March 2026 – Elder’s Message
Bondage of the Will.
A Message from the Elders
How many have heard of “Bondage of the Will”? It means that humans cannot do anything to save themselves; Jesus has done it all for us so that we do not have to question whether we are saved or not. It is based on three principles: Scripture alone, Grace alone, and Faith alone.
Martin Luther wrote a book on Bondage of the Will in 1525. An article in our December 2025 “Forward in Christ,” written by Noah Headrick, a Professor at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin and a member of Redeemer, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, explains that bondage of the will says that humans are not able to choose spiritual desires; only Jesus can save us and He did everything necessary for our salvation. He did it all by Himself. No human can say that they chose to follow Jesus and that assures them they are finally saved. Jesus did it all. Click here to see the article.
It is very clear in the article in Forward in Christ that if we think that we have the free will to choose to follow Jesus on our own, we are taking glory from Jesus. What comfort believers have knowing they are saved without having to choose or earn their salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
John 15:16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”
John 1:12-13: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
What God the Son did doesn’t do you any good unless you believe it.
John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
So, God sent his son, Jesus, to be born of a woman, who was a virgin, to live a perfect life, to die and be raised to life again. Jesus did not sin; He lived a perfect life, was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. This proves that he has the power to conquer sin and death.
What does that mean for all humans? It means that Jesus did everything needed for our salvation perfectly. The bondage of the will, however, is a reminder for us that our salvation is not in our hands; it is securely in Jesus’s hands. He has given us the free gift of faith to believe this through Word and sacrament. From first to last, our salvation is his work alone.
John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The Elders recommend reading Noah Headrick’s December 2025 article in Forward in Christ called “Securely in God’s hands.” Click here to see the article.