Moreover, if Paul were not understood to affirm lack of potency, his argument would be without force; for Paul’s whole aim is to make grace necessary to all men, and if they could initiate something by themselves, they would not need grace. As it is, however, they need grace, just because they cannot do this. So you see that by the terms of this passage [Rom 3:9ff] ‘free-will’ is utterly laid low, and nothing good or upright is left to man; for he is declared to be unrighteous, ignorant of God, a despiser of God, turned away from Him and unprofitable in His sight (Luther, Bondage of the Will).
The issue of ‘free-will’ is simply a philosophical issue that is not derived from a text of Scripture apart from the assumption of man. It simply must be admitted that Paul is attempting to drive men to the point of seeing that they cannot do what needs to be done and that it is grace alone that saves. Men need grace because they cannot keep one part of the Law. There is nothing left to the human soul except the proclamation of grace and grace alone. As long as human beings leave one shred of good or of potency to the human will, they will not look and rest in grace alone. In other words, we can have a doctrine of grace alone that men will hold to in their brains and even have affections rise at the thought of it. But until a man has been broken from any hope in self and has nothing to rely upon that man will not look to Christ alone. The man may admit that he cannot do it of himself and that he needs Christ, but as long as he thinks that it is in his own power to look to Christ he will look and trust in himself to some degree. In reality, he will trust in himself to trust in Christ.
The man that is trusting in himself to trust in Christ is a man that is not looking to grace alone. Salvation is by grace alone from the very first to all eternity. It is not just that God must provide grace and must help man take the medicine, but man is dead and cannot apply the medicine. A dead man has no power to trust in himself and no power to take the medicine. This is no horrible doctrine to those who see what they are by nature. They are dead in sins and trespasses and by nature are children of wrath. This is a doctrine of great hope to souls like that. They see that they cannot do one thing for themselves and that God’s grace must reach them where they are and that they are utterly without strength to do one things. So when those souls that recognize what they really, really are begin to see the hope of the Gospel of grace alone, it is truly good news.
As long as preachers and teachers leave people any hope in themselves and in their so-called ‘free-will,’ those preachers and teachers are leaving men hope in themselves and are not teaching grace alone. It may be the case that churches would empty out if men taught the truth of this, but there is no hope apart from grace and grace alone. Perhaps the pews would be emptied if we taught the truth of grace alone, but then again that is better than teaching people a false gospel that depends on ‘free-will.’ There are people who hate the doctrines of Calvinism and there are people who love the doctrines of Calvinism, but people from both sides of that debate truly hate the teachings of grace alone that leave men helpless in sin. While there are great intellectual admirers of Calvinism, that is a different thing than the application of these great truths to the heart. Men of great pride and self-assurance can hold to the doctrines of Calvinism, but when their pride is pricked they will not endure the truth about themselves. They will then try to use the doctrines of sovereign grace to protect their own proud and dead hearts.
We live in a day where the doctrines of Calvinism are said to be on the rise, but until men are preaching against ‘free-will’ and the potency of the will of man so that grace alone can truly be taught in something other than words, the Gospel of grace alone will languish. We live in a day where the doctrines of grace are taught more widely than before, but until these are applied to the heart in an effort to destroy all hope in man’s pride, self and will the Gospel of grace alone will languish. There may me a great “revival” of doctrine and of conservative teachings in our day, but apart from teaching men that they have no hope in themselves and striving to see men emptied of hope in their minds and wills the Gospel of grace alone will languish. We hear of a need for truth, and that is indeed very needful, but that same truth must be adhered to from a broken heart where confidence in self has been destroyed. There appears to be so many that hold to the doctrines of grace from a proud and confident self-reliance. These things cannot be. “Perhaps no one has yet been truthful enough about what “truthfulness” is” (Nietzsche).
God Loves... Himself 
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