‘By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight’ (Rom. 3:20)….Had he said, the Jewish people, or the Pharisees, or certain ungodly persons, he might have appeared to be leaving out some who by the power of ‘free-will,’ and by the help of the law, were not altogether unprofitable. But when he condemns the very works of the law, and makes them ungodly in God’s sight, it becomes clear that he is condemning all that were mighty in zeal for the works of the law. And none were zealous for the works of the law but the best and most excellent men, and that only with their best and most excellent faculties, that is, their reason and their will. If, then, those who exercised themselves in the works of the law with the highest zeal and endeavour of reason and will, that is, with all the power of ‘free-will,’ and had the help of the wlaw as a God-given aid, instructing and spurring them on—if they are condemned for ungodliness, as not being hereby justified, and are declared to be ‘flesh’ in God’s sight, what then is left in the entire human race which is not ‘flesh’ and ungodly? For all who are of the works of the law are condemned alike. It makes no difference whether they exercised themselves in the law with the highest zeal, or with lukewarm zeal, or with not at all. They all could perform only works of the law; and works of the law do not justify; and if they do not justify, they prove that those who work them to be ungodly and merit the wrath of God! These things are so clear that none can whisper a word against them (Luther, Bondage of the Will).
The Reformation was in one sense a battle over authority, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the Gospel. In the doctrine of the will all four of these teachings are involved. What authority will the soul listen to over how much power the human will has or does not have? Will the soul listen to Scripture or to its own pride that screams out that God does not rule over it? Will the soul listen to the character of God rather than its own pride? Will the soul listen to the Gospel of grace alone or instead listen to the voices of its pride and of fallen philosophy? How does the soul view itself and what Scripture says about it? What the heart of the Reformation was over is still the heart of the problem in churches today. It is constantly the battle with what authority, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the Gospel.
The four issues listed above can in one sense be boiled down to two. It has to do with the nature of God and the nature of man. It is the pride of man that fights against the authority of the Word of God. It is the pride of man that wants God to be less than sovereign. It is the pride of man that wants the nature of man to be less depraved. It is the pride of man that wants a Gospel that depends on some little something (at least) of what man can do. The proud heart hates the Gospel of grace alone because proud man cannot control that in the slightest. In Scripture and in life we can see the battle of the gods (the true God versus proud souls) all day and every day.
Even among those who profess to be Reformed in the modern day there is a great hesitancy to bow in submission to a truly sovereign God and admit that man can do nothing (good or spiritual) apart from Christ. While the confessions speak of the obligation of man, now we want to allow for human responsibility. If the word “responsibility” is used as a synonym for “obligation,” then there is no problem. But too often a Pelagian can use the word “responsibility” and Reformed people will agree. There is no room for human ability to fit along with grace in the Gospel and regardless of a person’s theological title (Reformed or…) no room for human ability should be allowed. When Scripture speaks of no flesh being justified in His sight by the works of the law (as in the Luther quote above), it is making an enormous statement. All the acts (even the very best) of human souls, that is, the best acts of the mind, affections, will, are worthless in terms of justification. In other words, the soul (including the will) has no power at all to keep the Law in a way that saves or partially saves.
The only thing that a soul can do that does not have the grace of God is keep the law. But keeping the law does not save fully or in part. The law has no power to save and the soul has no power to keep the law if Christ Himself is not the life of that soul. The will is not free to make the law a way to be saved or a partial way to be saved. The will is not free to keep the law in order to make it possible to do anything toward saving itself. The will is not free to be saved by grace alone and yet have a small or large part in that salvation. The will is not free to do one good thing or one partially good thing apart from grace in the soul. When Jesus said in John 15:5 that “apart from Me you can do nothing,” He meant it. The will is not free to do one good thing apart from the grace that flows from the throne of God through Christ to His people. If anyone teaches otherwise, that person teaches a false Gospel contrary to the authority of Scripture, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the Gospel.
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