Moral Agency

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     We are treated frequently in the writings of our brethren to the affirmation that man is "a free moral agent." We regard the term "free" as both redundant and unnecessary. A moral agent must be free and one who is not free is not a moral agent. He is subject to the will of another by compulsion and for that reason may become a victim of whim or caprice over which he has no control.

     As a moral agent man is granted the right to choose for such a right is inherent in moral agency. But choice is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. One cannot just make his choice the right to choose, and stop there. He must exercise this right and this demands the utilization of the power of discrimination which weighs alternatives and guides to decisions. Such decisions must be governed by an ultimate, if they are to become a guideline for life. That which is transitory, conditional or circumstantial, can hardly form a satisfactory goal in life for the goal will be constantly shifting.

     God can reveal the ultimate for the proper philosophy of life, but he cannot impel one to adopt it. This is not because He lacks the power to do it, but because true good must be measured by a criterion or principle, and God, who is ultimate good, cannot act in contravention of the principle of all goodness. It is for this reason that "it is impossible for God to lie."

     To act in such a manner as to deprive man from exercise of his will would not be good, and in reality would reduce him to becoming less than man. Accordingly, the proper motivations for a right choice are provided, and the results of either choice predicted, and upon this disclosure man acts voluntarily. Thus his manhood is protected and preserved.

     All law, so far as man is concerned, is summed up in love. The apostle writes, "He who loves his neighbor has satisfied every claim of the law" (Romans 13:8), and again, "the whole law is summed up in love" (verse 10). Such love as is here contemplated is not an emotion, but an act of will. It lifts man's will to the highest possible plane and approximates the divine in the human, since God is love.

     The ultimate is love directed toward two objects--God and man. On love expressed for these two hang all the law and the prophets. Whatever moral and ethical values are contained in legal codes or prophetic disclosures are suspended from, and dependent for their reality and validity upon love for God and man. These are over all and superior to all.

     The word "love" as used here means benevolence. It is the faculty of benevolence to seek always the highest good of the beloved object. Obviously one's love for God cannot operate to supply anything that He needs or requires. As the ultimate Good He lacks no goodness

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which we can bestow. The love for God, therefore, must provide that which ultimate Good deserves by its own nature, not that which it needs or requires. And this is expressed in glory, praise or adoration. Man reaches the highest relationship to moral law when he reverences God.

     This does not imply that we must always be specifically thinking of God as the object of our love. To love God with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength does not require that we never concentrate our mind or energies upon any other subject. God must be the supreme preference of our hearts so that all life is enveloped in God, and whatever we do will spontaneously and naturally be done to His glory without having to pause in the activity to focus the mind's eye on the object. Indeed, when one must stop a project of scientific research or scholastic instruction in order to make certain in his own mind that he is glorifying God, he may be moved by doubt or fear, and demonstrate the imperfection of his love. "There is no room for fear in love; perfect love banishes fear" (1 John 4:18).

     There must be a central point of power for the moral system as there is a heart for the physical structure. Since the right of choice makes man a moral agent, the heart of the moral system must be the mind's supreme preference. Just as the heart charges the source of life to every member of the body without specific thought or concentration on the fact, so the entire moral being is diffused with life by the supreme choice or preference of the heart. God is served and glorified in every pursuit of life when the person is surrendered wholly to Him. We do not need to stop at the close of every action and credit it to Him, for all we have and are belongs to Him, and everything we do is directed to His glory and praise!