1
Know then that ev’ry soul is free,
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is given,
That God will force no man to heaven.
2
He’ll call, persuade direct him right,
Bless him with wisdom, love, and light;
In nameless ways be good and kind;
But never force the human mind.
3
Freedom and reason make us men:
Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well,
The beasts may think of heaven or hell.
4
May we no more our powers abuse,
But ways of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is pleas’d when we improve
His grace, and seek his perfect love.
5
It’s my free will for to believe:
’Tis God’s free will me to receive:
To stubborn willers this I’ll tell,
It’s all free grace, and all free will.
6
Those that despise, grow harder still;
Those that adhere, he turns their will:
And thus despisers sink to hell,
While those that hear in glory dwell.
7
But if we take the downward road,
And make in hell our last abode:
Our God is clear, and we shall know,
We’ve plunged ourselves in endless wo.