The Bondage of the Will. Why? This is Luther at his best, unpacking the nature of human sin, and thus providing the biblical and theological warrant for God’s sovereign grace in our salvation, and why the Reformation solas are necessary to make sense of our salvation. Given our human sin before God, it is only if God ingrace alone provides the Son who through Christ alone saves and whom we receive by faith alonewhich ultimately resounds to God’s glory alone. How do we know that we are dead in our sins? Scripture alone.
—Stephen Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Ninety-Five Theses are my favorite Luther “book” because they were the first thing I read by him as I was discovering the reformation of the gospel. Thesis #62 still rings in my ears: “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”
—Daniel Hyde, Pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church in Carlsbad/Oceanside, CA
It is Luther’s great commentary on Galatians, because I read it immediately after my confirmation class (as I was 14-15 years). In fact, twice. Approximately 700 pages … It was especially through this commentary that I began to understand for the first time what God’s grace really means in my life. I used to say, I have been converted by Luther. I am one of his many disciplines. A modern one. Of course, all this only by God’s grace alone!
—Timo Laato, Associate Professor of New Testament, The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gothenburg, Sweden
My favorite book by Martin Luther is his The Bondage of the Will(1525). Luther was, in general, not a systematizer of doctrine. That work Luther largely left to his friend and colleague, Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). However, The Bondage of the Willstands as an exception to this rule because it represents Luther’s attempt to systematize his thought on the nature of human volition and its relationship to justification. I agree wholeheartedly with B.B. Warfield who considered this work of Luther’s to be his masterpiece and referred to it as “the manifesto of the Reformation.”
—Anthony Selvaggio, author of Meet Martin Luther: A Sketch of the Reformer’s Life
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