Martin Luther's Discourse On Free Will

Why am I writing this reflection? Did God predestine that I would write this paper, or did I freely choose to write this paper? According to Martin Luther it is the former, however Desiderius Erasmus would argue for the latter. Although I tend to side more on Erasmus’s side of the debate, there are aspects of both authors writing that I agree with, and aspects of both that I disagree with in their “Discourse on Free Will.” Luther went into great detail to explain that human beings do not have free will. In fact, if Luther were alive today, a lot of his theology would line up with a four point Calvinist, as he would not agree with Limited Atonement. Luther believed that humans will always choose evil: total depravity. He wrote, “it is that the wicked man cannot always err and sin”
(Luther 133). Luther also believed that God saves those that he chooses, and nothing can stop this from happening: unconditional election, and irresistible grace. He stated, “God has put my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of His, … I rest fully assured the He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that moreover He is great and powerful, so that no devils and no adversities can destroy Him or pluck me out of His hand” (139). Due to Luther’s thinking on irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints naturally follows, so once God gives grace to a human, nothing will take that away. This combined all forms Luther’s notion of predestination. Luther concluded, “we must go to extremes, deny free will altogether and ascribe everything to God” (135). Clearly, Luther completely denied the doctrine of free will, and instead believed in complete predestination. This makes sense when his theology which would coincide with what Calvinists believe today is tied in. Luther also denied that Church Fathers should have authority in determining doctrine. In reference to Church Father’s, he stated, “stumbling in the weakness of their flesh have said in favor of free will, and oppose it to that which the same Fathers, in the power of the Spirit, have elsewhere said against free will” (120). Where Luther would hold theological views that align with modern day Calvinists, Erasmus would be in line with today’s Arminians.
Erasmus believed Salvation comes through faith of man. He wrote, “By freedom of the will we understand in this connection of power of the human will whereby man can apply to or turn away from that which leads unto eternal salvation” (Erasmus 26). Erasmus also argued that with God’s grace, if accepted, humans are able to do good. He asserted, “Man is able to accomplish all things, if God’s grace aids him” (82). However, this grace can be resisted. Erasmus, stated, “it is within our own power to turn our will towards or away from grace” (35). This context was also his argument for free will. Once again, Erasmus wrote, “By freedom of the will we understand in this connection of power of the human will whereby man can apply to or turn away from that which leads unto eternal salvation” (26). Erasmus used Church history as one of his arguments. He stated referring to the reader, “let him decide for himself, whether to attribute more to the decisions of all the many scholars, orthodox faithful, saints, … or more to the private opinions of one or two men”
(22). As stated earlier, I would identify myself as an Arminian, and would agree more with Erasmus than Luther in regards to free will. Romans 10:9 states, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV). In my opinion, this proves that a choice is involved, and through God’s grace, a human can freely choose to accept or deny salvation. Here, I agree with Erasmus. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 states, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (ESV). If God wants all to be saved, and the doctrine of predestination is true, then God would not be doing what he desires. This is why I disagree with Luther. However, I agree with Luther, and not Erasmus that the Church should not be a fully trusted authority when it comes to doctrine strictly because of tradition. There were a lot of traditions of Israel that Jesus broke, therefore, we should not trust Church tradition because it is tradition. In the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7 Jesus goes through and takes aspects of Jewish tradition and gives the correct teaching on them. Overall, my Arminian theology leads me to side with Erasmus over Luther in their “Discourse on Free Will.” However, both brought up points I agree with, and both brought up points I disagree with. Regardless of where I stand on this theology, however, I know that I will always pursue good and a relationship with God because that is God’s will.