In order for agency to be free, there cannot be consequences imposed by nature or by Nature’s Law. Nature’s law, as I understand it, is one and the same with God. Since God has become the law, He is no longer subjected to the law because He can act in no other way except righteousness. He has lost the ability to sin or to act capriciously. Therefore, God is the law.
For many years I have held to a strict definition of agency as: The power to act righteously. In a recent talk Elder Hales explained he could not find the definition of agency in the dictionary as we use it in the church. He then expounded the definition of agency to include freedom of choice.
Using this expanded definition, which an apostle of the Lord has the right to do, I now understand agency in light of two sequential powers; a lower power that can grow into a higher or greater power. The power comes from God or from Nature’s Law as explained in the writings of the Founding Fathers.
