"For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
Nearly 1,100 years after Augustine, Pelagius, and
Cassia lived, another controversy over the issue
of free will arose during the Prostedant
Reformation. In 1524, a highly respected Roman
Catholic humanist scholar named Desiderius
Erasmus published his Diatribe Concerning Free
Will, a critique of the Reformers, especially
Martin Luther.
It was his position that the issue of free will
was more of an academic question than a matter
of concern for the church at large. He was
motivated to write his book by concern about the
practical Outworking of the Refomer's teaching
on man's inability and God's sovereign grace. He
feared that reaching the inability of natural man to
please God would take away any motivation for
a people to place their faith in Christ and strive to
live righteously. He predicted the Reformers'
teaching would open "a floodgate of iniquity."
Luther responded the following year with his
Monumental theological work The Bondage of
the will. In it, he argued that the question of the
degree of power retained by human will after
the Fall is not just academic concern but crucial
question for every professed Christian, for the
answer determines his understanding and
appreciation of the grace of God and, therefore,
his posture before God. Does God get all of the
glory in salvation or do people deserve some, too?
In Luther's teaching, we hear strong echoed of
Augustine (Luther was, after all, a monk in the
Augustinians order ). While the central issue in
the Reformation was sola fide (the doctrine of
justification by faith alone). Luther believe that
another, more important issue lay beneath the
surface-- sola gratia, the doctrine of salvation by
grace alone. He said sola fide grows out of sola
gratia and rests upon it, for without God's work
of grace no one would come to faith in Christ
and seek to live a life pleasing to Hom. No one
would for no one could, for all people are dead
in their sins, their wills bound by their evil desires.
Again agreeing with Augustine, Luther said the
question of desire is all-important, for it guides
and directs the will to the choices it makes. If a
man rejects Christ, he said, it is because he want
to reject Him. And if is God by grace who gives
the desire for Christ, "lest anyone should boast."
Have you wondered why you came to Christ
while others have not? Were you more righteous
than they? Or were you smarter? We have seen
in previous studies that all natural men are dead
in sins with desperately wicked hearts. Only the
grace of God can deliver from such a condition.
Praise Him for His work in your life.
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
Nearly 1,100 years after Augustine, Pelagius, and
Cassia lived, another controversy over the issue
of free will arose during the Prostedant
Reformation. In 1524, a highly respected Roman
Catholic humanist scholar named Desiderius
Erasmus published his Diatribe Concerning Free
Will, a critique of the Reformers, especially
Martin Luther.
It was his position that the issue of free will
was more of an academic question than a matter
of concern for the church at large. He was
motivated to write his book by concern about the
practical Outworking of the Refomer's teaching
on man's inability and God's sovereign grace. He
feared that reaching the inability of natural man to
please God would take away any motivation for
a people to place their faith in Christ and strive to
live righteously. He predicted the Reformers'
teaching would open "a floodgate of iniquity."
Luther responded the following year with his
Monumental theological work The Bondage of
the will. In it, he argued that the question of the
degree of power retained by human will after
the Fall is not just academic concern but crucial
question for every professed Christian, for the
answer determines his understanding and
appreciation of the grace of God and, therefore,
his posture before God. Does God get all of the
glory in salvation or do people deserve some, too?
In Luther's teaching, we hear strong echoed of
Augustine (Luther was, after all, a monk in the
Augustinians order ). While the central issue in
the Reformation was sola fide (the doctrine of
justification by faith alone). Luther believe that
another, more important issue lay beneath the
surface-- sola gratia, the doctrine of salvation by
grace alone. He said sola fide grows out of sola
gratia and rests upon it, for without God's work
of grace no one would come to faith in Christ
and seek to live a life pleasing to Hom. No one
would for no one could, for all people are dead
in their sins, their wills bound by their evil desires.
Again agreeing with Augustine, Luther said the
question of desire is all-important, for it guides
and directs the will to the choices it makes. If a
man rejects Christ, he said, it is because he want
to reject Him. And if is God by grace who gives
the desire for Christ, "lest anyone should boast."
Have you wondered why you came to Christ
while others have not? Were you more righteous
than they? Or were you smarter? We have seen
in previous studies that all natural men are dead
in sins with desperately wicked hearts. Only the
grace of God can deliver from such a condition.
Praise Him for His work in your life.
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