If I told you that this is arguably the most important book written by someone who was arguably the most important figure during what was arguably the most important time in church history, would you be interested? The Bondage of the Will is considered by many to be the most important theological work of the Reformation. Luther himself said it was his most important book, and not that he needs my confirmation, but I couldn't agree more.
Luther wrote this book in response to one of his contemporaries, Erasmus. Erasmus taught that human beings had the capacity to freely obey God's commands. Luther taught that ever since the fall, our will has been in bondage to sin and is therefore completely unable to obey God's commands. The good news of the gospel of grace, though, was that God lovingly and sovereignly intervenes by His Spirit and changes our hearts by grace through faith in the substitutionary life and death of Jesus Christ. Our conversion, our ability to "see the light", our ability to believe, is all the work of God - an act of his loving mercy. It had nothing to do with our works or even our desire.
So what is the purpose of God's commands, then? Why would God command something if he knew we couldn't obey it? Luther responds with Romans 3:20: "Through the law comes the knowledge of sin." God's commands are designed to show us our inability to obey. The Sermon on the Mount wasn't a "How-To Manual". Jesus didn't preach that sermon so we could say, "Oh, this is what I should do to start pleasing God. I need to start doing all these things in order to be acceptable to Him." No. Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount so we would say, "That's impossible. If that's what I need to do to please God, I'm cooked." Jesus preached that sermon to foster desperation in the human heart. He preached it so we would be driven to call out for mercy and depend on Him for salvation, instead trusting in ourselves.
The Law (God's commands) devastates. It kills. It (should) shatters our perceptions of our own goodness, drive us to our knees like the repentant tax collector of Luke 18, and cause us to cry out, "Oh Lord, have mercy on me a sinner". The law drives us to utter dependence on the Savior. Who needs a Savior if you yourself are able to fulfill the law?
Once you believe, God gives you his Spirit, which in turn, enables you to fulfill the law of love. But until the Spirit possesses us and we possess the Spirit, though, we are unable to obey freely. Salvation isn't synergistic (two beings working together to make something happen), rather it is monergistic (one being making something happen). This is the good news of the gospel of grace. It is so freeing, so lovely, and so wonderful that it should cause us to spend the rest of our lives in humble devotion to our Lord. We should say, "How could I not live for Him after all He's done for me?"
I've provided a number of great quotes from The Bondage of the Will through the following link: http://www.reformationtheology.com/2005/12/martin_luther_on_the_bondage_o_1.php
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