The guardians of ‘free-will’ have exemplified the saying: ‘out of the frying-pan, into the fire.’ In their zeal to disagree with the Pelagians they start denying condign merit, and by the very form of their denial they set it up more firmly! By word and pen they deny it, but really, in their hearts, they establish it, and are worse than the Pelagians upon two counts. In the first place, the Pelagians confess and assert condign merit straightforwardly, candidly and honestly, calling a spade a spade and teaching what they really hold. But our friends here, who hold and teach the same view, try to fool us with lying words and false appearances, giving out that they disagree with the Pelagians, when there is nothing that they are further from doing! ‘If you regard our pretences, we appear as the Pelagians’ bitterest foes; but if you regard the facts and our hearts, we are Pelagians double-dyed.’ (Luther, Bondage of the Will)
‘Justification by faith only’ is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia. (“Historical and Theological Introduction” to Bondage of the Will)
Anyone who preaches justification by faith alone apart from justification by grace alone has missed the point of justification by faith alone. Anyone who preaches justification by faith alone apart from the utter helplessness of man in sin has missed the point of justification by grace alone as well. The doctrine of justification by faith alone does not stand out from all the other teachings of the Bible. Even if one can repeat the words and believe something like that is true that does not mean that the person is saved. This teaching is perverted in our day.
Romans 11:6 is so clear that any work in effect makes grace to be no longer grace. Whatever justification by faith alone means, it must never be thought of as a work or effort of the human will apart from grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 is also so very clear that salvation is by grace alone and faith itself is the gift of God. If salvation is said to be by grace alone through faith alone and yet faith itself is not of grace, then salvation cannot be by grace alone. We can look at Romans 4:4-5 and see this clearly as well. “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
If we think of the Gospel of grace alone as contingent on the faith of the sinner which comes from his own will, then we are left with the position of contradicting Romans 4. To the one who works (faith is the work of a free-will) his salvation is not credited as a favor but what is due. That is what those who teach that a faith comes from a free-will must teach in order to be consistent. If faith is the only think lacking to be saved and that faith is the work of a free-will, then salvation is no longer granted or credited by grace alone but as that which is due to the person. On the other hand, the person that does not work and that includes the work of faith, but simply believes in Him who justifies the ungodly apart from any cause or works on their part, that person’s faith is credited as righteousness. Why is that the case? It is because faith is the gift of God and the person is united to Christ who gives the person a perfect righteousness. So it is not the faith in and of itself that is credited as righteousness, but the object of faith (Christ) which a true faith is united to which gives a perfect righteousness by grace alone.
Luther’s great work on The Bondage of the Will is not some philosophical or metaphysical treatise. No, but rather it is a treatment that is at the heart of the Gospel. William Cunningham set it out that the doctrine of the will was where the depravity of man and the Gospel of grace alone met. When people do not teach the doctrine of the bondage of the will to sinners, then sinners do not understand their depravity and they do not understand the Gospel of graced alone either. What this means, then, is that there are many folks who are orthodox in so many ways but they will not set out the utter helplessness and inability of man in sin. It is not the mere mention that man is dead in sin that will get this across, but a clear and forthright teaching of the helplessness of man and his inability that can get it across to sinners of their utter need of grace alone to save them. As long as sinners look to themselves and have any hope in themselves they will not look to Christ alone and grace alone. This means that those who are orthodox and yet are so afraid of being hyper-Calvinists that they will not teach the helplessness of men are not teaching a pure Gospel of grace alone. When that is not taught, they are not teaching the truth of justification by faith alone either. In that case Pelagianism and its children is being taught by those who are orthodox and the Gospel is hidden underneath orthodox creeds by conservative ministers.
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