We have all endured those awkward, uncomfortable moments of a Bible study or small group where no one was willing to talk—except perhaps the leader. It is tough isn’t it? Here is a suggestion next time to get things rolling: ask, “What does you guys think about free-will?” This is pretty much a guarantee to get things moving.
I recently walked through Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Its logic is only superseded by its sarcasm. Luther is flat-out giving it to Erasmus for his view of the freedom of the will. In the midst of the interaction with his position Luther states that he does not like the term “free-will” very much. In fact, he notes, it is misleading. Instead, Luther suggests that we replace the term with “love”.
Think with me for a second. Since God is the greatest good then the greatest good we could do, or the greatest response to him is to love him. Of course, this is the right response to God. When we talk about our wills choosing God then we have to be talking about loving him (obviously, when someone is said to choose God by their free-will they are not saying they are hating him). In short then, the fullest and most pure exercise of our wills would be to choose to love God.
Now, what is the summary of the Law?
“”Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:36-37)
I am sure that you can see the rub here. If you hold to the free-will of man in salvation then you are saying that you hold to free-love of man. And what is this love but the fulfillment of the great commandment of the law? One may say that they have the free-will to choose God and are then justified by faith. However, it appears what they are actually saying is that they have the free-will to love God and at some level their law-keeping (loving God) plays a part in their conversion. Now, I don’t think that most people who believe in free-will mean this when they say it. However, the path of free will is not a path that is wholly paved by grace; there, at some point is some working on the part of man. He stands on an island of self-soveriegnty, an embassy of anthropological freedom where he has the first and final call on who and what he chooses. God, the gracious God, stands by, looking on as he is freely chosen by man. Man either has free will and is not utterly dependent upon the grace and mercy of God or he is depraved and wholly dependent upon such grace and mercy. It is either or; it cannot be both.
This deduction got Luther, and others, quite exercised. There is not one speck of God’s creation that he is not sovereign over. Further, there is not one ounce of our humanity that is not radically affected by sin (Rom. 3:9-18, 23; Eph. 2:1-4; Col 1:21; Titus 3:3; etc). Far from being free our wills are bound by sin. We are enslaved to it and unable to liberate ourselves from this state.
But God in Christ sets the captives free. He arrests us by grace, opens eyes to see his beauty, behold his grace, and even love him. But note, the one who initiates this is not the sinner, it is the Savior (Eph. 2:4-10; 1 Pet. 1:3-5). God is the one who acts upon the unregenerate man or woman to make them alive. They neither come kicking and screaming to the kingdom of God nor pounding on the doors of heaven, they come by grace and all of grace, chosen by God and for God (Jn. 1:10-13).
This life-giving grace is also liberating grace! And this will also get your small group talking.
