I here pass by arguments of great strength drawn from the purpose of grace, from the promise, from the power of the law, from original sin, and from God’s election; every one of which by itself could utterly overthrow ‘free-will’, thus: If the source of grace is the predestinating purpose of God, then it comes by necessity, and not by any effort or endeavour on our part… (Luther, Bondage of the Will)
In trying to bring the focus down to one thought it is hard to get people to take their focus off of their own ability, power, and choice. They cannot understand why the Gospel is all about the grace of God and not them. They cannot understand why it is not up to them and their own choice to be saved. Luther says this and puts it in such a way in one sentence that one would think that all would see the truth of it. The sentence is like this, though changed a bit from the wording of Luther: “If the source of grace is the predestinating purpose of God, then it is not by any effort or work of our will.” I put the sentence that way to show that if grace is part of God’s purpose and will, then it cannot be because of the choice and effort of man. If the ultimate reason that grace comes is because of God’s purpose, then it cannot be because of the purpose or will of man. It is one or the other and not a combination of the two. If the ultimate cause for grace is that God chooses, then the ultimate cause for grace is not man. Any focus on man’s choice would then be changed to man chooses because God chooses for man to choose. But in that case the will is not free.
What if we changed Luther’s sentence to say this: “If the source of God is the predestinating purpose of God, then it comes by His will and effort and not any effort or work on the part of man of his will.” There is no grace but that which is from God and is for the purposes of God. The reason for this is that grace is not just some abstract thought or power in the universe, but instead grace is when God gives Himself. God gives grace in sending Christ to die on the cross to purchase grace for sinners. This grace is applied in the soul by the Holy Spirit. But what is that grace that was purchased and applied? It is Christ being the life of the sinner. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the sinner. It is God making man a partaker of the divine life. So giving grace is not apart from God giving Himself, and dare anyone say that God Himself can be at the beck and call of the mere choice of a human will?
What power or ability is there in the human will that can purchase grace for itself? What power or ability is there in the human will to apply grace to itself? What power or ability is there in the human will to be able to cause God Himself to dwell in the human soul? What power or ability is there in the human will to be the source, cause, goal or anything else to do with grace? Since there is no power or ability in the human soul to do the slightest thing to earn, obtain, procure, or do anything toward getting grace; we must conclude that grace is at the sole pleasure of the will of God who shows grace to the glory of His grace. But again, if the source of grace is indeed God’s predestinating pleasure, then it cannot be by the will of man.
It has been argued that God is so sovereign that He is able to set Himself to the side and leave sinners to their own freedom. Quite simply and clearly, that is absurd. God is the one that ordains and moves all things according to His eternal plan. He cannot (as sovereign) stand aside and let things go according to the fallen reason of human beings, but instead He orders all things according to His perfect wisdom, plan, and glory. But even more, can God stand aside and put Himself in the hands of sinners to do with as they please? No, the wisdom, holiness, justice and sovereignty of God demand that all be done according to Him rather than be at the whim of sinners driven by whims, lusts, and passions. So God will not and cannot simply give Himself and His creation over to the hands of sinners to do with as they please.
To get even more nauseating, imagine that God gives Himself to sinners for them to apply to themselves as they please and to reject as they please is the height of absurdity. God will never share His glory with another and He can never hand over the reigns of the universe to anyone else. Grace, since it is really God Himself, can never be handed over to the whims and passions of sinful men. Men hate true grace before they are converted since they hate God. Men hate true grace and actually killed grace incarnate when they put Christ on the cross. Sinful men will only handle grace sinfully as well. But instead of men applying grace to themselves to be used as they please, it is God who must apply grace as He pleases in accordance with perfect wisdom. A grace that is not sovereign grace in the hands of God administered as He pleases is not grace at all. If at any moment God put grace in the hands of man to give to himself or anyone else as man pleased, at that moment it would cease to be grace. Grace is from God and His mere good pleasure which shows that it cannot be according to ‘free-will’ or anything else of man. Luther was right. The predestinating purpose of God in giving grace shows ‘free-will’ to be nothing more than man’s attempt to overthrow God and true grace and put grace in his own hands. When ‘free-will’ is seen in its true colors, it is a vile thing. It is nothing more than an attempt by man to be his own god and use the true God as man pleases.
God Loves... Himself 
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