doing good. This is true freedom2,7, when one “knows God” and is “known by God”3,13 – the remedy for being enslaved to sin.

Answer built on scripture-blocks below

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