God Loves… Himself

Again: since by the single offence of the one man, Adam, we all lie under sin and condemnation, how can we set our hand to anything that is not sinful and damnable? When he says ‘all’, he excepts none; not the power of ‘free-will’, nor any worker, whether he works and endeavours or not; he is of necessity included with the rest among the ‘all’. Neither should we sin or be condemned by reason of the single offence of Adam, if that offence were not our own;…Original sin itself, then, does not allow ‘free-will’ any power at all except to sin and incur condemnation. (Luther, The Bondage of the Will)

In this short paragraph Luther gets at the heart of one side of the issue of why ‘free-will’ is impossible for fallen men to have. Again, while men say that they are free to choose as they please; the soul always pleases to choose sin. Part of the bondage of sin is that men do choose what they please but that they are only pleased with sin. What people cannot see is that they choose sin because as sinners they are only pleased with sin. This shows us that men think they are free because they choose what they want, but instead it is what they want that they are in bondage to.

Romans 5 is quite clear that all have sinned in Adam and all are under condemnation. Ephesians 2 is equally clear that men are by nature children of wrath. In the context of sinners being by nature children of wrath, the text says that they are “indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” They also do these things because they are dead in sins and trespasses (Eph 2:1) and simply live “according to the course of the world” which is “according to the prince of the power of the air.” Not only that, but all of that is in line with the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience. Romans 8:7 tells us that “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.”

Now, as Luther puts it, “how can we set our hand to anything that is not sinful and damnable?” Because of the fall human beings are born into sin and are by nature children of wrath and they are dead in their sins and trespasses. These people follow the course of the world which is according to the course of the world. These people have a spirit that is working in them and that working is to follow anything but the true ways of God. We then see that those who are dead in sin are fleshly and so their mind is set on the flesh and so they are hostile to God and have no ability (cannot) to subject themselves to God. Can a person like that do anything that is not sinful and damnable? It is one thing to think of the things in the previous paragraph as true of some other people, but then to apply it to self and to all men is difficult. Even more, it is to be fully applied. It is not just that some are born dead in sin and are by nature children of wrath, but all are born that way. It is not just that some follow the course of the world, but all follow the course of the world because they are flesh and nothing but flesh.

The doctrine of original sin and total depravity are at the heart of Christianity. While many will allow that all men are less than perfect, for we all know the universal truth is “to err is human,” it is harder to admit that all men are sinful in all they do and deserve damnation for their best works. Even their works of righteousness are as filthy rags as Isaiah sets out. To assert that man has a ‘free-will’ is to assert that man can do something that is not sinful and damnable. The will is not free from its bondage to sin, its death in sin and trespasses; its nature of wrath, its hostility to God and its inability to subject itself to the law of God. All of these things show that the sinner is not free but is in willful and loving bondage to sin. Can a person with a sinful nature who does nothing but sin do one thing that could please God? Clearly the answer is no, so just as clearly it is seen that the will is not free to do one act that is pleasing and acceptable to God.

If the doctrine of original sin is true (and assuredly it is), then the doctrine of ‘free-will’ must be rejected with abhorrence. There is no freedom or power of the will for sinners to do anything but to sin and incur condemnation. The will in that state is not free to do one act free from sin and so obtain salvation. The sinner that is dead in sins and trespasses needs Christ alone to make that sinner alive and that sinners needs Christ to do this by grace alone. Sinners that are by nature children of wrath do not need one bit of the will that is free to make a choice, but instead they need a completely new heart and new nature so that Christ will live in them. Sinners that have nothing but hostility toward God need a new heart and the indwelling love of God rather than just a bit of freedom to make a choice. Sinners that have no ability to keep the Law need Christ to give them His perfect righteousness and then live in them by His Spirit to keep the Law. No sinner can do one thing or even partially do one thing that is not worthy of the wrath and condemnation of God. Those sinners need grace and grace alone, not the act of a fallen will that can do nothing but sin. Oh how preachers need to preach grace alone.

This entry was posted on January 13, 2012 at 5:41 am and is filed under The Gospel and the Enslaved Will. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.