An Introduction to the Bondage of the Will: In Bondage to Sin

This is the third installment in our article series, “An Introduction to the Bondage of the Will,” written to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Bondage of the Will.

Few truths are more offensive to the modern mind, and more liberating to the despairing conscience, than this: you are in bondage to sin. The Apostle Paul declares, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). And “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Col. 2:3). Dead, not sick, not limping, not partially able to choose righteousness. Dead. Not in need of a hospital, in need of a resurrection. Salvation begins where self-help ends.

The Reality of Our Bondage to Sin

Martin Luther’s Bondage of the Will was not a speculative debate; it was a defense of the gospel itself. Erasmus wanted to preserve a sliver (some would say more than a sliver) of human cooperation in salvation. Luther saw that as fatal: “If any man ascribes aught (anything whatsoever) of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace and has not learned Jesus Christ aright.” [1]

This is the contrast between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. The theologian of glory insists that there must be some good left in man, some potential for righteousness. But Christ says, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). The slavery is universal. Sin is not an occasional act, rather, it is a condition. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).

Our bondage is total: the will itself is turned inward (incurvatus in se). Even our good works are polluted by self-interest. The problem is not simply that we do wrong, but that even our righteousness is sinful and self-serving (Isa. 64:6).

Sin as Self-Idolatry

As Rod Rosenbladt often said, sin is not only disobedience, but also the replacement of God with the self. [2] We justify ourselves by performance, sincerity, or moral comparison. But “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3:20). The law always accuses, revealing not our freedom but our captivity to sin. But as we know clearly from Scripture (this is Luther’s real argument), the will is not free; it’s bound both to its sinful self and to its own imagined goodness.

Freedom Misunderstood

When Scripture speaks of bondage, it doesn’t deny human choice in daily matters. Rather, what Scripture denies is self-chosen salutary freedom before God. It denies the freedom to choose God, because we are totally sinful. “The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed, it cannot” (Rom. 8:7). Gerhard Forde put it sharply: “The will is bound precisely in its attempt to be free.” [3] Every effort to escape God’s judgment through self-reformation only deepens the chains.

Freedom, then, is not the ability to choose God, it is to be chosen by God. And this is the true scandal because it is the true liberation. True liberty, true freedom, only comes when Christ breaks the will’s addiction to its own sin: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

The Law and the Gospel

The law’s task is not to improve us but to expose us. “Through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). When the law has done its work, there is nothing left to trust except Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ… it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The law whittles you down to the pointy end of the stick, and that pointy end means you have nothing left of yourself and only Christ alone: crucified and risen for you.

Christ: The End of Bondage

Christ does not reform the bound will, he redeems it. “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). Salvation is not cooperation but resurrection. Faith itself is the gift of that resurrection, the empty hand that is given what Christ alone gives. “By grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not a result of works” (Eph. 2:8–9).

Salvation is not cooperation but resurrection. Faith itself is the gift of that resurrection, the empty hand that is given what Christ alone gives.

The Ongoing Struggle

Yet, as Luther said, the old Adam is a good swimmer. Daily he must be drowned through repentance and faith. “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). The Christian lives in this tension: bound by sin’s presence, freed by Christ’s promise. And as Paul reminds us at the end of this conflicted exposé: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25). It is he alone who frees us from this sinful body of death.

The Comfort of Bondage

Thus, the bound will is ultimately, good news. Again, Rod Rosenbladt is masterful here: “The bad news is that your will is bound. The good news is that your will is bound! Because if my will is bound, then my salvation does not depend on my decision, my effort, or my sincerity, it depends entirely on Christ and what he has done for me.” [4] – Amen.

Where sin increased, grace overflowed (Rom. 5:20). The bound will, in the hands of Christ, becomes the stage for divine mercy. The bondage of the will is not despair, it is hope. For if salvation depends not on our choosing but on God’s mercy, then grace truly is grace. And in that word, the bound are finally, eternally free.

To know your will is in bondage to sin is to rest in Christ’s work, not your own. “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). The law says, “Do this and live.” The Gospel says, “It is finished.” And so, it is.

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An Introduction to the Bondage of the Will: In Bondage to Sin