This is what Martin Luther said to Erasmus in his work The Bondage of the Will. This famous book was written in response to Erasmus' The Freedom of the Will. Some might be surprised, however, by the nature of their debate.
When Reformers like Luther denied the doctrine of free will, they were not denying that man needs to choose Christ in order to be saved. For the Reformers, the will was very important in salvation. Rather, the question that they concerned themselves with was this:
Does fallen man have the freedom to live a virtuous life? It was really not a question of ontological ability, but moral ability.
Erasmus and other semi-pelagians argued that fallen man maintains some spark of goodness and is able, all on his own, to recognize God, choose God, repent of his sin, and live a virtuous life. Luther, following Augustine, rather believed that man was entirely fallen and was morally unable to recognize God or to repent of his sin. In order for man to be saved, he needed for God to miraculously save him by reaching into his heart, regenerating him, and renewing his will. Only then could man freely choose God - his will being liberated by God.
Free will is a fiction not because of God's election or predestination. Free will is a fiction because fallen, sinful man hates God and is unable to freely choose him unless God changes his heart.
The reasons why people debate this subject is because Christians in general are not clear about Original Sin and its effects, and about the function of the gospel. Everywhere I see this debate, no one addresses the distinction between the natural and the spiritual natures. "Free will" is a term commonly used for a natural ability. But because of the confusion about what is spiritual in contrast to what is natural, people do not usually discern that distinction. This is why I almost never see the discussion go that direction.
The apostle Paul makes that distinction clear in 1 Cor. 2:12-16 and Rom. 8:5-9. But because people largely operate in natural thinking, they often do not understand that Paul is making such distinction in these passages, and continue to make false assumptions about the call of the gospel.
We know that regarding the spiritual nature, every person is naturally "dead" to God (Eph. 2:1 "
You were dead..."), since:
1. The unregenerate person is a slave to sin and Satan: Jn 8:34
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin," and 2 Ti 2:26 "
and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." and 1 Jn. 5:19 "
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Rom. 7:14 "
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin." These statements are making it clear that every unbeliever is not able to free himself from the natural captivity of satanic reasoning regarding the spiritual nature of relationship with God.
2. The unregenerate person is not able to make any righteous choice in regard to his relationship with God: Rom. 8:8 "
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" - this is a statement of inability, and includes the inability to make a choice to believe in Christ, which is the very faith by which a Christian (a regenerate and spiritually-minded person) is justified by God. The "natural man" according to Paul's language in 1 Cor. 2:14 is an unregenerate person (someone not born again). All such people
do not receive the gospel. Such people
cannot receive it because it is
spiritually discerned. Anyone who claims they have believed the gospel by virtue of their natural free-will simply does not understand the gravity of Paul's teaching on the sinfulness of man, nor do they discern the distinction between natural reasoning and the spiritual nature of the gospel message.
3. The unregenerate person hates God, His will, and His message: Rom. 8:7a "
the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God..." in which Paul established in the context that this mind is the mind of an unbeliever, in which his natural reasoning is
not able to resolve a spiritual condition of faith that justifies him, since that faith is a spiritual matter. Gen 3:15 "
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed..." in which all the seed of the evil one are those under his control, so God Himself has established that enmity. This makes every unbeliever a hater of God.
Therefore, given this information from the New Testament about the true spiritual condition of man, it takes an act of God to change a person's attitude toward God, His will, and His message, such that this individual has the spiritual wisdom to discern the hopelessness of his previous condition, and the hope that is in the gospel message. This is a change in the disposition of the heart. John 1:12 "
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." This statement indicates that we are not born again from our natural "free-will," but rather "
of God," meaning it was an act of God, and an act of God's will. If a natural man (unregenerate) cannot receive the gospel, he must first be made spiritual by an act of the Holy Spirit, namely spiritual rebirth, before such a man has a will free from the bondage of hostility toward God. Then that man has the "free will" to repent and believe the gospel. After God makes a person spiritual by regeneration, that person then
has the ears to hear the gospel, believes, and obeys.
So then, in order to clarify why man has "no free will" in regard to the spiritual nature, we must communicate clearly about the distinction between natural ability and spiritual ability. The reason Pelagius, Arminius, Finney, and others who hold to the "free will" theory think that they had (and have) natural ability to make righteous choices is because of this confusion and lack of distinction, and because of a lack of understanding of the true spiritual condition of man. Someone who does not have the indwelling Spirit to turn his desires toward God will remain addicted to his natural desires, and remains spiritually dead to God. When such a person hears the gospel, he does not have "ears to hear," and therefore
cannot obey it (neither does he
want to).
The reasoning that the gospel is offered, therefore people have a natural ability to respond favorably, is a false reasoning. The gospel is preached as an
offer of life to the hearers as an
accommodation. Since people have no control of their eternal destiny, it is necessary for them to trust God to save them from their plight. The accommodation of the message preached is for hearers who are still in the natural mindset (who think they have control of their life by reason of natural choice). In order for a person to obey the gospel, God grants both the faith and the repentance to obey, as the message is preached (2 Tim. 2:25). The reasoning that "if God gives a command to men, then men have the ability to obey it" was where Pelagius began his debate against Original Sin and the necessity of grace. It was the same reasoning of Finney in his (false) teaching about reaching people through their intellect, his persuasion techniques, his rejection of Total (spiritual) Depravity, and his insistence that Christians could make themselves sinlessly perfect.
The bottom line is that man has a natural "free will" that is
limited to his natural desires and reasoning. But it is his spiritual nature that has him bound to sin and the will of Satan, in which he does not have the "free will" to choose obedience to the gospel message. Thus, an unregenerate person never chooses to believe, because belief in Christ requires
spiritual understanding and wisdom. Anyone who believes the gospel message
has been given the free grace of God by God Himself. Eph. 2:5 "
even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." Paul defines grace here as a divine act from God's loving choice to grant spiritual regeneration to a person of His choosing. Such individuals are the ones who have responded favorably to the gospel message (or who eventually will respond so).
John 5:1 "
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." "Everyone who believes" is the identifier of who is born of God, IOW who
has been born of God. "Is born" is a current condition, in which this faith is the result. Just as faith is the logical precedent to justification in Rom. 5:1, so also "born of God" is the logical precedent here - "
is born," not "
will be born." So as the gospel is preached, God supernaturally works His will in certain people of His choosing who are then freed to obey the message. Thus, grace, faith, and salvation (Eph. 2:8) is 100% the work of God.
TD