Augustine assumes the will is free and wants to determine how we choose good or evil (Murray, 2004). His approach to the "free choice of the will" assumes that "there can be no denying that we have a will." Rather, he defines "good will" as "a will by which we seek to live a good and upright life and to attain unto perfect wisdom" which assumes that it is free.

In fact, a free will that does not seek God is obsessed with material things, which can be easily lost or ruined (Murray, 2004). Those who choose evil are ruled by their passion and desire for material things. This is pointless because they only have, according to Augustone, "the love of things which each one can lose against his will." He believed that those who choose to do good gain everything because there is no fear of losing "things" due to lack of attachment to material possessions. Those who seek to be perfect could lose every thing and still gain all precisely because they are trying to attain the perfect, which is wisdom. Wisdom cannot be lost as long as the beholder has good will.

Augustine's teachings show the importance of understanding the use of one's free will (Murray, 2004). If an individual has a free will, then he also has the duty to make decisions based on a well-formed conscience and what is good and evil.