Irenaeus — Against Heresies Against Heresies, IV.37 (St. Irenaeus)

Men are possessed of free choice, and endowed with the faculty of making a choice. It is not true, therefore, that some are by nature good, and others bad.

1. This expression [of our Lord], How often would I have gathered your children together, and you would not, Matthew 23:37 set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul , to obey the behests ( ad utendum sententia ) of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God . For there is no coercion with God , but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels , He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good , given indeed by God , but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice , be not found in possession of the good , and shall receive condign punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good ; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent goodness. Rejecting therefore the good , and as it were spuing it out, they shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God , which also the Apostle Paul testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, But do you despise the riches of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering, being ignorant that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you store to…

2. But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving of praise for being good, for such were they created; nor would the former be reprehensible, for thus they were made [originally]. But since all men are of the same nature, able both to hold fast and to do what is good ; and, on the other hand, having also the power to cast it from them and not to do it — some do justly receive praise even among men who are under the control of good laws (and much more from God), and obtain deserved testimony of their choice of good in general, and of persevering therein; but the others are blamed, and receive a just condemnation, because of their rejection of what is fair and good. And therefore the prophets used to exhort men to what was good , to act justly and to work righteousness, as I have so largely demonstrated, because it is in our power so to do, and because by excessive negligence we might become forgetful, and thus stand in need of that good counsel which the good God has given us to know by means of the prophets .

3. For this reason the Lord also said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds , and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 And, Take heed to yourselves, lest perchance your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness , and worldly cares. Luke 21:34 And, Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning, and you like men that wait for their Lord, when He returns from the wedding, that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He comes, shall find so doing. Luke 12:35-36 And again, The servant who knows his Lord's will, and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. Luke 12:47 And, Why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46 And again, But if the servant say in his heart, The Lord delays, and begin to beat his fellow-servants, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken, his Lord will come in a day on which he does not expect Him, and shall cut him in sunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. Luke 12:45-46 ; Matthew 24:48-51 All such passages demonstrate the independent will of man , and at the same time the counsel which God conveys to him, by which He exhorts us to submit ourselves to Him, and seeks to turn us away from [the sin of] unbelief against Him, without, however, in any way coercing us.