519 - 543:

Raphael warns Adam that he was created by God to be perfect, but capricious: “This was that caution giv'n thee; be advis'd./God made thee perfect, not immutable” (523-24). As Raphael explained earlier, Humans are above animals because of their power of reason gifted to them by God. It is this power that they will have to master to maintain their perfection, for it is in their power to fall or to not and because they are not mastered by Fate it will be their choice:

And good he made thee, but to persevere
He left it in thy power, ordained thy will
By nature free, not over-rul'd by Fate
Inextricable, or strict necessity (525-28).

Raphael annotates that all God requires in return is voluntary obedience and service: “Our voluntarie service he requires” (529). God wishes our service and obedience to be voluntary because there is no meaning in a service that is not free, for without the ability to chose otherwise, the action becomes nonsensical: “…for how/Can hearts, not free, be tri'd whether they serve/Willing or no, who will but what they must/By Destinie, and can no other choose?” (531-34). Raphael continues on to elaborate on how the other angels and himself all happily serve God in his glory because they freely love. As it is also in their power not to love, this love has a great significance, for like Adam and Eve with their free choice, “in this we stand or fall” (540). In closing, Raphael explains to Adam that there are some who have fallen for their disobedience to God and are now in Hell, which is to go “From what high state of bliss into what woe!” (543). This serves as a warning to Adam that he needs to chose wisely when the time comes and employ the reason God gave him, or his mutable nature will show and he will fall from perfection. However, if perfection can only be one thing, then to change it would be to ruin it. Following that thought, how can Adam, who is made in the image of God but is not God himself, be perfect? And how can Eve be perfect if not exactly like Adam, who is closer to God, but also not exactly like God?