“The History & Theology of Calvinism” by Curt Daniel, Chapter Thirty-Four, The Bondage of the Will.

 This chapter has nine subdivisions.

 Do we have free will? “The debate is not new. Augustine wrote Grace and Free Will. Martin Luther’s most important book was The Bondage of the Will. Calvin produced a treatise called The Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Perhaps the most important Reformed work has been Jonathan Edwards’ A Careful and Strict Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of that Freedom of Will, Which is Supposed to Be Essential to Moral Agency, Virtue and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame, usually shortened to The Freedom of the Will. Calvinism is virtually alone in denying that we have free will as popularly understood.”

 This reviewer finds it perplexing that so many individuals who embrace strong opinions about the issue of free will arrive at those strong opinions without the benefit of much Bible study or the humility that is displayed by reading credible men of God. Alas, this habit is unlikely to change this side of eternity.

 The Bondage of the Will. Four paragraphs. The author’s position is summarized in the Westminster Confession:

 Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto (9:3).

 “Pelagianism says we are born totally free. Arminianism says we have a weak but free will. Calvinism says we have a will that is in inescapable bondage to sin until it is freed by Christ in salvation. We do not merely deny that an unregenerate sinner can will to do good but not do good. We assert that he is morally unable even to Will good at all. He is unable to be willing and unwilling to be able. The womb of his heart is barren and unable to give birth to any holy thought, word, or deed. He never has holy motives or desires but only sinful affections.”

 Slaves of Sin. Four paragraphs. Making mention of John 8:34, 2 Peter 2:19, Romans 6:16 – 22, and John 8:32, 36, the author cites Augustine and Zwingli. “Augustine asked, ‘If then they are slaves to sin, why do they boast of free choice?’ Zwingli tied it in with original sin: ‘A slave can beget nothing but a slave.’”

 Slaves of Satan. Five paragraphs. “Worse than that, man is a slave of the Devil. He was born a slave, lives his whole life in satanic bondage, and will die a slave. Sin is the Devil’s chain that keeps us in bondage, and each sin we commit is a link we add every time we disobey God. The chain gets longer and stronger every second.” “Each man is either a slave to God or the Evil One. He serves one or the other – not neither and not both.” “This is not an excuse for the sinner. He cannot blame the devil as Eve did. He is a willing slave. Satan keeps him in a blind slave like the Philistines did to Samson. Jonathan Edwards commented, you can’t see that you are under slavery now because of your blindness which is one effect of your servitude.”

 The Inability of the Will. Three paragraphs. “Fallen man is not only depraved, he is deprived. He lacks the ability to will good…. Man is unable in all areas of true spirituality.”

 Moral Inability. Five paragraphs. “Some Reformed theologians, such as Jonathan Edwards and A. W. Pink, differentiate between natural ability and moral ability.” He then discusses moral inability.

 The Sad State of Spiritual Slavery. Two paragraphs.

 The Myth of Free Will. Seven paragraphs. “It is no surprise that non-reformed opponents reject this analysis. Arminianism in particular vehemently defends free will.”

 It is the reviewer’s position that Arminianism has more to do with the espousal of free will than any notion, however correct, of “eternal security.”

 Conclusion. Four paragraphs.

“The California Recall & the General Milley Revelation”

I am so relieved that my last Sunday morning message included this comment near the end: 

I have repeatedly mentioned to you in sermons a book written by the late W. Graham Scroggie titled, The Unfolding Drama Of Redemption: The Bible As A Whole. It is a delightful Bible commentary that examines the entire Bible, explaining it like the grand drama that it is. Essential to any drama is what is called the protagonist, from a Greek word protos, meaning first, and agonistes, meaning actor. Webster defines it, “Protagonist, in the drama, the leading character or actor in a play, novel, or story, about whom the action centers; hence, a person who plays a leading or active part.” 

Events of late make it all the more necessary for the child of God to remember and take comfort in the preeminence of Christ. There was the debacle in Kabul, Afghanistan several weeks ago, the overwhelming rejection of the effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsome yesterday, and the revelation out of Washington DC from Bob Woodward’s soon to be released book that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, engaged in two direct yet unauthorized conversations with the commanding officer of the People’s Liberation Army of China.

Where does that leave the child of God? How does the believer react to these extraordinary circumstances and revelations? We are left where we have always been as Christians, safely in the Savior’s hands. Our reaction to the circumstances that we see around us ought to be, stay the course. Continue to look unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith. I am so thankful my God is the God of all comfort.