Irenaeus — Against Heresies 4.37.1

That saying — “How often I wanted to gather your children, and you were not willing” — set out the ancient law of human liberty. From the beginning God made man free, possessing his own power, just as he possesses his own soul, so that he might use God’s counsel voluntarily and not as one forced by God.

Force does not come from God; good counsel is always with him. For that reason he gives good counsel to all. He also placed in man the power of choice, as also in the angels — for angels too are rational — so that those who obeyed might justly possess the good: given by God, kept by themselves.