excerpts from Martin Luther's 'de Servo Arbitrio' (1525), pt. 2

"when you are finished with all your commands and exhortations ... I’ll write Rom. 3:20 over the top of it all" ("...through the law comes knowledge of sin.").

"For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?"

"...'if thou art willing' is a verb in the subjunctive mood, which asserts nothing...a conditional statement asserts nothing indicatively." "if thou art willing", "if thou hear", "if thou do" declare, not man's ability, but his duty."

"the commandments are not given inappropriately or pointlessly; but in order that through them the proud, blind man may learn the plague of his impotence, should he try to do as he is commanded."

Speaking to Erasmus, "Throughout your treatment you forget that you said that 'free-will' can do nothing without grace, and you prove that 'free-will' can do all things without grace! Your inferences and analogies "For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?"

"Even grammarians and schoolboys on street corners know that nothing more is signified by verbs in the imperative mood than what ought to be done, and that what is done or can be done should be expressed by words in the indicative. How is it that you theologians are twice as stupid as schoolboys, in that as soon as you get hold of a single imperative verb you infer an indicative meaning, as though the moment a thing is commanded it is done, or can be done?"

"The passages of Scripture you cite are imperative; and they prove and establish nothing about the ability of man, but only lay down what is and what not to be done."

"Does it follow from: 'turn ye' that therefore you can turn? Does it follow from "'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart' (Deut 6.5) that therefore you can love with all your heart? What do arguments of this kind prove,
but the 'free-will' does not need the grace of God, but can do all things by its own power...But it does not follow from this that man is converted by his own power, nor do the words say so; they simply say: "if thou wilt turn,
telling man what he should do. When he knows it, and sees that he cannot do it, he will ask whence he may find ability to do it..."

"By the law is the knowledge of sin' [Rom 3:20], so the word of grace comes only to those who are distressed by a sense of sin and tempted to despair."

As to why some are touched by the law and others not, so that some receive and others scorn the offer of grace...[this is the] hidden will of God, Who, according to His own counsel, ordains such persons as He wills to receive and partake of the mercy preached and offered."

The "imperative or hypothetical passages, or wishes, by which is signified, not what we can do, or do do...but what we ought to do, and what is required of us, so that our impotence may be made known to us and the knowledge of sin may be given to us."

God Incarnate says; 'I would, and thou wouldst not." God Incarnate, I repeat, was sent for this purpose, to will, say, do, suffer and offer to all me, all that is necessary for salvation; albeit He offends many who, being abandoned or hardened by God's secret will of Majesty, do not receive Him thus willing, speaking, doing, and offering. As John says: "The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness com comprehendeth it not' (John 1.5)"

And again: "He came unto his own, and His own received Him not. (v. 11)"The law indicates the impotence of man and the saving power of God..."if any man will come after me': 'he that wills to save his life'; 'if ye love me'; 'if ye shall continue'. In sum, as I have said-let every occurrence of the conjunction 'if', and all imperative verbs, be collected together (so we may help the Diatribe...)"

Let all the 'free-will' in the world do all it can with all its strength; it will never give rise to a single instance of ability to avoid being hardened if God does not give the Spirit, or of meriting mercy if it is left to its own strength."

"...omnipotence and foreknowledge of God, I repeat, utterly destroy the doctrine of 'free-will'...doubtless it gives the greatest possible offense to common sense or natural reason, that God, Who is proclaimed as being full of mercy and goodness, and so on, should of His own mere will abandon, harden and damn men, as though He delighted in the sins and great eternal torments of such poor wretches. it seems an iniquitous, cruel, intolerable thought to think of God; and it is this that has been such a stumbling block to so many great men down through the ages. And who would not stumble at it? I have stumbled at it myself more than once, down to the deepest pit of despair, so that I wished I had never been made a man. (That was before I knew how health-giving that despair was, and how close to grace.)"

"...it was not of the merits of Jacob or Esau, 'but of Him that Calleth that it was said of Sara: the elder shall serve the younger' Paul is discussing whether they attained to what was spoken of them by the power or merits of
'free-will"; and he proves they they did not, but that Jacob attained what Esau did not solely by the grace of "Him that Calleth."

Now, since on God's own testimony, men are 'flesh', they can savour of nothing but the flesh; therefore 'free-will can avail only to sin. And if, while the Spirit of God is calling and teaching among them, they go from bad to worse, what could they do when left to themselves, without the Spirit of God? Your [Erasmus] observation that Moses is speaking of the men of that age is not to the point at all. The same is true of all men, for all are 'flesh'; as Christ says, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh' (John 3:6) How grave a defect this is, He Himself there teaches, when he says: 'Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (v. 5)...I call a man ungodly if he is without the Spirit of God; for Scripture says that the Spirit is given to justify the ungodly. As Christ distinguished the Spirit from the flesh, saying: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh', and adds that which is born of the flesh cannot enter the kingdom of God', it obviously follows that whatever is flesh is ungodly, under God's wrath, and a stranger to His kingdom. And if it is a stranger to God's kingdom and Spirit, it follows of necessity that it is under the kingdom and spirit of Satan. For there is no middle kingdom between the kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, which are ever at war with each other."

"I say that man without the grace of God nonetheless remains the general omnipotence of God who effects, and moves and impels all things in a necessary, infallible course; but the effect of man's being carried along is nothing--that is, avails nothing in God's sight, nor is reckoned to be anything but sin."

"...the Baptist's word means that man can receive nothing unless given him from above; so that free-will is nothing!"

I say that man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavours nothing to prepare himself for that new creation and kingdom, and when he is re-created has does and endeavors nothing towards his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves..."

"All the passages in the Holy Scriptures that mention assistance are they that do away with "free-will", and these are countless...For grace is needed, and the help of grace is given, because "free-will" can do nothing."

excerpts from Martin Luther's 'de Servo Arbitrio' (1525)

Of God preached and not preached, and of His revealed and
secret will.

As to why some are touched by the law and others not, so that
some receive and others scorn the offer of grace, that is another
question, which Ezekiel does not here discuss. He speaks of the
published offer of God's mercy, not of the dreadful hidden will of
God, Who, according to His own counsel, ordains such persons as
He wills to receive and partake of the mercy preached and offered.
This will is not to be inquired into, but to be reverently adored, as
by far the most awesome secret of the Divine Majesty. He has
kept it to Himself and forbidden us to know it; and it is much more
worthy of reverence than an infinite number of Corycian caverns!

Now, God in His own nature and majesty is to be left alone; in this
regard, we have nothing to do with Him, nor does He wish us to
deal with Him. We have to do with Him as clothed and displayed
in His Word, by which He presents Himself to us. That is His
glory and beauty, in which the Psalmist proclaims Him to be
clothed [Ps. 21:5]. I say that the righteous God does not deplore
the death of His people which He Himself works in them, but He
deplores the death which He finds in His people and desires to
remove from them. God preached works to the end that sin and
death may be taken away, and we may be saved. He sent His word
and healed them [Ps. 107:20]. But God hidden in Majesty neither
deplores nor takes away death, but works life, and death, and all in
all; nor has He set bounds to Himself by His Word, but has kept
Himself free over all things.

The Diatribe is deceived by its own ignorance in that it makes no
distinction between God preached and God hidden, that is,
between the Word of God and God Himself. God does many
things which He does not show in His word, and He wills many
things which he does not in His Word show us that He wills. Thus,
He does not will the death of a sinner - that is, in His Word; but He
wills it by His inscrutable will. At present, however, we must keep
in view His Word and leave alone His inscrutable will; for it is by
His Word, and not by His inscrutable will, that we must be guided.
In any case, who can direct himself according to a will that is
inscrutable and incomprehensible? It is enough simply to know
that there is in God an inscrutable will; what, why, and within what
limits It wills, it is wholly unlawful to inquire, or wish to know, or
be concerned about, or touch upon; we may only fear and adore!

So it is right to say: If God does not desire our death, it must be
laid to the charge of our own will if we perish; this, I repeat, is
right if you spoke of God preached. For He desires that all men
should be saved, in that He comes to all by the word of salvation,
and the fault is in the will which does not receive Him; as He says
in Matt. 23:37 How often would I have gathered thy children
together, and thou wouldst not! But why the Majesty does not
remove or change this fault of will in every man (for it is not in the
power of man to do it), or why He lays this fault to the charge of
the will, when man cannot avoid it, it is not lawful to ask; and
though you should ask much, you would never find out; as Paul
says in Romans 11: Who art thou that repliest against God?
[Romans 9:20].

Of the comfort of knowing that salvation does not depend
on free-will

I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not
want free-will to be given to me, nor anything to be left in my own
hands to enable me to endeavor after salvation; not merely because
in face of so many dangers, and adversities, and assaults of devils,
I could not stand my ground and hold fast my free-will (for one
devil is stronger than all men, and on these terms no man could be
saved); but because, even were there no dangers, adversities, or
devils, I should still be forced to labor with no guarantee of
success, and to beat my fists at the air. If I lived and worked to all
eternity, my conscience would never reach comfortable certainty
as to how much it must do to satisfy God. Whatever work I had
done, there would still be a nagging doubt as to whether it pleases
God, or whether He required something more. The experience of
all who seek righteousness by works proves that; and I learned it
well enough myself over a period of many years, to my own great
hurt. But now that God has taken my salvation out the control of
my own will , and put it under the control of His, and promised to
save me, not according to my working or running, but according to
His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He
is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is also great and
powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him or pluck
me from Him. No one, He says, shall pluck them out of my hand,
because my father which gave them me is greater than all [John
10:28-29]. Thus it is that, if not all, yet some, indeed many, are
saved; whereas, by the power of free-will none at all could be
saved, but every one of us would perish.

Furthermore, I have the comfortable certainty that I please God,
not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His
merciful favor promised to me; so that, if I work too little, or
badly, He does not impute it to me, but with fatherly compassion
pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying of all the
saints in their God.


(xix) Of faith in the justice of God in His dealings with men

You may be worried that it is hard to defend the mercy and equity
of God in damning the undeserving, that is, ungodly persons, who,
being born in ungodliness, can by no means avoid being ungodly,
and staying so, and being damned, but are compelled by natural
necessity to sin and perish; as Paul says: We were all the children
of wrath, even as others [Eph. 2:3], created such by God Himself
from a seed that had been corrupted by the sin of one man, Adam.
But here God must be reverenced and held in awe, as being most
merciful to those whom He justifies and saves in their own utter
unworthiness; and we must show some measure of deference to
His Divine wisdom by believing Him just when to us He seems
unjust. If His justice were such as could be adjudged just by
human reckoning, it clearly would not be Divine; it would in no
way differ from human justice. But inasmuch as He is the one true
God, wholly incomprehensible and inaccessible to man's
understanding, it is reasonable, indeed inevitable, that His justice
also should be incomprehensible; as Paul cries, saying: O the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
[Romans 11:33]. They would not, however, be unsearchable if we
could at every point grasp the grounds on which they are just.
What is man compared with God? How much can our power
achieve compared with His power? What is our strength compared
with His strength? What is our knowledge compared with His
wisdom? What is our substance compared with His substance? In
a word, what is all that we are compared with all that He is? If,
now, even nature teaches to acknowledge that human power,
strength, wisdom, knowledge and substance, and all that is ours, is
nothing compared with the Divine power, strength, wisdom,
knowledge and substance, what perversity is it on our part to worry
at the justice and the judgment of the only God, and to arrogate so
much to our own judgment as to presume to comprehend, judge
and evaluate God's judgment!

... I shall here end this book, ready though I am to pursue the
matter further, if need be; but I think that abundant satisfaction has
here been afforded for the godly man who is willing to yield to
truth without stubborn resistance. For if we believe it to be it to be
true that God foreknows and foreordains all things; that He cannot
be deceived or obstructed in His foreknowledge and
predestination; and that nothing happens but at His will (which
reason itself is compelled to grant); then, on reason's own
testimony, there can be no free-will in man, or angel, or in any
creature.

So, if we believe that Satan is the prince of this world, ever
ensnaring and opposing the kingdom of Christ with all his strength,
and that he does not let his prisoners go unless he is driven out by
the power of the Divine Spirit, it is again apparent that there can be
no free-will.

So, if we believe that original sin has ruined us to such an extent
that even in the godly, who are led by the Spirit, it causes
abundance of trouble by striving against good, it is clear that in a
man who lacks the Spirit nothing is left that can turn itself to good,
but only to evil.

Again, if the Jews, who followed after righteousness with all their
powers, fell into unrighteousness instead, while the Gentiles, who
followed after unrighteousness, attained to an un-hoped-for
righteousness, by God's free gift, it is equally apparent from their
very works and experience that man without grace can will nothing
but evil.

And, finally, if we believe that Christ redeemed men by His blood,
we are forced to confess that all of man was lost; otherwise, we
make Christ either wholly superfluous, or else the redeemer of the
least valuable part of man only; which is blasphemy, and sacrilege.

Martin Luther, The Bondage of The Will, 1525

Luther’s House Postil for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

…the greater the calamity and the sorrow, the greater the comfort and the joy thereafter when we accept them as being to our benefit and bear the misfortune and the sorrow patiently without uttering curses. On the other hand, the more impatient we are and unwilling in any way to bear cross and trial, but want to be rid of the load, the greater and heavier will be the burden. (Vol. 2, page 98)

“To reprove” [to convict] means without respect for persons to impugn the deeds and conduct of all, and tell them, regardless of who they are, that in the sight of God they are reprehensible and unrighteous, and that they must hearken to this preaching of Christ or be damned and lost eternally. By this means, all men on earth are made subject to the ministry of the Word, as apostles and their successors act in God’s stead; they must be subject to and follow him if they want to receive God’s grace and be saved. (Vol. 2, page 99)

It is, you see, not our righteousness but Christ’s; yes, this righteousness is Christ Himself. And yet it becomes my righteousness when I believe that Christ has gone of the Father, that is, that He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, as the articles of our Creed declare. Therefore, the righteousness which avails before God and which is called Christian righteousness does not issue and proceed from our heart, even though it has to be found there. It does not consist of our works but of faith in Christ, since He gave Himself for our sins and was raised for our justification and is our Lord and Savior. God declares him righteous who believes this. (Vol. 2, page 101)

Indeed, what is more comforting than that all sins, regardless how many and great, are canceled, forgiven, covered up, and not reckoned to our account because we believe in Christ, and that he who has such faith is declared righteous before God without any work or merit on his part, but solely through faith in Christ? A more comforting message could not be preached to the world! (ibid)

If Jews and Gentiles condemn your doctrine, pay them no heed. For the devil cannot help but condemn and persecute the doctrine of faith and Christian righteousness. It is of no consequence that they have excommunicated you and condemned you as heretics. They have already been judged, and the opinions and judgments which they pronounce upon you and your doctrine have already been condemned. This world’s prince, the devil, is responsible for the condemnation they level against you. But do not become fearful and frightened; this world’s prince is already judged. Therefore, dear children, the world is going to assail you; it will judge your actions and condemn your doctrine; but take comfort in this; that I have already judged the prince of this world; hence his condemnation can do you no harm. (Vol.2, page 102)

What we preach is this: The pieties of the pope and the wisdom of the world add up to nothing. Monkery and monastic life add up to the same thing. Secular life without faith in Christ can only amount to zero, no matter how holy and spiritual it appears. However, Christian righteousness is that Christ has gone to the Father, has poured out His blood for us on the cross, and has seated Himself at the right hand of the heavenly Father. This is the article of our Creed concerning man’s justification, and we must know it well, in order to be able to protect and sustain ourselves against the devil, false doctrine, and our own conscience, all of which contend against this article. (Vol. 2, page 103)

Bo Giertz - excerpt from 'To Live with Christ'

From Bo Giertz’ excellent book, To Live With Christ (pp. 331-332):

The Spirit of truth made the impossible possible. We can thank Him for the picture of Christ given to us through the evangelists, a picture that gives all the essentials we need to know. The Spirit led the apostles, and with them the Early Church, to the truth about everything God has done in Christ. For this reason, there is something fundamental and of vital importance in the apostles’ work. The Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. This is why the Nicene Creed calls the Church not only holy and catholic (meaning the whole Church), but also apostolic

Jesus summarizes the Spirit’s work in three short points that we constantly encounter. He teaches us the truth about three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Spirit convinces us of our sin, teaches us right from wrong, and alerts us to our most serious shortcoming, which is unbelief. The Spirit witnesses about true righteousness that comes from God, the righteousness Christ acquired for us and gives us after He completed His work and returned to the Father. And the Spirit also witnesses to the truth about the fate that Christ’s death sealed for the prince of darkness and all the deeds of darkness, including the deeds we’re guilty of in our own hearts – a judgment that is simultaneously a victory for forgiveness and mercy, so that we, who are in fact condemned, now stand in grace and limitless mercy instead.

Paul's meaning of the word "all" - from 'de Servo Aribtrio,' Martin Luther

When Paul uses the terms, "all", "none", "not", "never", "without", his meaning is absolutely all-inclusive. Therefore, "they are all gone out of the way, there is none righteous, none that do good, no, not one; all are sinners condemned by the offense of one; we are justified by faith without the law without works and so forth, he leaves no doubt as to his meaning. Paul leaves nothing to chance by repeating himself and makes his point over and over so that there is no possibility that anyone may say that he uses a “figure of speech” but uses the terms

http://notfreewill.com 109consistently so that his meaning cannot be mistaken or picked apart by those who disagree with his proof.

Proof 2: Paul on the state of man without the spirit:

1) In Romans chapter 8, Paul divides the human race into two, "flesh" and "spirit". (John 3:6) Paul writes, "they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit do mind the things of the spirit" he does not make a third division but is plain that everyone may be found in one, he continues, "but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (verse 9). Paul then lists the characteristics of each when he says of carnal man, "they that are in the flesh cannot please God" and, "the carnal mind is death" and again: "it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be" (verse 5-8). By this Paul shows that free-will and endeavor are useless, lead only to death, and displease God. Paul does not say that the carnal mind is dead but that it is death itself and cannot possibly be subject to the law of God or please God. This he said a little earlier in verse three "for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did". This is in direct contradiction to Origins teaching about a threefold flesh, soul and spirit which is still being taught today. Paul says nothing of another soul. These were mere inventions by Origen and have no foundation in Scripture. It must then be concluded that the highest state of man without the spirit is "flesh” and they must therefore be enemies of God, who are not subject to God's law or capable of pleasing God. "Paul does not say merely that they are not subject, but that they cannot be subject." Paul echoes Christ who in Matthew chapter 7 says, "an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit" (verse 18). Jesus states that it is an impossibility! "How can ye, being evil, speak that which is good?" (Matthew 12:34) again, we see that not only do we speak evil but we cannot speak good. If we compare a pair of statements by Paul that the righteous "live by faith" and "whatsoever is not of faith, is sin" we cannot help but conclude that those who are without faith are not justified and those who are not justified are sinners: and as such, evil trees, who are only able to sin and bear evil fruit.

I was found of them that sought me not, I manifested myself to them that asked not after me. Isaiah 65:1; Romans 10:20

Proof 3: Salvation by Grace has no reference to previous endeavor. Grace, writes Paul, was utterly unknown to the Gentiles and was therefore impossible that they could even think of Jesus much less seek after him by "free- will". A classic example is provided by the case of Paul, who not only did not subject himself to Jesus but found himself warring against Him. Paul, no doubt, thought himself to be doing good. "Not only did he not seek grace, but he received it to his own mad fury against it!"

Paul contrasts the unbelief of the Gentiles with the observance of law by the Jews, who he says did not seek after righteousness but obtained the righteousness which was by faith when Israel, who had followed the law of righteousness, had not attained righteousness. "What word can any defender of "free will" breathe against this? The Gentiles, once filled with ungodliness and every vice, receive righteousness freely by the mercy of God; the Jews, who followed after righteousness with the greatest effort and endeavor, do so in vain." The Jews whom Paul says "have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2) must certainly be among the greatest of those who have exercised their "free-will" and yet nothing came of it. "What is this but proof positive, by the very clear example of the two nations and the very plain testimony of Paul, that grace is given freely to the undeserving and utterly unworthy, and it is not attained by any of their efforts and endeavor's; or works, small or great, or even the best and most upright men who seek and follow after righteousness with flaming zeal?"

The light shineth in darkness but the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:5) He was in the world, and the world knew him not; He came into his own, and his own knew him not. (Verse 10-11)

Proof 4: Salvation is by the grace of Christ through faith alone.

John here uses the term "world" and by this he clearly means the entire human race. So, therefore, whatever follows must refer to all of mankind. And what John says of the world is that it does not know the light of truth, that Christ is unknown to it, and to complete the picture John adds the words of Christ; "the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify that his works are evil" (John 15:19, 14:17; I John 5:19, 2:16, 2:15; John 8:23, 7:7). "John himself speaks of the "world" antithetically, so that the world means whatever is not taken out of the world to be under the Spirit. As Christ says to his apostles: "I have taken you out of the world, and it hates you, etc. (John 15:19).

To further prove that that which is in the world, if it be not removed, is not within the sphere of God's kingdom but remains in darkness and ignorant of God with neither a will of the flesh or that of the intellect as he clearly writes in chapter 1:12-13; "but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which was born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "... Those which were born, not of blood", refers to the natural lineage upon which the Jews had relied, as the children of Abraham and carnal verse does not make sons of God for; "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God." (Romans 9:8) Paul supports his point with the cases of Ishmael and Esau. But their efforts through the works of the law, as we have seen, were essentially carnal, that is, they were of the flesh and not of the Spirit.

Last, "the will of man" refers to that which is of human effort. "Now, if they are not born of the flesh, nor trained by the law, nor prepared by any human discipline, but our born-again of God, it is apparent that "free-will" avails nothing here." Therefore, we may be absolutely certain that John makes a clear division so that everything that is not "born of God" must remain distinct. Everything which is not born of God, especially, since it is so particularly named; "the will of man", or "free-will", and not the result of new birth from God by faith is clearly rejected.

And of his fullness have we all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16).

John reports the witness of John the Baptist where he says that we receive grace out of the fullness of Christ. "Of Christ"’ informs us that this grace is the grace of Christ. And Paul tells us that the grace of Christ comes to us as a gift when he says: "the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." (Romans 5:15) Since grace comes to us as a gift and not through endeavor or any effort of our own but only through Jesus Christ, we know through John's witness that "free-will" is nothing "...for these two positions cannot stand together, but the grace of God is both so cheap that he may be gained anywhere and everywhere by a little and ever on the part of any man, and so dear that it is given to us only in and through the grace of this one great man!"

Those who claim to obtain the grace of God by their own endeavor, in doing so, deny Christ. The Scriptures tell us that we "receive" grace as a gift and not through merit. By holding to “endeavor” they transform Christ into a judge who measures our deeds as worthy or unworthy to receive grace, and forgetting this that Christ comes to us as a sweet Savior who gives to us grace as a free gift. Those who would earn grace must devise many deeds and works which have not been commanded of God to do so that he may give them grace. "They do not believe that he intercedes before God and obtain his grace for them by his blood and grace (as it is here said) "for grace". -- they believe, so it is unto them. Christ is in truth an inexorable judge to them, and deservedly so; for they abandon him in his office as a mediator and kind Savior, and account his blood in grace as of less worth than the efforts and endeavors of "free-will"!

"How can these things be?" (John 3:9)

Proof 4: The example of Nicodemus:

The case of Nicodemus refutes "free-will". Nicodemus, a leader among the Jews, lacks nothing if we are to believe that grace may be acquired as a consequence of effort and endeavor and right choice. Nicodemus confesses that Christ is sent from God but "When he hears Christ teach the true way of salvation, by new birth, [Nicodemus] does not acknowledge and confess that in time past he sought it? No; he starts back, and is confounded, and not only says that he does not understand it, but turns from it as an impossibility. 'How can these things be?' He says." (John 3:9) Nicodemus knew nothing of the teaching of the necessity of rebirth because as Paul teaches such knowledge is a wisdom hidden in mystery, which was foretold by the prophets but revealed only by the gospel, so that it was from eternity a secret and unknown to the world. (I Corinthians 2:7) Therefore, what experience, reason and the entire recorded history of mankind and "free-will" did not and could not teach, Christ being completely unknown to them, then they could not possibly seek him. "Free-will is therefore confessing, willy-nilly, that by its own strength that neither knew nor could seek those things that belonged to the way, the truth and salvation. And yet, in the teeth of the spirit confession of our own experience, we madly argue with empty words that a great power remains within us, which can know and apply itself to the things that belong to salvation!"

Proof 5: The exclusivity of salvation in Christ:

In John 14:6 we read that Christ is the way, the truth, the life and salvation. Since Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, anything that is not Christ is error, untruth, and death. We must also include ‘free-will’ by necessity "as it neither is Christ, nor is in Christ, but is fast bound in error, and untruth, and death." Because these examples are opposites it is clear that there is no third choice, no middle ground. What ever is not of Christ belongs to the kingdom of Satan just as grace is the opposite of wrath and the absence of light must be called darkness.

The Scriptures are of no value at all if grace is possible through free-will since all Scripture teaches us that we need Christ and that there is no middle ground, no intermediary solution, no great work of our own that can absolve us of this need. Indeed, “free-will is the very opposite of Christ: that is, that error, death, Satan and all evils reign in it.” Free-will does not need Christ, his healing, his redemption since it existed, so they believe, before the mystery of Christ was revealed; "for what need is there of light and life, where light and life exists already?" Is not God unjust for condemning that in man which is both good and sound?

He that believeth on him, is not judged; but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten son of God. (John 3:18)

If free-will is among those whom John describes as "believing" what need do they have for grace since it is by their own power that they believe on Christ? And if they believe not, they are "judged already". So whether free-will is among those who confess Christ, but by their own power; or confess him not; free-will is in God's sight damned.

Editors note: for more proofs, and further notes, click the link below:

http://notfreewill.com/bondage_of_the_will

COMFORT FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD A MISCARRIAGE

By Dr. Martin Luther, 1542 WA 43 (247-250) Translated by James Raun

INTRODUCTION

As preacher in the town church of Wittenberg, professor at the university, and an active church administrator, John Bugenhagen was a close associate of Luther in the Reformation. He served on the committee for Luther’s Bible translation, officiated at Luther’s wedding, and preached the sermon at Luther’s funeral.

In 1541 Bugenhagen had written an interpretation of Psalm 29 and dedicated it to King Christian III of Denmark, where he had introduced the Reformation in 1537. Before sending the manuscript to the printer, Bugenhagen showed it to Luther. Luther’s eye caught a reference to “little children” in the text, whereupon he suggested that Bugenhagen ought to add a word of comfort for women whose children had died at birth or had been born dead and could not be baptized. Bugenhagen, however, was not disposed to add such an appendix, though he did not disagree with Luther in principle. He had written what he felt God gave him to say and did not think it proper to go into this subject himself. However, he said he was willing to add any statement Luther might care to make on the subject. Luther agreed to prepare such a statement. Thus this brief but significant piece is an appendix that has outlived the book to which it had originally been attached.

This short item is a significant statement by Luther regarding the fate of children who die before they can be baptized—a borderline theological question of considerable anguish to grieving mothers. It is just such a person that Luther has in mind, not the sophomoric, speculative thinker.

Writing with pastoral concern, Luther points out that the miscarriage (where it is not due to deliberate carelessness) is not a sign of God’s anger. God’s judgment is and must remain hidden from us. Luther sees the basis for Christian consolation in the unspoken prayers of the mother in which the Spirit is at work and which sanctify the child, and in the prayers of the Christian congregation.

This item appeared in three editions of Bugenhagen’s exposition of Psalm 29, published in 1542, in five subsequent editions, and in a Latin edition. It was then incorporated in the various editions of Luther s collected works. This translation is based on the German text, Ein Trost den Weibern, welchen es ungerade gegangen ist mit Kindergebären, in WA 53, (202) 205- 208.

COMFORT FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD A MISCARRIAGE

A final word —it often happens that devout parents, particularly the wives, have sought consolation from us because they have suffered such agony and heartbreak in child-bearing when, despite their best intentions and against their will, there was a premature birth or miscarriage and their child died at birth or was born dead.

One ought not to frighten or sadden such mothers by harsh words because it was not due to their carelessness or neglect that the birth of the child went off badly. One must make a distinction between them and those females who resent being pregnant, deliberately neglect their child, or go so far as to strangle or destroy it. This is how one ought to comfort them.

First, inasmuch as one cannot and ought not know the hidden judgment of God in such a case—why, after every possible care had been taken, God did not allow the child to be born alive and be baptized—these mothers should calm themselves and have faith that God’s will is always better than ours, though it may seem otherwise to us from our human point of view. They should be confident that God is not angry with them or with others who are involved. Rather is this a test to develop patience. We well know that these cases have never been rare since the beginning and that Scripture also cites them as examples, as in Psalm 58 [:8], and St. Paul calls himself an abortivum, a misbirth or one untimely born.

Second, because the mother is a believing Christian it is to be hoped that her heartfelt cry and deep longing to bring her child to be baptized will be accepted by God as an effective prayer. It is true that a Christian in deepest despair does not dare to name, wish, or hope for the help (as it seems to him) which he would wholeheartedly and gladly purchase with his own life were that possible, and in doing so thus find comfort. However, the words of Paul, Romans 8 [:26-27], properly apply here: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought (that is, as was said above, we dare not express our wishes), rather the Spirit himself intercedes for us mightily with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit,” etc. Also Ephesians 3 [:20], “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”

One should not despise a Christian person as if he were a Turk, a pagan, or a godless person. He is precious in God’s sight and his prayer is powerful and great, for he has been sanctified by Christ’s blood and anointed with the Spirit of God. Whatever he sincerely prays for, especially in the unexpressed yearning of his heart, becomes a great, unbearable cry in God’s ears, God must listen, as he did to Moses, Exodus 14 [:15], “Why do you cry to me?” even though Moses couldn’t whisper, so great was his anxiety and trembling in the terrible troubles that beset him. His sighs and the deep cry of his heart divided the Red Sea and dried it up, led the children of Israel across, and drowned Pharaoh with all his army,3 etc. This and even more can be accomplished by a true, spiritual longing. Even Moses did not know how or for what he should pray—not knowing how the deliverance would be accomplished—but his cry came from his heart.

Isaiah did the same against King Sennacherib4 and so did many other kings and prophets who accomplished inconceivable and impossible things by prayer, to their astonishment afterward. But before that they would not have dared to expect or wish so much of Cod. This means to receive things far higher and greater than we can understand or pray for, as St. Paul says, Ephesians 3 [:20], etc. Again, St. Augustine declared that his mother was praying, sighing, and weeping for him, but did not desire anything more than that he might be converted from the errors of the Manicheans5 and become a Christian.6 Thereupon God gave her not only what she desired but, as St. Augustine puts it, her “chiefest desire” (cardinem desideriieius) that is, what she longed for with unutterable sighs—that Augustine become not only a Christian but also a teacher above all others in Christendom.7 Next to the apostles Christendom has none that is his equal.

Who can doubt that those Israelite children who died before they could be circumcised on the eighth day were yet saved by the prayers of their parents in view of the promise that God willed to be their God. God (they say) has not limited his power to the sacraments, but has made a covenant with us through his word.8 Therefore we ought to speak differently and in a more consoling way with Christians than with pagans or wicked people (the two are the same), even in such cases where we do not know God’s hidden judgment. For he says and is not lying, “All things are possible to him who believes” [Mark 9:23], even though they have not prayed, or expected, or hoped for what they would have wanted to see happen.

Enough has been said about this. Therefore one must leave such situations to God and take comfort in the thought that he surely has heard our unspoken yearning and done all things better than we could have asked.

In summary, see to it that above all else you are a true Christian and that you teach a heartfelt yearning and praying to God in true faith, be it in this or any other trouble. Then do not be dismayed or grieved about your child or yourself, and know that your prayer is pleasing to God and that God will do everything much better than you can comprehend or desire. “Call upon me,” he says in Psalm 50 [:15] “in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” For this reason one ought not straightway condemn such infants for whom and concerning whom believers and Christians have devoted their longing and yearning and praying. Nor ought one to consider them the same as others for whom on faith, prayer, or yearning are expressed on the part of Christians and believers. God intends that his promise and our prayer or yearning which is grounded in that promise should not be disdained or rejected, but be highly valued and esteemed. I have said it before and preached it often enough: God accomplishes much through the faith and longing of another, even a stranger, even though there is still no personal faith. But this is given through the channel of another’s intercessions, as in the gospel Christ raised the widow’s son at Nain because of the prayers of his mother apart from the faith of the son.9 And he freed the little daughter of the Canaanite woman from the demon through the faith of the mother apart from the daughter’s faith.10 The same was true of the king’s son, John 4 [:46-53] and of the paralytic and many others of whom we need not say anything here.

NOTES

1. Luther wrote this item to be appended to Bugenhagen’s exposition of Psalm 29.

2. Cf. I Cor. 15:8. 3. Exod. 14:26-28. 4. Cf. Isa. 37:4.

5. As a young man Augustine (354-430) adhered to the philosophy of the Persian teacher Manes (ca. 215-275), which was based on a dualism of light and darkness.

6. Confessions, 5, 8; cf. F. J. Sheed (trans.), The Confessions of St. Augustine (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1943), p. 931.

7. Augustine subsequently became bishop of Hippo. His thinking has played a significant role in Christian theology and had considerable influence upon Luther, who frequently quoted from his writings.

8. At this point the edition of Luther’s works by Enders (vol. XV, pp. 55-56) includes some addition material as cited in WA 53, 207, n. 1: “that he could without them [and sacrament and in ways unknown to us save the unbaptized infants as he did for many in the time of the law of Moses (even kings) apart from the law, such as, Job, Naaman, the king of Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, etc. However, he did not want the law to be openly despised, but upheld under threat of the punishment of an eternal curse.

“So I consider and hope that the good and merciful Cod is well-intentioned toward these infants who do not receive baptism through no fault of their own or in disregard of his manifest command of baptism.

“Yet [I consider] that he does not and did not wish this to be publicly preached or believed because of the iniquity of the world, so that what he had ordained and commanded would not be despised. For we see that he has commanded much because of the iniquity of the world, but does not constrain the godly in the same way.

“In summary, the Spirit turns everything for those who fear him to the best, but to the obstinate he is obstinate” [Ps. 18:27].

9. Cf. Luke 7:11-17.10. Cf.Matt. 15:22-28.

Luther on the Psalms

"The psalter ought to be a precious and beloved book, if for no other reason than this: it promises Christ's death and Resurrection so clearly--and pictures His kingdom and the conditions and nature of all Christendom--that it might well be called a little Bible. In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible...Thus the psalter lays before us not only their [the authors of the Psalms] words instead of their deeds, but their very hearts and the inmost treasure of their souls, so we can look down to the foundation and source of their words and deeds. We can look into their hearts and see what kind of thoughts they had, how their hearts were disposed, and how they acted in all kinds of situations, in danger and need...A human heart is like a ship on a wild sea, driven by the storm winds from the four corners of the world. Here it is stuck with fear and worry about impending disaster; there comes grief and sadness because of present evil. Here breathes a breeze of hope and anticipated happiness; there blows security and joy in present blessings...What is the greatest thing in the psalter but this earnest speaking amid these storm winds of every kind? Where does on find finer words of joy than in the psalms of praise and thanksgiving? There you look into the hearts of all the saints, as into fair and pleasant gardens; yes, as into heaven itself. Then you see what fine and pleasant flowers of the heart spring up from all sorts of fair and happy thoughts toward God, because of His blessings. On the other hand, where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitful words of sadness than in the psalms of lamentation? There you look into the hearts of all the saints as into death; yes, as into hell itself. How gloomy and dark it is there, with all kinds of troubled forebodings about the wrath of God. So, too, when they speak of when they speak of fear and hope, they use such words that no painter could so depict for you fear or hope, and no Cicero or any other orator so portray them."