I give you [Erasmus] hearty praise and commendation on this further account—that you alone, in contrast with all others, have attacked the real thing, that is, the essential issue. You have not wearied me with those extraneous issues about the Papacy, purgatory, indulgences and such like—trifles, rather than issues—in respect of which almost all to date have sought my blood (though without success); you, and you alone, have seen the hinge on which all turns, and aimed for the vital spot. For that I heartily thank you; for it is more gratifying to me to deal with this issue, insofar as time and leisure permit me to do so.” (Luther, Bondage of the Will)
In closing his great book on the will, Luther took time to point out how important he thought this issue was. While he went after Erasmus for what he taught, he praised and commended him for the fact that he went after the most essential issue. While people differ in their thinking on what the most important issue in Christianity is, there is no doubt what Luther thought it was. This was at the heart of what drove the main teaching of the Reformation, though indeed it is not thought to be all that important in the modern day. Luther was attacked because of what he believed about indulgences, and indeed that topic took up a lot of space in his original writings he tacked on the door in Wittenberg. After some of his early debates, he was attacked on his diminishing belief and trust in the Papacy. But notice in the paragraph above he said that those things were mere trifles rather than issues.
Why would anyone waste their time in the modern day writing a book like Bondage of the Will? Most likely books like that are not written because people do not see the importance of the subject. It is a fascinating philosophical debate, one that interests historians for various reasons, but why is this topic such an important subject? Why is this subject, according to Luther, so vital? It is because it is at the heart of several teachings, and in fact is where those teachings meet. It is at the heart of what one thinks of the grace of God, of the sovereignty of God, and of the depravity or freedom of man. Those three teachings collide at precisely the point of the will.
The person that denies (whether theologically or practically) the total depravity of man will view the Gospel differently than the person that truly and really believes and adheres to the total depravity of man. The person that thinks that God gives a person grace because a person responds will view the Gospel differently than those who believe that grace is conditioned on God and God alone. The person that does not think of God as utterly sovereign will view the Gospel of grace alone differently than the person who knows and rests on the utter sovereignty of God. The doctrine of the will is where those three teachings meet and where a person’s real theology is exposed. In the modern day there are many who claim to be Reformed and yet on a practical basis deny the total depravity of man while giving it lip-service. But a person cannot just give depravity lip-service without giving the sovereignty of God and His grace lip-service as well. The three doctrines or teachings stand or fall together and they stand or fall together because they meet at and mutually stand or fall at the doctrine of man’s will.
When this is said (the three doctrines or teachings mutually stand or fall at the doctrine of man’s will) this is not to say that man’s will is more important than God Himself. It is just insisting and asserting that the three doctrines so fit together that what one really believes about one will influence what one really believes about the others. When Luther stressed the bondage of the will so vehemently, he was doing so with the full knowledge that he was fighting for the sovereignty of God and His grace in the Gospel. There can be no justification by grace alone through faith alone apart from the bondage of the will in sin and of a sovereign God who shows grace as He pleases and to whom He pleases. In some ways it does not matter what a person says he believes if he does not practically preach and evangelize with these great truths in mind. It is useless to have a creed that teaches about the bondage of the will of man and of the sovereign grace of God if those things don’t drive what is actually taught.
The Gospel of grace alone (sovereign grace is the only kind of grace) only fits with men being dead in sins and trespassed with no ‘free-will’ that will enable them to do anything other than sin. Despite the fact that so many “Reformed” today say that the Arminian preaches the same gospel, that condemns those who claim to be Reformed. Preaching that depends on a ‘free-will’ is not preaching that depends on ‘free-grace’. One cannot have it both ways, though many try in an effort to do ministry or to be gracious and non-offensive. The doctrine of the enslaved will is “the hinge on which all turns” and is at “the vital spot.” When people do not teach the enslaved will but another gospel, they have moved away from the hinge on which all turns and they miss the vital spot. That is like falling short (missing) the glory of God.
This is, once again, not a minor issue but is at the heart (vital spot) of what Christianity is and it is at the heart of how God glorifies His name on the earth and to heavenly beings. If the enslaved will is the hinge on which all turns, to move from that to a ‘free- will’ is to have a different hinge. In other words, Luther would say that one is preaching a different Gospel. If Luther was correct then, his writing on that subject is correct now. If that is true, then we are at a time in history when there is great darkness in terms of the Gospel. The hinge has changed which means the Gospel that Luther preached is virtually lost in the modern world.
God Loves... Himself 
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