God Loves… Himself

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.

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)

As set out in the last few posts, Paul put the whole human world into two categories. One category is those who do work and the second category is those who do not work. In category one are those that do a lot of works and those who claim to do just one work and all those in between. In the second category are those that don’t work at all. Instead of working, they believe in God who justifies the ungodly. Now this does not make sense to the worldly person or to the very religious person, but despite that it is biblical and is fitting with the Gospel of Christ alone and grace alone. Those who make faith out to be by a ‘free-will’ and therefore by a work of the flesh, may not realize it but they are at odds with and actually are opposed to the Gospel of Christ alone and grace alone.

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

The text above (Ephesians 1:5-12) shows why God saves and the purposes that He saves for. Those who believe in ‘free-will’ think of God as providing salvation for sinners and the sinner obtains or receives that salvation when the sinner exercises faith or choice of the ‘free-will’. But that demands that salvation is contingent on the will and choice of the sinner and that demands that salvation is contingent on something other than God which makes salvation to be something less than grace alone, but instead it is grace plus something the sinner provides.

Instead of that, however, God saves sinners because He loves Himself and His own glory. The last part of Ephesians 1:5, when literally translated, is “according to the good pleasure of His will.” In other words, it is the pleasure of God’s will that determines salvation and not the will of the sinner. This is utterly vital to the Gospel of grace alone which demands that salvation is by Christ alone. The Gospel is also “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (1:6). To the degree that the will of the sinner’s so-called ‘free-will’ (and to be free it must be free from grace at least at one point in part of salvation) is involved in salvation, that is the degree that salvation is not to the praise of the glory of His grace. But the text tells us that God predestines and adopts sinners in accordance with His good pleasure and to the praise of the glory of His grace. So the doctrine of ‘free-will’ is opposed to the pleasure of God and the glory of His grace. It is opposed to the ultimate reasons that God saves sinners.

While it may sound crazy to say that, let the texts speak for themselves. If sinners are those who work up faith apart from grace (what ‘free-will’ does), then the Gospel is not by grace alone and so it is not to the praise of the glory of His grace. Let the glory of the grace of God be proclaimed and exalted until the end of time, and then let it be adored and worshipped in a fuller way for all eternity. But nothing must get in the way either theoretically or practically in a way that diminishes the grace and glory of God. That is precisely what ‘free-will’ does. God saves because it is according to the good pleasure of His will and not according to the will of the sinner. God saves to the praise of the glory of His grace and not to the praise of the choice of the sinner. It is only when a sinner stops any and all works, including the one of the ‘free-will’, and looks to God alone, that salvation is truly by grace alone.

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)

In a very real sense when Scripture sets out that there are those that work and those that work not, the words of God are telling us what man can do by nature and what must be done by grace alone. This is so vital that is bears repeating and repeating and repeating over and over again. The soul that works includes all those that trust in their many works or those that trust in themselves for one work. The only soul that does not work does not trust in any work or works. While it may seem that those who trust in one work of the will (all who really believe in ‘free-will’) are closer to grace than those who believe in many works, they are not. We can think of this as all humanity or all time divided into two sets of categories and there are no linking points between the two at all. One category is those who do not work at all. The only other possible category is those who work. Again, there are two categories and two only. Every human being belongs in one category or the other. For a person to be in the category that does not work, that person has to stop all working. That leaves the other category of those who do work as those who look to one work or for more than one work.

Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.

Another vital point in this is to notice what the person does that does not work. This person is the one who believes in God who justifies the ungodly. In other words, instead of trusting in anything that s/he has done, will do, or is capable of doing; this person has faith in God who justifies. It is the person who has faith who is credited with righteousness, but the only ones who have faith are those who do not work. If a person does one work of many and God promises salvation to those who do one work or many, then salvation is not credited as favor but as what is due. The person has fulfilled what God requires and so salvation is granted as a wage.

It should be clearly seen, then, how opposed to grace alone that the so-called ‘free-will’ is. The will that is free of grace is never free from its fleshly desires and nature and can never do an act other than a fleshly act. God will not grant salvation on the basis of many works or even one work of the flesh. God saves sinners on the basis of Christ alone and grace alone. Despite the words of those who adhere to ‘free-will,’ their position denies the Gospel of grace alone and Christ alone. The will that is said to be free is not free from sin and is only free from grace and as such it cannot do one good thing, and especially it cannot do one thing that God will give the wage of salvation to.

It bears repeating that a person must be in the category of non-works to be one that believes in Him who justifies the ungodly. God does not look upon that any work(s) of the human will that is free of grace as a work that He will justify the person for doing that one act. As verse 7 of Romans 4 shows, God credits righteousness to those who do not work. Those are the only people that God credits righteousness to. As long as a person believes that s/he has ‘free-will’ that person will trust in his own power or ability to choose and to control salvation according to his or her own desires. To rest in grace alone a person must be one that does not trust in his or her own works in any way, shape, form, or fashion. For the Gospel to truly be by grace alone it must be that no one justified by grace alone and Christ alone would trust in works or in any work of his or her own. Until a person is brought to the point of being broken from all hope in his or her own will or ability, that person will not rest in grace alone.

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)

One way to look at this issue is to see what comes from a will that is called “free” by its adherents and defenders. Against them, Luther tells us that all the works of the ‘free-will’ are “nothing but sins, evil and ungodly in God’s sight.” What can the power of ‘free-will’ actually do that pleases God? What can a will do that is free from grace (required of a ‘free-will’)? On the other hand, is the will really free from depravity and even total depravity? But even if the will could be free from total depravity, even just a tiny little bit, could it actually do something to obtain righteousness? What righteousness could and would that obtain before a holy God?

Paul set out in Romans four (and Luther built on that foundation) that there are only two types of people. Every person in the whole universe fits into one of those two camps. One is either with those who work or with those who don’t work. In the group of those who work there are those who trust in many works and then all the way down to those who trust in the one work of the will that is free. But those who trust in that one work of their own (‘free-will’) and that choice are those in the group that works. So even if the will that is free (according to those who claim that) could do one tiny work, it is still in the group of those who work. Paul said that those with faith were those who did not work. So that leaves the ‘free-will’ camp in the group of those that work and not in the group of those that have faith. True faith does not look to any work of self but looks, receives, and trusts in grace alone from beginning to end.

But even though many think the ‘free-will’ is capable of one tiny work and that enough to move God to save the soul, the Bible teaches quite the contrary. The soul that still trusts in its ability to choose or to make some little choice is a soul that still trusts in itself. It is not a soul that has quit trusting in itself and has been broken of its pride, but it is a soul that is still proud enough to trust in something of itself. It is not a soul like Paul in Romans 7 where the Law aroused coveting in him so much that he died to his ability and strength to keep the Law, but instead it is a soul that has many things hidden to it. The Law did such a work in Paul that he died to his own ability to keep the Law. The ability to keep the Law at least includes the will in any conception of the will, so if a will is free it is free to keep the Law. But Paul died to his ability to keep the Law. It was only then that he could rest in grace alone and live by grace alone.

What comes from the soul that thinks it has ‘free-will’ or any soul that has not died to self? The only thing that can come from that soul is sin. The works of that soul, since they do not come from Christ the Vine, “are nothing but sins, evil and ungodly in God’s sight.” There is nothing that a will can do apart from the Vine that is anything but a work of the flesh and as such it is evil and ungodly. The will is not free enough to make one choice or do one thing apart from or free from Christ that is not a fleshly act and as such it is evil and ungodly. Until the will is renewed and Christ is living in the soul, there is nothing that the will can do that is pleasing to God. But in that case the will is not free from the flesh and is not free to do something good apart from Christ. All of the works of the human soul and its will are sin and nothing but sin as long as that soul is apart from Christ and no amount of vaunted freedom can change that. For the will to be truly free it must be free from Christ and yet there is nothing that the soul can do apart from Christ that is acceptable to God. Anything a soul does apart from Christ is wickedness. It is easy to conclude, then, that to trust in the freedom of the will or to set out a theology that requires people to trust in an act of the ‘free-will’ is to set out a gospel that is not of grace alone and is not of Christ alone. The will can never be free from its utter helplessness to do anything but evil apart from Christ and it can never be free from its utter need of Christ to do anything good. Since that is true, the Gospel of grace alone and of Christ alone stands firmly and decidedly against the teaching of ‘free-will’ at any and all points in relation to the Gospel and holiness.

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)

If God does not reckon righteousness to those who work for it, then we must be careful not to set up any doctrine that calls for a work even if it does not in words. If a doctrine came up in the church that required a work but did not call it that, it would be a false gospel that is hidden underneath orthodox language and as such would be even more dangerous to all those who hold to it. This has already happened and it started early in history, was clear in the Reformation, and has never stopped. In fact, it may be as strong in the professing Church as at any point in history. The doctrine of works has slipped into the professing Church in the guise of ‘free-will’ and goes virtually unchallenged. Even among the professing Reformed who hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith and others there is no real outcry against the doctrine of works that has been brought into the professing Church. In theory, anyway, it is considered to be a doctrinal error but it is not thought to be a direct assault on the Gospel of grace alone. So this teaching has slipped into the professing Church and is working away against the Gospel even by those who would deny it as true in their formal Confession.

A.W. Tozer has written of how our creeds can hide our true hearts from us. Our real creed which we hold deep in our heart can even be unknown to the way we think, but it is still there. So we can hide our real animosity toward the doctrine of grace alone in the heart by a doctrine of grace alone. We can hide our animosity toward the sovereignty of God in giving grace by a creed which affirms God’s sovereign grace. Even in those who deny ‘free-will’ in their creeds can still hold to it deep in their hearts and explain it away in theological language. In other words, the doctrine of ‘free-will’ is a teaching that can be rampant even in those with creedal statements against it. As Jeremiah 17:9-10 teaches us, our hearts are so deceptive that we cannot know what is in them. It is the LORD alone who knows what is in them and He alone can show that to us.

The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds” (Jer 17:9-10).

Romans 4, then, is not just teaching human beings what they must put in their creeds, but it is teaching them about the true nature of God and the true nature of man’s inability. Romans 4 is teaching man that need for the heart to reach the point of not trusting in self or its own choice but to stop working. Romans 4 is not saying that if we have a creed that teaches us to stop trusting in works that we will receive the gift of righteousness, but that if we really and truly have no trust in our works in the depths of our souls and really and truly look to God alone who gives a perfect righteousness to those who trust in Him alone then that person is declared just. But the person is not declared just because of anything that s/he believes as such, but instead it is totally based on what God has done in the soul of that person.

In an effort to be crystal clear, let this be said again. It is what grace does in the soul that matters rather than an intellectual belief alone. The efforts to get people in line with a creed is not unimportant in and of itself, but it is unimportant as compared with having the heart conformed to the work of grace in the soul. A person can believe that s/he must be born again to enter the kingdom, but it is not believing that truth that will work the grace of the new birth in the soul. A person must believe in the Gospel, but it is not just the intellectual belief of a few facts in a creed that saves. The creed describes what God does in the soul to save sinners, but it is not the intellectual belief of those things that saves. God must actually work those things in the soul before the soul is saved. So the soul must actually give up all hope in itself before it can have all hope in the grace of God. So the soul must actually stop working and must actually believe before it actually is granted the perfect righteousness of Christ.

To put it plainly, until a person actually has given up all hope in his or her own ability to contribute to salvation in any way, that person has not stopped working and as such cannot look to grace alone. God alone can work that in a soul and God works by grace alone. Not only must the soul give up all actual hope of contributing to salvation, that soul must actually look to grace and grace alone in truth. Regardless of the creed, a soul must actually be brought to no hope in self to be saved. The ‘free-will’ is never brought to that point and as such is a terrible danger to souls. A person looking to ‘freewill’ is not a person that has stopped working and is not a person that really believes that God justifies the truly ungodly.

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)

One thing that this text sets out with a great deal of clarity is that righteousness is not reckoned to the one that works, but instead to the one that does not work. This statement, though directly from Romans 4, was a direct, frontal attack on Roman Catholicism in Luther’s day and on any teaching of any time which has the works of human beings contribute in any sense of way to justification. This shows once again how important the doctrine of the enslaved will is in any doctrine of justification. If the will is enslaved, it leaves sinners no way which it can dodge or escape at any point. It throws the sinner upon the mercy and grace of God with nothing in itself to trust in or look to. If the will is not enslaved, but instead has one little island of freedom left to its choice in the realm of salvation, then it can look to itself to do something in the realm of justification instead of resting in grace alone to do all that is needed. That one little something that is left to that one little island of freedom is a work of the flesh.

When Scripture sets out that sinners have righteousness reckoned or imputed to those that do not work but instead to the ungodly, something must be said to bow in humble brokenness or to try to fix a way to get around this text. If the only way of salvation is to have righteousness reckoned or imputed, then the will is not free to do anything of its own to obtain this righteousness and salvation is by grace and grace alone. A will that is free to obtain righteousness, even if on the basis of only one choice, is a completely different conception and way of obtaining righteousness than that of having no way but receiving it by the grace of God. In the modern day this seems overly precise and very harsh, but the Gospel of grace alone and the Gospel of the glory of God alone will not share glory with the wills of human beings.

Righteousness is only obtained by those who do not work (Rom 4:5). To repeat, using different words, righteousness is only given to those who do not work for it and look for it from grace alone. The difference between a true view of the enslaved will and those who leave that one little island of the will that is free enough to make one choice is enormous. It is the difference between working and not working. If the will is free enough to make one choice in order to obtain righteousness, then that will is still free enough to continue working for righteousness. This cannot be in the realm where the glory of God’s grace reigns. It is an overthrow of the biblical teaching of the Gospel. That one little act of the will that is free enough to make a choice means that righteousness is obtained by those who do one work and so Romans 4:5 is overthrown because it says that righteousness is only obtained by those who do not work.

Not only does the text say that “to the one that does not work…his faith is credited as righteousness,” but it says that it “believes in Him who justifies the ungodly.” So a true faith that because of its union with Christ is credited as righteousness is a faith that does not work and believes in Him who justifies the ungodly. The text limits the crediting of righteousness to those who do not work for righteousness and to those who believe in Him who justifies the ungodly. This is a complete overthrow of the one act of the ‘free-will’ to be saved theory. The ‘free-will’ cannot stop working as its very trust in itself is a work. The ‘free-will’ is not consistent with being ungodly in a total sense because it cannot admit that its free-choice is ungodly because if it is free enough to make a righteous choice it is not ungodly. It is also the case that the ‘free-will” looks to itself to obtain righteousness rather than to grace to actually give it by grace alone. The nature of true faith, then, is that it does not have one work to do and so it stops working for righteousness and it looks to God who justifies the ungodly. The nature of true faith is that it looks to God to do all the work in the soul and as such it does not look to itself. So the teaching of ‘free-will’ and the teaching of the enslaved will actually have a different view of the Gospel thought they may use a lot of the same language. We need to wake up and realize that the spirit of Erasmus has many followers while  Luther has few. While it is not such a major thing that people follow one man over another, it is the Gospel that Luther fought Erasmus over that is so vital. Luther thought that the teaching of ‘free-will’ was another gospel. Today, that is hardly even a blip on the screen. If Luther was correct about what Paul taught, our day is in deep darkness.

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)

Luther is taking two statements from Romans 4:1-6 and setting them side by side in order to show what is really going on in the text and how far the text actually reaches.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

The reach of this text is to each and every work of human souls. Romans 4, quoting from Genesis, tells us that Abraham believed God and it was credited or reckoned or imputed to him as righteousness. Now, how was Abraham credited righteousness? The text first says (v. 2) that if he was justified by works he would have had something to boast about, but instead (v. 3) Abraham had righteousness credited to him. So Abraham obtained righteousness by faith and not by works, which means no works at all. If faith itself is a work, then justification is by one work. But the text says no works at all and so faith is not a work.

To the one that does work (v. 3), what that person receives is not credited as favor or grace, but simply what is due that person. But the text then sets out with great clarity that it is to the one that does not work but instead believes that this person is credited righteousness, and that is true because God credits righteousness apart from works. Now this passage is utterly devastating to the ‘free-will’ position. In fact, ‘free-will’ cannot survive in the avalanche of the truth of grace from this passage. To assert ‘free-will’ it has to be asserted that the will is free of grace at some point as well as total depravity so that the will can operate and function in its own power of choice. The word “free” means something in that context. What free power does the will have when the righteousness of God does not come by a work or any group of works together? If the will does operate free from grace, even if that is just the smallest amount of freedom, what it does is a work. But the text above teaches that God reckons or credits righteousness apart from works.
As Luther points out, the will is in one of two groups but not both. The ‘free-will’ is either in the group that does not work or in the group that does work. The text does not limit the group that does work to those who work totally for salvation, but simply to those that work at all. If the will has to be free in order to make a ‘free-will’ choice, then what it does while free of grace is a work of the flesh. So for a ‘free-will’ to make a choice it would necessarily be a work. Yet, according to Romans 4, righteousness is given to those that do not work. Luther taught in The Bondage of the Will and in the Heidelberg Disputation that a person must not trust in themselves or in their own ability in order to be saved. The Heidelberg Disputation puts it like this: “It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.” It is not that the person must mostly despair of his or her own ability before s/he is prepared to receive grace, but that person must utterly despair of his or her own ability to receive grace that is all grace. Why is that? One reason is that until a person utterly despairs of his own ability that person is trusting in his own will which can do nothing but a work of the flesh. If a person is trusting in one work of the flesh, that person is not trusting in grace alone. In other words, a person trusting in his or her act of the ‘free-will’ is trusting in a work of the flesh rather than grace alone to be saved. The Gospel is that sinners are saved by grace alone and are given righteousness by grace alone and one work makes grace no longer to be grace. The teaching of ‘free-will’, therefore, is opposed to the Gospel of grace alone. The will that is bound, on the other hand, is necessary for justification to be by grace alone which is the only kind of grace there is.

What, pray, can be said for grace against ‘free-will’ clearly and plainly, if Paul’s discourse here is not clear and plain? He exalts grace against ‘free-will’ in categorical terms; using the clearest and simplest words, he says that we are justified freely, and that grace is not grace if procured by works. With the greatest plainness he excludes all works in the matter of justification, and so sets up grace alone, and justification that is free. Yet in this light we still seek darkness, and because we cannot give ourselves great credit, yes, all the credit, for justification, we try to give ourselves some tiny little credit—solely in order that we may gain that point that justification by the grace of God is not free and without works! As though Paul’s denial that any of our greater works contributes to our justification were not much more a denial that our tiny little works do so! Especially when he has laid it down that we are justified only by God’s grace, without any works—indeed, without the law, in which all works, great, small, congruently or condignly meritorious, are contained. (Luther, Bondage of the Will)

So with great plainness we have set out before us that grace is not grace if justification is procured by a work or by works. There is simply no way around this teaching of Paul and then set out and pointed to by Luther. To seek justification by one work of by man is to fall from grace as a way of justification (Gal 5:4). This is the way that all works and any work is excluded in justification and grace alone is set up and declared which means that there is no cause of justification found within the sinner. While sinners may not like this and certainly desire to leave things to where they can do one thing to move God to save them, but that is simply not the way of grace. For justification to be by grace alone there can be no cause in the sinner that would move God, but instead all causes are within God Himself. This is the way of grace alone.

So Paul, in his letters to the churches, was very clear about a justification by grace alone. But sinners have sought something that they could take credit for. Perhaps the most basic desire was not to have some tiny little credit, but to have some control of salvation so that I can do something in order not to be at the sovereign mercy of God. Sinners love to hear of grace, but not grace alone. Sinners love to hear of grace as available to them at their mere choice or prayer, but they hate to hear that grace alone means that it is God’s choice and not theirs. Indeed, in their battle against grace alone and for the ‘free-will’ they end up taking credit for that act of the will or choice, but the real issue is that sinners hate the true Gospel of grace alone and want a justification that is not by grace alone, that is not free of human cause, and is not free of all works in a categorical sense. But instead, sinners fight for ‘free-will’ in order that they may have some control of the situation which is to say that they want to be saved by their own choosing and have it left up to them. But that choosing comes at a great cost as seen before. In rejecting a free of cause justification the sinner sets up the cause within himself and as such rejects grace alone. In rejecting a grace alone salvation the sinner sets up himself as having the ability to choose which is a work. That makes grace to be no longer grace and is destructive to a justification by grace alone.

It seems so clear that setting up ‘free-will’ instead of grace destroys the true Gospel. Paul sets out so clearly that justification is by grace alone and apart from any works for justification at all. While the Galatians had the Judaizers come in and try to say that it was grace plus the one work of circumcision, Paul said that the one work meant that they had fallen from grace as a way of justification and were now obligated to keep the whole Law. This is the point that we must keep returning to over and over. If one act of the ‘free-will’ (which amounts to one tiny work) is necessary to be saved, then keeping the whole Law is necessary for that will. Nothing can be added to grace and still have grace alone.

Luther’s words (or something like them) must be ringing in our ears if we are to maintain a clear Gospel of grace alone. “We are justified only by God’s grace, without any works—indeed, without the law, in which all works, great, small, congruently or condignly meritorious, are contained.” If the Gospel of grace alone is to be preached in our day or in any day, it must be preached in such a way that we make it plain and very clear that a grace apart from the law means a grace that is apart from any and all works no matter how small and even inconsequential we think our one little work may be. It should also be made clear to people that they may be trusting in something other than grace alone so grace needs to deliver sinners from faith in self. It is not that grace is just a concept that  the brain must believe in, but grace is a reality of God and it must actually do the work in the soul so that the soul will not trust in anything of self or done by self.

What, pray, can be said for grace against ‘free-will’ clearly and plainly, if Paul’s discourse here is not clear and plain? He exalts grace against ‘free-will’ in categorical terms; using the clearest and simplest words, he says that we are justified freely, and that grace is not grace if procured by works. With the greatest plainness he excludes all works in the matter of justification, and so sets up grace alone, and justification that is free. Yet in this light we still seek darkness, and because we cannot give ourselves great credit, yes, all the credit, for justification, we try to give ourselves some tiny little credit—solely in order that we may gain that point that justification by the grace of God is not free and without works! As though Paul’s denial that any of our greater works contributes to our justification were not much more a denial that our tiny little works do so! Especially when he has laid it down that we are justified only by God’s grace, without any works—indeed, without the law, in which all works, great, small, congruently or condignly meritorious, are contained. (Luther, Bondage of the Will)

Luther sets out that Paul exalted grace against ‘free-will’ in categorical terms, which is to say that he exalted grace in all ways and at all times over and against ‘free-will.’ In that context, then, we can see that Luther believed that Paul set out that sinners are justified freely and by that meant that sinners are justified by grace apart from any cause in the sinner contributing to justification or to the procuring of salvation. For a sinner to be declared just by God there must be a basis in pure and holy justice for that declaration. Sinners are declared just by God on the basis of one of three possibilities:
              1. Sinners are declared just on the basis of works.
              2. Sinners are declared just on the basis of grace apart from works (grace alone).
              3. Sinners are declared just on the basis of a mixture of grace and works, or perhaps grace plus one work.

The doctrine of the Reformation that justification was by grace apart from works (grace alone) was built or came from many passages of Scripture. As seen in previous posts on this subject, Romans 3:24; 4:16, and 11:6 play a large part in this teaching. From Romans 3:24 it is seen that justification is a gift by His grace, which really means that the sinner is declared just apart from any cause found within himself. That is a vitally important passage. From Romans 4:16 it is seen that the reason that sinners are justified by faith is so that justification can be by grace. It is so clear that if faith is a work of the ‘free-will’ then salvation cannot be by grace alone and so faith would defeat its very own purpose. From Romans 11:6 it is seen that any work added to grace makes grace no longer to be grace. So if faith is the work of a ‘free-will’ it means that salvation is not only no longer by grace alone, but it is not by grace at all.

As we look at a few parts of justification we can see that the wrath of God on sinners for their sin must be propitiated by Christ or there is no way that the wrath of God can be removed. Romans 3:24-25 declares that Christ is the propitiation set out by God and that it is by the blood of Christ. Does the act of the ‘free-will’ have any way of removing all of its sin or even the smallest part of one sin? No, it is apart from the human will and it is an act of God in Christ and as such it is all by grace and grace alone. If not by grace alone, it is not by grace at all.

In moving to Romans 4 we see that the imputation or reckoning of God’s righteousness to sinners. In Romans 3 we have seen that Christ is the only way to remove the wrath of God in His propitiatory work on the cross. Now we see that sinners must have a perfect righteousness in order to be declared just by God, but that must come by grace alone as well. For example, in Romans 4:4-4 we see this: “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” To the person that works, that person does not receive grace but as what the person earns. So if the ‘free-will’ must come up with faith or a choice on its own, then that act of faith or choice actually does something to obtain righteousness in a way that is not by grace alone.

Romans 4:5 (see previous paragraph) is perhaps even more clear. It is to the person that does not work that faith is credited as righteousness. The text does not say that it is to the person that does not work totally for grace, but it simply says that it is the person that does not work. The clear implication is that it is to the person that does not work at all. But of course the person with the ‘free-will’ would be a person that had at least one work, but to go beyond that if the will is still free after justification then what does that will do during sanctification? It would still be working. So the will that is free enough to make one choice (because God must have men be that free, they say) must still be free for all other choices as well. This leaves a justification and a sanctification that is littered with the works of men and simply and clearly does away with any real meaning of grace alone.

For a sinner to be justified the sinner must have the wrath of God taken away and must be given a perfect righteousness. These must happen on the basis of works, the basis of grace alone, or on a mixture of the two. If any one work (as in Romans 11:6) mixed with grace makes grace no longer to be grace, then any mixture of the two destroys any teaching of grace alone. That leaves us with a system of works or a system of grace alone. The teaching of ‘free-will’ is part of a system of works and cannot be torn from the grasp of works. Therefore, anyone who wants to believe and proclaim a true Gospel of grace alone must deny that ‘free-will’ has any part of salvation at all. Grace alone means that it is really God alone and He will not share His glory with anyone. That means that He will not share the slightest bit with the ‘free-will’ of man. It is no wonder that John Owen referred to ‘free-will’ as an idol. It leaves men trusting in the idol of self rather than completely dependent on God alone.

What, pray, can be said for grace against ‘free-will’ clearly and plainly, if Paul’s discourse here is not clear and plain? He exalts grace against ‘free-will’ in categorical terms; using the clearest and simplest words, he says that we are justified freely, and that grace is not grace if procured by works. With the greatest plainness he excludes all works in the matter of justification, and so sets up grace alone, and justification that is free. Yet in this light we still seek darkness, and because we cannot give ourselves great credit, yes, all the credit, for justification, we try to give ourselves some tiny little credit—solely in order that we may gain that point that justification by the grace of God is not free and without works! As though Paul’s denial that any of our greater works contributes to our justification were not much more a denial that our tiny little works do so! Especially when he has laid it down that we are justified only by God’s grace, without any works—indeed, without the law, in which all works, great, small, congruently or condignly meritorious, are contained. (Luther, Bondage of the Will)

Luther had a very strong position for grace and against ‘free-will’ and was bold in setting it out. He did not play games on this issue and he was certainly not what people thought of as gracious when it came to grace and ‘free-will.’ He stood for grace and simply thought that if you stood for true grace you would be against ‘free-will’ since there was no middle ground. The Gospel of grace alone meant what it said that that no ‘free-will’ could be mixed with grace and that one would still have grace alone. Below are some positions that Luther took in the famed Heidelberg Disputation. His view of ‘free-will’ can be seen in these.

1. Free will, after the fall, exists in name only, and as long as it does what it is able to do, it commits a mortal sin.
2. Free will, after the fall, has power to do good only in a passive capacity, but it can always do evil in an active capacity.
3. Nor could free will remain in a state of innocence, much less do good, in an active capacity, but only in its passive capacity.
4. The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty.
5. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ.
6. It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.

Can grace be obtained by a ‘free-will’ in any way if the only thing the will can do is sin? Can the ‘free-will’ do anything acceptable to God since the only power it has is to do evil? Can grace be obtained by a ‘free-will’ when by acting on that will adds to the debt and guilt of the person? Can grace be obtained by an act of the ‘free-will’ if it is true that a man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive grace? As long as sinners do not give up hope in their ‘free-wills’ they will hope in their will which makes it impossible to rest in grace alone. As long as sinners do not give up hope in the ability of their ‘free-wills’ they will trust in their own ability which makes it impossible to rest in grace alone.

For Luther, and I would argue Paul also, to speak of keeping the Law or works of the Law would necessarily involve speaking or at least implying something of the working of the will. The Law came to show men their sin and show them their inability so that they would go to Christ. The Law did not come to show men that they can kept it, but that they are wicked and vile sinners and cannot keep it. When Paul said that sinners were justified by faith apart from the Law the inescapable conclusion is that sinners are justified by faith apart from the ‘free-will’ as well. In other words, this fits with #6 above. Human souls must despair of any hope in themselves, of their own ability and their own will in order to rest in grace alone. It is not good enough for the Gospel of grace alone for the sinner to trust in his own will and ability to do one thing, but instead it is by grace alone. It is not good enough for a sinner to mostly rest in Christ and even 99.999% in Christ. The Gospel is of Christ alone and grace alone to the glory of God alone. As Paul wrote and Luther points to, this would make “grace to be not grace.” Paul was so clear that to trust in one work was to fall from grace as a way of salvation in Galatians. Luther has echoed Paul in this matter. The modern professing Church as not echoed Paul or Luther, and that includes many of the professing Reformed. The doctrine of ‘free-will’ cannot be reconciled to the Gospel of the Reformation nor with the Gospel of grace alone in the Bible. People must be awakened to this or in the name of ‘free-will’ or being gracious to others the door of hell will remain wide open in the name of a false gospel.