In short, Paul sets ‘him that worketh’ and ‘him that worketh not’ side by side and leaves none in the middle between them. He declares that righteousness is not reckoned to him that worketh, but is reckoned to him that worketh not, if only he believes. There is no way by which ‘free-will,’ with its effort and endeavour, can dodge or escape; it must either be numbered with ‘him that worketh’ or with ‘him that worketh not.’ If with ‘him that worketh’, you have heard Paul say that righteousness is not reckoned to it, If with ‘him that worketh not, but believeth’ on God, righteousness is reckoned to it. But then it will not be the power of ‘free-will’, but a new creation by faith, and if righteousness is not reckoned to ‘him that worketh’, it becomes clear that his works are nothing but sins, evil and ungodly in God’s sight. (Luther, Bondage of the Will)
The Gospel is so glorious and precious because it is all about the glory and preciousness of God in and through Christ. God has revealed that the Gospel is all about His glory and it is to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:5-12). We are told with great clarity and precision that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). When a teaching is set forth that has one work left for human souls to do, even thought that part is denied in words, it must be rejected with great horror because it is even more dangerous than a teaching of many works for salvation. When faith is set out in a way that it depends on man or on a will that is free from grace and total depravity, then we can know that this is a teaching that must be avoided and even fought against.
It is the case that God has completely satisfied His own wrath upon Christ at the cross or He did not. It is the case that Christ earned a perfect righteousness for His people or He did not. But if the work of Christ was and is sufficient, then nothing is left for the sinner to do. Sure enough the sinner must believe, but was that purchased by Christ or is it left up to the sinner to do his or her own part? Paul set it out in simple and plain words, but those words are in the context of the book of Romans and Romans is in the context of the whole Bible. According to Romans 11:6, one work makes grace no longer to be grace. In other words, we must fight as hard against one work in the context of the Gospel as against many. In fact, this one work is harder to fight against because it is more subtle and deceptive. Even people who call themselves Reformed in our day are not fighting against this one work. But if this one work is such that it makes grace to no longer be grace, then it also makes the Gospel to be no longer to the glory of His grace.
It is true that the previous paragraphs may be disagreeable to many people, even among the Reformed in name. It would appear that the truth of the Gospel of grace alone is no longer popular among those who would prefer the honor of men over the glory of God. But in Scripture we are told that God will not share His glory with another, and this is precisely what happens in a gospel of works. It is human beings trying to share the glory of salvation with God rather than leaving it all up to God. That is why Ephesians 2:9 is so clear that if salvation is of works then men can boast. It should be clear that to the degree that we have works mixed in with the Gospel (which makes it another gospel), we leave room for men to boast.
If we simply look at the general scene among evangelicals, it should be quite clear what has happened. What we see in evangelism are appeals to me based on what they can do rather than on what God can do. We see that the focus is now on human beings rather than on God. We see so-called worship services designed to make men happy and elevate their feelings rather than to seek God. We see people in open sin and yet are said to be Christians because we have placed men at the center of all things rather than God. When God is at the center of all things then grace is seen as sovereign and man must seek God for grace rather than God seek man to believe something about Him. When God is at the center of all things then men must worship God as He pleases out of a desire to love Him and glorify Him rather than as an effort to please men or self as men think they are doing something for God so that He will do what they want. It is nothing more than an attempt at Divine manipulation. But that is precisely what the doctrine of ‘free-will’ leads to. It leaves on work of the will to attain a grace that God has provided and now waits on man to do. Well, if that one work is of the ‘free-will,’ then all the other works must be of that will that is free as well. Since faith is seen as that one thing we must do in order for God to give grace, then we must continue to strive to have faith so that God will give us other things. How utterly dangerous it is to try to insert the ‘free-will’ into the true Gospel and any part of Christianity. It is like leaven and will penetrate the whole loaf.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment