And take the case of Paul, when he was Saul—what did he do with all the power of his ‘free-will’? Certainly, if his state of mind be regarded, his heart was set on what was best and highest. But look at the endeavour whereby he found grace! Not only did he not seek grace, but he received it through his own mad fury against it! (Luther, The Bondage of the Will)
The doctrine of the enslaved will cannot be separated from the doctrine of biblical grace and especially sovereign grace. Apart from a sovereign grace there is no real grace at all, which is to say that a non-sovereign grace is a grace that makes grace a non-grace. It is the same as adding a work to grace which makes grace no longer to be grace (Rom 11:6). At what point did the will of Paul help him out in salvation? At what point did Paul decide that he would follow Jesus? Paul was persecuting the Church in his religious zeal which came from his depraved nature. God took him to the sand and shone his glory around him and then into his heart. Grace arrested Paul while he was in the midst of his fury against grace. Grace changed the heart of Paul so that he could pursue the true God and have a will that would choose God. Grace is only shown because God decides to show it rather than because a person makes a choice. This is seen with great clarity in the verses below.
1 Timothy 1:16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
Why did Paul find mercy? Was it because he came to his senses and decided to make a choice? Not according to Paul who was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He received mercy so that the perfect patience of Christ could be manifested in Paul who was an example of all who would believe. What example do sinners have from this account of Paul? Do they see that they need to make a choice? Do they see that they need to work hard to come up with faith? Not at all, but rather they can see that sinners are saved for the sake of the glory of Christ. Notice that in the text Paul tells people why he found mercy. It was “so that” “Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience.” It was not because of anything good or of anything free in Paul. It was because of Christ alone.
Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
1:12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
2:7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In terms of causation, the verses above do not allow any room for a cause from a human will that is free. God saves to the praise of the glory of His grace and not because one human being made a choice from a will that was free from sin and grace to some or any degree. God saves by grace which has been freely bestowed (free of cause within the sinner) and given for the sake of Christ alone. God saves so that those who hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory and not the praise of the human will. God saves so that in the ages to come He might show the greatness of the riches of His grace toward those in Christ Jesus and not toward those who were smart enough or wise enough to make a choice of the will.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The soul that has been born in Adam and from Adam is dead. Not only is that sinner dead in sins and trespasses, but the sinner earns (wages) death by that sin. So sinners are by nature children of wrath and are dead in sins and trespasses, but not only that they have done nothing but earn death by that sin. Can a sinner just up and make a choice for Christ out of love for Christ? That is simply not possible. What it takes for a sinner to have his or her nature changed is to be raised from the dead and receive the gift of life. This gift is free, that is, free of cause within the sinner and so the will could not make a choice that God responds to. The sinner is spiritually dead and needs life in Christ instead of a choice of a spiritually dead will that loves nothing but sin and self and can do nothing but what is in accordance with the nature of a child of wrath. The cause of salvation is, without any question at all if we stick with Scripture, the grace of God and not the will of man. The motive of salvation is God’s love for His own glory and not some response He makes to the one who comes up with faith on his or her own. Oh how glorious grace is as opposed to a dead will that has no power and no being in the spiritual realm.
God Loves... Himself 
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