St. Ulrich's Church, Augsburg, Germany is our photo for tonight. We treat the Formula of Concord, 111.12-IV.15. This is quintessential Lutheran teaching at its finest. The righteousness imputed to us is Christ's according to two natures, one Person. It is His very righteousness, life and active obedience that is reckoned, ascribed, imputed and put to our account with forensic and objective precison and power. We recently posted the lamentable exchange between Senator Kennedy and the False Gospeller in Rome...the No-Gospel Man, Benedict XVI. In the FC (Formula of Concord), this justification proceeds not on the basis of our works at all. We have none. The justified sinner who believes will by a "living and true" faith do good works. It is excellent to see these Lutheran divines at work. We only wish the Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline divines had done similarly, to wit, taking this document and raising it to Confessional status, minus some places--again, "some" places. Good works certainly will follow from those "servants of Christ" who thankfully understand their justified status and who "love righteousness." We are coming to the view that the ACNA Bishops should be quarantined--seeing that they still have grievous illnesses and infections--and sent to "rehabilitative, monastic settings" for an education. Who's holding them accountable, like Jack Iker and others? Reformed Churchmen are unwise who do not engage the FC. Powerfully and clearly enunciated. This is the faith of the True Catholic Church.
Antitheses: Contrary Doctrines Rejected.
12] Therefore we reject and condemn all the following errors:
13] 1. That Christ is our Righteousness according to His divine nature alone.
14] 2. That Christ is our Righteousness according to His human nature alone. U
15] 3. That in the sayings of the prophets and apostles where the righteousness of faith is spoken of the words justify and to be justified are not to signify declaring or being declared free from sins, and obtaining the forgiveness of sins, but actually being made righteous before God, because of love infused by the Holy Ghost, virtues, and the works following them.
16] 4. That faith looks not only to the obedience of Christ, but to His divine nature, as it dwells and works in us, and that by this indwelling our sins are covered.
17] 5. That faith is such a trust in the obedience of Christ as can exist and remain in a man even when he has no genuine repentance, in whom also no love follows, but who persists in sins against his conscience.
18] 6. That not God Himself, but only the gifts of God, dwell in believers.
19] 7. That faith saves on this account, because by faith the renewal, which consists in love to God and one's neighbor, is begun in us.
20] 8. That faith has the first place in justification, nevertheless also renewal and love belong to our righteousness before God in such a manner that they [renewal and love] are indeed not the chief cause of our righteousness, but that nevertheless our righteousness before God is not entire or perfect without this love and renewal.
21] 9. That believers are justified before God and saved jointly by the imputed righteousness of Christ and by the new obedience begun in them, or in part by the imputation of Christ's righteousness, but in part also by the new obedience begun in them.
22] 10. That the promise of grace is made our own by faith in the heart, and by the confession which is made with the mouth, and by other virtues.
23] 11. That faith does not justify without good works; so that good works are necessarily required for righteousness, and without their presence man cannot be justified.
IV. Good Works.
STATUS CONTROVERSIAE. The Principal Question In the Controversy concerning Good Works.
1] Concerning the doctrine of good works two divisions have arisen in some churches:
2] 1. First, some theologians have become divided because of the following expressions, where the one side wrote: Good works are necessary for salvation. It is impossible to be saved without good works. Also: No one has ever been saved without good works. But the other side, on the contrary, wrote: Good works are injurious to salvation.
3] 2. Afterwards a schism arose also between some theologians with respect to the two words necessary and free, since the one side contended that the word necessary should not be employed concerning the new obedience, which, they say, does not flow from necessity and coercion, but from a voluntary spirit. The other side insisted on the word necessary, because, they say, this obedience is not at our option, but regenerate men are obliged to render this obedience.
4] From this disputation concerning the terms a controversy afterwards occurred concerning the subject itself; for the one side contended that among Christians the Law should not be urged at all, but men should be exhorted to good works from the Holy Gospel alone; the other side contradicted this.
Affirmitive Theses.
Pure Doctrine of the Christian Churches concerning This Controversy.
5] For the thorough statement and decision of this controversy our doctrine, faith, and confession is:
6] 1. That good works certainly and without doubt follow true faith, if it is not a dead, but a living faith, as fruits of a good tree.
7] 2. We believe, teach, and confess also that good works should be entirely excluded, just as well in the question concerning salvation as in the article of justification before God, as the apostle testifies with clear words, when he writes as follows: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, Rom. 4:6ff And again: By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast, Eph. 2:8-9.
8] 3. We believe, teach, and confess also that all men, but those especially who are born again and renewed by the Holy Ghost, are bound to do good works.
9] 4. In this sense the words necessary, shall, and must are employed correctly and in a Christian manner also with respect to the regenerate, and in no way are contrary to the form of sound words and speech.
10] 5. Nevertheless, by the words mentioned, necessitas, necessarium, necessity and necessary, if they be employed concerning the regenerate, not coercion, but only due obedience is to be understood, which the truly believing, so far as they are regenerate, render not from coercion or the driving of the Law, but from a voluntary spirit; because they are no more under the Law, but under grace, Rom. 6:14; 7:6; 8:14.
11] 6. Accordingly, we also believe, teach, and confess that when it is said: The regenerate do good works from a free spirit, this is not to be understood as though it is at the option of the regenerate man to do or to forbear doing good when he wishes, and that he can nevertheless retain faith if he intentionally perseveres in sins.
12] 7. Yet this is not to be understood otherwise than as the Lord Christ and His apostles themselves declare, namely, regarding the liberated spirit, that it does not do this from fear of punishment, like a servant, but from love of righteousness, like children, Rom. 8:15.
13] 8. Although this voluntariness [liberty of spirit] in the elect children of God is not perfect, but burdened with great weakness, as St. Paul complains concerning himself, Rom. 7:14-25; Gal. 5:17;
14] 9. Nevertheless, for the sake of the Lord Christ, the Lord does not impute this weakness to His elect, as it is written: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8:1.
15] 10. We believe, teach, and confess also that not works maintain faith and salvation in us, but the Spirit of God alone, through faith, of whose presence and indwelling good works are evidences.
The "true" catholic church, according to David Broughton Knox, is only gathered around Christ in heaven. The "visible" church on earth is the "local congregation" where the Gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Lutherans get much right, if Martin Luther were around today he would be excommunicated by the Lutheran church because Luther taught there is no free will and that there is a double decree to election and reprobation.
I have learned not to idolize men or "denominations" since both err. After Luther passed from the scene Melanchthon moved the Lutheran church away from the monergistic views of Luther and back in a semi-pelagian direction.
Also, even though Luther was a great man and did much good for the Reformation, he erred by trying to stay too close to the sacerdotal views of Rome on the sacraments of baptism and the supper. The Swiss Reformers had sense enough to know that there is no real presence and no baptismal regeneration. I would include the English Reformers in that since is clear that Cranmer himself held to Zwinglian views on the supper and most likely on baptism as well. All acknowledge Cranmer as the major architect of the Articles and the Prayer Book. And, as DB Knox pointed out, the Prayer Book is to be interpreted in the light of the Articles and not the other way around.
I have no beef with Lutherans other than they are no faithful to Luther's masterpiece, The Bondage of the Will, and that Luther himself could not let go of Rome in the sacraments.