The Roman Catholic Church once dominated Christian religion, declaring with self-proclaimed divine authority the prerequisites for salvation. Martin Luther, among others, spoke out against what he perceived as the malpractices of the Catholic Church and began the Protestant Reformation within Christian religion. He contradicted the Catholic Church’s emphasis on works as a means of achieving salvation. Martin Luther argues that one can be saved by faith alone and that Christians should do good works to submit their bodies to the Holy Spirit’s saving grace, but perhaps good works naturally result from genuine faith in Christ.
Martin Luther reasons that works supplement humanity’s faith but do not earn one’s salvation. Luther reasons that “it does not help the soul if the body … is occupied with sacred duties or prays, fasts, abstains from certain kinds of food, or does any work that can be done by the body and in the body,” revealing that works by themselves cannot help one’s soul (Luther 5). Furthermore, Luther argues that “the Word of God cannot be received and cherished by any works whatever but only by faith,” proving that an abundance of works in the absence of faith will not give one the grace of Jesus Christ (Luther 7). Luther undermines that theory that one can earn salvation through his or her works with his point that “the Word imparts its qualities to the soul … [and] a Christian has all that he needs in faith and needs no works to justify him” (Luther 8). What then is the purpose of works? Luther insists that on earth, Christians “must indeed take care to discipline [their] bod[ies] by fastings, watchings, labors, and other reasonable discipline and subject [them] to the Spirit so that [they] will obey and conform to the inner man and faith and not revolt against faith and hinder the inner man” (Luther 11). By claiming that Christians should do good works to surrender their bodies to Christ, he argues that works help Christians overcome worldly obstacles to genuine spiritual faith. Furthermore, Luther declares that “works reduce the body to subjection and purify it of its evil lusts,” asserting that good works help Christians attain faith (Luther 11-12). Luther values works as a means to help Christians resist worldly temptations and achieve genuine faith.
However, do Christians do good works as a means of realizing faith in Christ or as an effect of authentic faith and a love of God? While Martin Luther argues that Christians do good works as a means of “put[ting] the body under control and hold[ing] it in check,” perhaps works actually result from a faith in and consequent love of God (Luther 11). James 2:26 reads, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead,” illustrating that this “dead” or insincere faith produces no works (ESV…). Just as when one loves another and wants to do good things for them, so too when a Christian loves God, he or she wants to do good out of love.
While Martin Luther declares that good works do not save, but aid in the development of true faith, I would argue that works are not a means of achieving faith, but a result. Maybe Christians are compelled to do good works to further the kingdom of God as an effect of living faith.
Bibliography
Janz, Denis: A Reformation Reader : Primary Texts With Introductions. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, 1999, S. 98
I like the thesis in this article. The assertion that works are a way of furthering the faith rather than the sole path to salvation is biblically based and a refreshing view. Some of the recent readings have muddied the waters in the area of works' place in a holy Christians life, but this post replaces works into their rightful role in my opinion.
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