Freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.

These lines are spoken in John Milton’s epic poem *Paradise Lost* (1667) during the heavenly debate over obedience and free will. In the poem, angels and humans are portrayed as rational creatures whose love and service to God must be voluntary to be meaningful. Milton, writing in the aftermath of the English Civil Wars and amid intense theological controversy, repeatedly emphasizes moral agency: neither virtue nor sin is coerced. The passage reflects Milton’s long-standing interest in liberty of conscience and the idea that genuine obedience cannot be compelled, a theme that runs through both his poetry and his prose.

The speaker argues that true service is inseparable from freedom: love that is forced is not love, and obedience that is compelled is not virtue. The lines crystallize Milton’s theodicy in *Paradise Lost*: if creatures can “stand or fall,” then their fall is morally intelligible, and God’s justice is preserved because choice is real. The statement also implies a demanding view of responsibility—freedom is not merely a privilege but the condition under which one is accountable. In Milton’s moral universe, the dignity of created beings lies in voluntary alignment with the good, not in automatic compliance.