Anyway, this is what your words assert; that there is strength within us; there is such a thing as striving with all one’s strength; there is mercy in God; there are ways of compassing that mercy…But if one does not know what this ‘strength’ is—what men can do, and what is done to them—what this ‘striving’ is, what men can do, and what is done to them—then what should he do? What will you tell him to do?…For as long as they do not know the limits of their ability, they will not know what they should do; and as long as they do not know what they should do, they cannot repent when they err; and impenitence is the unpardonable sin…So it is not irreligious, idle, or superfluous, but in the highest degree wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know whether of not his will has anything to do in matters pertaining to salvation. Indeed, let me tell you, this is the hinge on which our discussion turns, the crucial issue between us; our aim is, simply, to investigate what ability ‘free-will’ has, in what respect it is the subject of Divine action and how it stands related to the grace of God. If we know nothing of these things, we shall know nothing whatsoever of Christianity, and shall be in worse case than any people on earth. (The Bondage of the Will, Luther’s Reply to Erasmus)
In hearing evangelistic appeals from pulpits and television screens, the appeal is virtually always for people to make a choice or to make a commitment or simply make an act of the will toward Jesus. For Pelagians and Arminians that is quite understandable, but for professing Reformed people to buy into that is simply inexcusable. Jesus said very clearly, in John 6:44, that “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” The word “can” is the word for ability. In the Greek it is dunamai which is a word for ability or power. In other words, Jesus tells the people and us that no one has the ability or power to come to Christ unless the Father draws them. Indeed men are commanded to come to Christ, but the command does not presuppose the power to obey any more than the command to love God with all of our being presupposes that we have the power of love to obey that command in us.
This is a matter of great importance, though indeed Erasmus did not see it as anything more than a minor issue and people are rather clueless about the importance of it today. The older confessions and catechisms spoke of effectual calling which means that God is the one that brings the sinner to Himself rather than the sinner being able to come. The word “effectual” has the idea of enough power. The internal calling of God has enough power to overcome the sinners internal resistance and make them willing in the day of His power. Sinners come to Christ because of the power of an irresistible grace rather than the power of their own will. If the will is indeed free, then it would be free of the internal grace and power of God so it would not be God bringing the sinner to Christ.
The heart of this matter has to do with whose power it is that brings the sinner to God through Christ. The Arminians and the Pelagians think of it as the power of man that brings man to God, though some would assign differing amounts of power to the grace of God in this. The pioneer Reformers said it was God by grace alone that brought man to salvation. The issue over the will and the power of the will is right at the heart of the Gospel of grace alone. When it is said or thought to be a minor issue; that simply means that a person does not understand the importance of this to the Gospel.
Read the words of Luther again: “If we know nothing of these things, we shall know nothing whatsoever of Christianity.” If we think this is a minor issue hardly worth talking about, then it simply shows that most likely we don’t really understand the Gospel of grace alone. A person must understand that s/he is impotent in matters of vital importance and that s/he either will come to Christ in his or her own power or will come to Christ by the grace of God. The Gospel of grace alone has to do with how people come to Christ and how Christ is applied to their souls. It does not just stop at what Christ has accomplished on the cross; it is also how people come to Christ in our day as well. As long as we refuse to tell people of their inability to come we have not explained to them the nature of their depravity or the nature of the grace of God in salvation. If we don’t tell people that God must grant them repentance, we have not explained to them the nature of sinful hearts or the truth of repentance. If we have not explained to them the nature of repentance in the sense that it is God who works it in their hearts, then we have not told them how to repent. It is to be feared that we tell people to repent and they simply think it is in their own power to do so. As long as people think that it is in their own power to repent, they will never truly repent. Teaching people the nature of the will is utterly vital to the Gospel.
God Loves... Himself 
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