To accept the principles which Martin Luther vindicates in The Bondage of the Will would certainly involve a mental and spiritual revolution for many Christians at the present time. It would involve a radically different approach to preaching and the practice of evangelism, and to most other departments of theology and pastoral work as well. God centered thinking is out of fashion to-day, and it recovery will involve something of a Copernican revolution in our outlook on many matters. But ought we to shrink from this? Do we not stand in urgent need of such teaching as Luther here gives us—teaching which humbles man, strengthens faith, and glorifies God—and is not the contemporary Church weak for the lack of it? The issue is clear. We are compelled to ask ourselves: If the Almighty God of the Bible is to be our God, if the New Testament gospel is to be our message, if Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever—is any other position than Luther’s possible? Are we not in all honesty bound to stand with him in ascribing all might, and majesty, and dominion, and power, and all the glory of our salvation to God alone? Surely no more important or far-reaching question confronts the Church to-day (Johnson and Packer’s introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will).
The contemporary Church is about 50 years weaker than when the above quote was written. Martin Luther and the pioneer Reformers focused their teaching on the humility of man and the glory of God. The strengthening of faith came from a greater humility and the indwelling God who manifested His glory through men. But this confronts us with not only an important question, but a vital one in our day. If the Reformation was indeed a revival of truth and of the pouring out of the Spirit of God, then why are we not preaching and teaching that message? If the God of the Bible is the One we claim to adhere to and the one and only Gospel is the one that they preached, then what does this say to our day? If Jesus Christ is, as Hebrews 13:8 sets Him out to be (the same yesterday, today, and forever), then if we are preaching a different Christ than they did then either the Reformers were wrong or we are. Logically speaking, both of us could be wrong but both cannot be right.
In the quote above (from the intro to Luther’s Bondage of the Will) Johnson and Packer ask us if any other position than Luther’s is possible. This was not an idle question then and it is not an idle question now. While the Reformed position is taken in name by many more in recent years the Reformed position on the will and how it applies to the main principles of the Reformation is being fled from by even those who take the name of Reformed. Some degree of Pelagianism is rampant within the professing Church of today and that includes those who profess to be Reformed. It is at this issue of the will that so many flee from in preaching what they say is the Gospel. Once again, the main principles of the Reformation had to do with the helplessness of man in sin and the sovereignty of the grace of God. The bondage of the will is a necessary teaching if we are to hold to those two principles. If a sinner is to turn from trust in himself to a total trust in God, then that sinner must see that there is utterly nothing in him or herself to trust in and there is no other God but a sovereign God to trust in and no other grace but a sovereign grace given by God. The grace that a person must have to be saved is a grace from a sovereign God and so there is no other way of salvation but by a sovereign grace. How can a person profess to be Reformed in our day and yet flee from preaching the truth about the helplessness of man in sin and the sovereignty of God’s grace? It is because of the fear of men and perhaps the deep tint of Pelagianism in the soul.
R.C. Sproul was so correct in his talk and paper on the Pelagian Captivity of the Church. Pelagianism (in some form) is not just some historical teaching; it is rampant in the professing Church and among Reformed ranks as well. Yet many who profess to be Reformed are holding hands with the enemies of the Gospel of grace alone in an effort to get along. There will be no modern Reformation apart from the one and only Gospel of grace alone. Until men and women are ready to stand for the true Gospel and be willing to leave churches and denominations if need be over it, there will be no true Reformation in our day. We have to face reality and come to grips with what must happen if we are going to see Reformation and Revival in our day. God will not dwell with anyone but the humble and the contrite. He will not dwell with those who have the idols of the esteem of men in their hearts. He will not dwell with those who are holding hands with the enemies of the Gospel. In our efforts to be gracious and winsome and get along with people, we have let go of the Gospel of grace alone to hold the hands of those who deny it in reality. In our efforts to make Reformed theology easier to stomach and fit in with others the truth of the Gospel has slid out of the hands of the professing Church. If we are not willing to stand for and preach the utter helplessness of man in sin and the sovereignty of the grace of God both in theology and practice, we don’t love the Gospel as preached during the Reformation which was a time of revival that shook the world. It sounds so winsome to be able to get along with so many, but that can be nothing but the deception of the evil one who would love to have people unified on their march to deceiving even more and then to hell.
God Loves... Himself 
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