The Bondage of the Will

The Bible unequivocally declares that God is sovereign. It also implies that human beings are able to make free will choices. Are these two ideas mutually exclusive, or is there a sense in which both are true? Well-meaning Christians have grappled with the perennial issues of sovereignty and “free will” throughout the ages, but, as you will discover in reading Luther’s tome on the will, there is only one position that can be reconciled with the Bible and reason: God is sovereign over every aspect of His creation—including the salvation of sinners and He alone possesses autonomous free will. This does not mean, however, that human beings are incapable of making voluntary choices. Quite the opposite. In fact, human beings have free will but lack liberty. That is to say, the power of sin is so great that it has taken the will captive for all humankind since the fall of Adam and Eve. Sinners can and do will to act, but those actions, apart from grace, will only result in sinful choices. In other words, humanity can freely will and choose, but are never capable of choosing to do what is morally right. As Jesus noted, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).Discover through the words of the leading Protestant Reformer the consequences of being a “slave to sin” and what it means for one’s salvation. In so doing, you will understand better from Scripture and reason the undeniable truth in that when God first redeems the lost, the will is freed from its state of bondage and only then is it capable of doing what is morally pleasing to the Lord.