The Bondage of the Will

I do acknowledge that mankind has free will and, as such, the right to choose his actions. However, I reject the notion that man can make his own choice to listen to and/or obey God. Having anything to do with salvation and good works we, both men and women, are under complete bondage to sin. That is, our will is in bondage to sin and we cannot choose good or seek after God. Regarding salvation and good works, it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we have any part in salvation and good works. The good we do is not us, but rather the Spirit of God in us and through us. All glory, wisdom and righteousness belong to God and not to men.

Let’s review several Scriptures on this subject:

“⁹ What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; ¹⁰ As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: ¹¹ There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. ¹² They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ¹³ Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: ¹⁴ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood: ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways: ¹⁷ And the way of peace have they not known: ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:9-18

I want to unpack this, verse by verse. In verse 9 the apostle Paul reminds us of his previous conclusion that Jews and Gentiles are equally under the dominion of sin. Then he goes on to give us a list of that condition all of us are in:

• No one is righteous
• No one understands
• No one seeks after God
• We are all gone out of the way
• We are all unprofitable
• No one does good
• Our throat is an open grave
• Our tongues are used for lying
• Our tongues are filled with deadly venom
• Our mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness
• Our feet are quick to shed blood
• Destruction and misery are in our ways
• We have not known the ways of peace
• We do not fear God

Oh, the depths of the sinfulness of mankind. This applies to Jews and Gentiles: all people that ever existed on planet earth. All are deserving and worthy of condemnation. It is very clear that none of us seek God or does good. Therefore, we understand that we would never choose Christ and salvation through our own will. We would never obey God from our own will. Brother Branham said this:

“As I’ve said, no man seeks after God. God seeks after man. Man, in his nature, is in rebellion against God.” [1]

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Romans 3:19

The whole world is guilty in the presence of God. They are in bondage to sin, in chains, being held in prison until the day of execution when God pours out his wrath upon each and every sinner. All the world is in this bondage waiting until the guilty are executed.

“¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:19-21

It is not merely a matter that we don’t have any light but that, in fact, we love darkness and hate the light. Our will is to love darkness.

“⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:6-7

The word “minded” above, speaks more of a disposition or attitude; it is the mindset of the flesh. This is the mindset we are born with: selfishness, sinfulness, and enmity against God. The mindset of the flesh is animosity towards God. Paul says, the mindset of the flesh cannot submit to the law of God.

“¹ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:1-3

We were dead; we followed the devil and his ways; we followed the lusts of our flesh and were by nature children of wrath. This is our condition: total bondage to the flesh and the devil. There is no desire within us to please or to serve and trust God.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

The word “receiveth” in the Greek is dekhomai and it means to “receive or accept.” So, the natural man, any person without the Spirit of God, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. Such complete and entire bondage to sin! This is utter and total blindness to the manifestation and working of the Spirit of God, both in the Bible and through preaching and miracles.

Brother Branham teaches us:

“55. First, we reckon ourselves sinners and worthy of condemnation. And we are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity, there’s not a sound parcel of us. Our minds are bad, our soul is corruptible, our constant thinking is evil, every imaginary thought of a man’s mind is evil, a sinner, and also that our body is weak, our spirit is no good, and we’re just full of corruption. And how could one corruptible thing bring another good thing out of a corruptible? Let me say this, that in Job, 14th chapter, he said, ‘Seeing that man is born of a woman, is full of sorrow and trouble, yet he cometh forth like a flower, he fadeth away.’ And on, as the prophet goes on speaking, he said, ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one!’ You stick your bucket down into the well and pull out a bucket of water, and it’s stagnant, it stinks; you look in it, and it’s muddy, and little worms is in that water, there’s no way at all to put your bucket back and get a clean bucket. The whole well is contaminated. And the whole soul, mind and body of man is contaminated with sin. He’s born in sin, physically, shaped in iniquity, and come to the world speaking lies, so that his own soul is contaminated. Nothing good! One cannot redeem the other, because it’s all wrong. And you can’t take a bucketful of water here, that’s contaminated, and another bucketful that’s contaminated, and mix them together, you’ve got more contamination. There’s no purification to it.” [2]

Let’s look at something Jesus said:

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44

The first phrase is very revealing. “No man can come to me…” We cannot approach Jesus of our own will in salvation. We would not listen to him, we would not desire him and neither would we accept him. We don’t seek after God from our own will. It’s utterly and entirely impossible. We seek after sin and evil. However, Jesus gave an exception. He said, except the Father draw him. The word that is translated “draw” is helkuo in the Greek and it literally means “to drag.” We cannot come except the Father drags us to Christ. So, we do not accept Jesus of our own free will. Rather, the Father, according to his eternal election and sovereign grace, drags us to Jesus Christ. He literally works within us to make us willing to accept Jesus. We come to Jesus because the Father drags us to him.

We are not completely passive in the work of trusting and obeying Jesus Christ. I want to show you what the apostle Paul writes in another place.

“¹² Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13

We are called to work out our salvation and we are then informed it is God working in us, both to his will and good pleasure. Therefore, we understand our working is God’s working. Whatever we do that pleases God it was wrought by God first within us.

[1] 52-0715, Faith in The Son of God, Rev. William Marrion Branham

[2] 61-1231M, You Must Be Born Again, Rev. William Marrion Branham