THE SEVENTH IMAGE
THE SUPERNAL BLESSING, OR THE BLESSING ABOVE US
I do not now speak of the eternal blessings of Heaven, which the
blessed enjoy in the perfect vision of God; or father, I do speak
of them in faith, and in so far as they some within our
comprehension. For this seventh image is Jesus Christ, the King
of glory, rising from the dead; even as, in His Passion and
death. He formed the seventh image of evils.[72] Here there is
nothing at all of evil; for "Christ, being risen from the dead,
dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." [Rom. 6:9]
Here is that furnace of love and fire of God in Zion; [Isa. 31:9]
as Isaiah saith. For Christ is not only born unto us, but He is
also given unto us. [Isa. 9:6] Therefore, His resurrection, and
all that He wrought by it, are mine, and, as the Apostle exults
in exuberant joy, "how hath [73] He not also, with Him, given us
all things?" But what is it that He hath wrought by His
resurrection? Why, He hath destroyed sin and brought
righteousness to light, abolished death and restored life,
conquered hell and bestowed on us everlasting glory. These are
such inestimably precious blessings that the mind of man dare
scarce believe that they have become ours; as it was with Jacob,
in Genesis xlv, who, when he heard that his son Joseph was ruler
in Egypt, was like one awakened out of deep slumber, and believed
them not, until, after telling him all the words of Joseph, they
showed him the wagons that Joseph had sent. [Gen 45:26 ff.] So
difficult, indeed, would it be for us to believe that in Christ
such great blessings have been conferred on us unworthy
creatures, did He not teach us to believe it, with many words,
and by the evidence of our own experience; even as He manifested
Himself to His disciples[74] in divers appearances. [Acts 1:3]
Such are our "Joseph's wagons." This is indeed a most godly
"wagon," that He is made unto us of God righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption, and wisdom; [1 Cor. 1:30] as the
Apostle saith in I. Corinthians i. For, I am a sinner; yet am I
drawn in His righteousness, which is given me. I am unclean; but
His holiness is my sanctification, in which I pleasurably tide. I
am an ignorant fool; but His wisdom carries me forward. I have
deserved condemnation; but I am set free by His redemption, a
wagon in which I sit secure. So that a Christian, if he but
believe it, may boast of the merits of Christ and all His
blessings, even as if he had won them all himself. So truly are
they his own, that he may even dare to look boldly forward to the
judgment of God, unbearable though it be. So great a thing is
faith, such blessings does it bring us, such glorious sons of God
does it make us. For we cannot be sons without inheriting our
Father's goods. Let the Christian say, then, with full
confidence: "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy
sting? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God,[75] which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." [1 Cor. 15:55 ff.] That is to
say, the law makes us sinners, and sin makes us guilty of death.
Who hath conquered these twain? Was it our righteousness, or our
life? Nay: it was Jesus Christ, rising from the dead, condemning
sin and death, bestowing on us His merits, and holding His hand
over us. And now it is well with us, we keep the law, and
vanquish sin and death. For all which be honor, praise, and
thanksgiving unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
This, then, is the highest image of all, in which we are lifted
up, not only above our evils, but above our blessings as well,
and are set down amid strange blessings, brought together by
another's labor; whereas we formerly lay among evils, heaped up
by another's sin,[76] and added to by our own. We are set down, I
say, in Christ's righteousness, with which He Himself is
righteous; because we cling to that righteousness by which He is
well pleasing to God, intercedes for us as our Mediator, and
gives Himself wholly to be our own, as our High-Priest and
Protector. Therefore, as it is impossible that Christ, with His
righteousness, should not please God, so it is impossible that we
should not please Him. Hence it comes that a Christian is
almighty, lord of all,[77] having all things, and doing all
things, wholly without sin. And even if he have sins, they can in
no wise harm him, but are forgiven for the sake of the
inexhaustible righteousness of Christ that swalloweth up all
sins, on which our faith relies, firmly trusting that He is such
a Christ unto us as we have described. But if any one does not
believe this, he hears the tale with deaf ears,[78] and does not
know Christ, and understands neither what blessings He hath nor
how they may be enjoyed.
Therefore, if we considered it aright and with attentive hearts,
this image alone would suffice to fill us with so great comfort
that we should not only not grieve over our evils, [Rom. 5:3] but
even glory in our tribulations, nay, scarcely feel them, for the
joy that we have in Christ. In which glorying may Christ Himself
instruct us, our Lord and God, blessed for evermore. Amen. [Rom.
9:5]
EPILOGUE
With these prattlings of mine, Most Illustrious Prince, in token
of my willingness to serve your Lordship to the best of my poor
ability, I commend myself to your Illustrious Lordship, being
ready to bring a worthier offering, if ever my mental powers
shall equal my desires. For I shall always remain a debtor to
every neighbor of mine, but most of all to your Lordship, whom
may our Lord Jesus Christ, in His merciful kindness, long
preserve to us, and at last by a blessed death take home to
Himself. Amen.
Your Most Illustrious Lordship's
Intercessor,
Brother Martin Luther,
_Augustinian at Wittenberg._
FOOTNOTES
[1] Written by Luther for the last edition of 1535.
[2] Compare to the Preface to the Complete Works (1545), page 11
of this volume.
[3] _Antilogistae_; the hunters of contradictions and
inconsistencies in Luther's writings, such as John Faber, who
published, in 1530, his _Antilogiarum Mart. Lutheri Babylonia._
Compare also reference in preceding note.
[4] As over against Christ and the saints in His train, the devil
and his followers are represented here, as frequently in Luther,
under the figure of a dragon with a scaly tail.
[5] Omitted, through on oversight, from the Latin _editio
princeps_. See Introduction, p. 105.
[6] On the political influence of Frederick, as a factor in the
German Reformation, see Hermelink, _Reformation und
Gegenreformation_ (Krüger's _Handbuch der Kirchengeschicte_, 3.
Teil), p. 67.
[7] _Tessaradecas_.
[8] See Introduction, pp. 106 f.
[9] In the body of the work Luther places (6) between (3) and
(4).
[10] A reminiscence of Luther's childhood?
[11] Luther has particular reference to the Elector's high rank.
[12] Luther follows the Vulgate numbering of the Psalms, which
differs from the Hebrew (and the English and German). As far as
Ps. 8 both agree; but the Vulgate (following the Greek version)
counts Ps. 9 and 10 as one, thus dropping behind one in the
numbering. But it divides Ps. 147 into two; vv. 1-11 being
counted as Ps. 146, and vv. 12-20 as Ps. 147; and so both
versions agree again from Ps. 148 to 150.
[13] Job calls it a "warfare" (militia).
[14] Luther harks back to his discussion of this point in the
Preface, p. 113.
[15] Particular reference to the Elector.
[16] See pp. 147 ff.
[17] _Cypr. de mortal_. c. V.
[18] Vulgate reading.
[19] See pp. 149 f.
[20] From the Vulgate.
[21] Luther is probably thinking of his own experience, when,
near Erfurt, he came near bleeding to death from an injury to his
ankle. See Köstlin-Kawerau, _Martin Luther_, I, 44.
[22] Luther no longer held this view of "satisfaction" in 1535.
See also pp. 150 and 161.
[23] Luther is thinking here specifically of the Elector.
[24] He means the communion of saints. See next chapter.
[25] According to the Vulgate (Douay Version).
[26] August 29th. See Introduction, p. 105.
[27] Cf. _A Discussion of Confession_, above, p. 82.
[28] Luther might have considerably revised this whole paragraph.
[29] This seems to refer to the writers of the Holy Scriptures.
[30] A reference to the threefold baptism, commonly accepted,
viz., (1) _fluminia_, (2) _flaminis_, (3) _sanguinis_; that is,
(1) the Sacrament of baptism, (2) the baptism of the Spirit, or
repentance, (3) the baptism of blood, or martyrdom. Cf. PRE3,
XIX, 414.
[31] Frederick the Wise was a pious collector of relics, having
5005 of them in the Castle Church at Wittenberg. They had
something to do with Luther's choice of October 31st as the date
of the posting of the XCV Theses. See Introduction to the Theses,
p. 16 of this volume, note 1.
[32] Cf. Letter to George Leiffer, 15 April, 1516. See M. A.
Cueriz, _The Letters of M. Luther_, p. 7.
[33] i. e., The sign of the cross.
[34] As much as, "We are in for a bad hour," and, "A good hour is
worth a bad hour."
[35] See p. 134.
[36] In this passage "Wisdom" is the subject.
[37] In the _Sanctus_.
[38] See p. 118.
[39] Luther quotes a verse from Ps. 106, which sums up the
contents of Ps. 78.
[40] Luther uses _sensualitas_ the first time, and _sensus_ the
second.
[41] See p.115.
[42] _The Confessions of St. Augustine_, Book IX, chapter 1.
[43] Luther is probably thinking of the sin of suicide.
[44] From the Vulgate (Douay Version).
[45] Namely, the hope of the passing evil and the coming of good
things. See above.
[46] The last two passages read thus in the Vulgate.
[47] See p. 122.
[48] Cf. p. 127, note.
[49] Thus the Vulgate.
[50] _Ovid, Ars amat._, I, 656.
[51] Cf. _Treatise on Baptism_, above, p. 66.
[52] See pp. 123 ff.
[53] _The Confessions of St. Augustine_, Book I, chap. vi.
[54] Thus the Vulgate.
[55] _Comm. in Ps. xxxix, No. 27_.
[56] Book VIII, chap. xi.
[57] See p. 152.
[58] See pp. 126 ff.
[59] See pp. 126 ff.
[60] _Gregor. dialogorum libri iv_, containing number of examples
of the terrible end of the wicked.
[61] One of the passages Luther did not care to correct. Compare
p. 127, note.
[62] Luther here unites the mythological figures of chimaera and
alren.
[63] An Italian saint whose festival is observed on February 5th,
whose worship flourishes especially in South Italy and Sicily,
and whose historical existence is doubtful.
[64] See pp. 133 ff.
[65] Luther has mistaken the chapter.
[66] For the various interpretations of the "communion of the
saints" among mediæval theologians, See Reinh. Seeberg, _Lehrbuch
der Dogmengeschichte_, 1st ed., vol. ii, p.127, note. Luther in
the _Sermon von dem hochwürdigen Sacrament des heiligen wahren
Leichnams Christi_ (1519), still accepts the phrase as meaning
the participation in the Sacrament, and through it the
participation in "the spiritual possessions of Christ and His
saints." In our treatise, it is taken as the definition of "the
holy Catholic Church," in the sense of a communion with the
saints. In _The Papacy at Rome_ (later in the same year), it
becomes the communion or community (consisting of saints, or
believers; as a _Gemeinde oder Sammlung._ Compare the classical
passage in the _Large Catechism_ (1529): "nicht _Gemenschaft_,
sondern _Gemeine_."
[67] See _A Discussion of Confession_, above, p. 88.
[68] Changed to "Christian" in the Catechisms (1529), although
the Latin translations retain _catholocism_.
[69] The Apostle does not say, "one cup."
[70] The translation here follows the reading of the _Jena Ed.
(huc feratur intuitus)_, as against that of the _Weimar_ and
_Erl. Edd. (huc foratur intutus)._
[71] Thus the Vulgate.
[72] See pp. 137 ff.
[73] Vulgate.
[74] Namely, after His resurrection.
[75] Compare the different form of this verse on p. 112.
[76] He means the sin of Adam.
[77] The germ of _The Liberty of a Christian Man_ (1520).
[78] Cf. Terence's _surdo narrare fabulam. Heauton.,_ 222.
A TREATISE ON GOOD WORKS,
TOGETHER WITH THE LETTER OF DEDICATION
1520
INTRODUCTION
1. The Occasion of the Work.--Luther did not impose himself as a
reformer upon the Church. In the course of a conscientious
performance of the duties of his office, to which he had been
regularly and divinely called, and without any urging on his
part, he attained to this position by inward necessity. In 1515
he received his appointment as the standing substitute for the
sickly city pastor, Simon Heinse, from the city council of
Wittenberg. Before this time he was obliged to preach only
occasionally in the convent, apart from his activity as teacher
in the University and convent. Through this appointment he was in
duty bound, by divine and human right, to lead and direct the
congregation at Wittenberg on the true way to life, and it would
have been a denial of the knowledge of salvation which God had
led him to acquire, by way of ardent inner struggles, if he had
led the congregation on any other way than the one God had
revealed to him in His Word. He could not deny before the
congregation which had been intrusted to his care, what up to
this time he had taught with ever increasing clearness in his
lectures at the University--for in the lectures on the Psalms,
which he began to deliver in 1513, he declares his conviction
that faith alone justifies, as can be seen from the complete
manuscript, published since 1885, and with still greater
clearness from his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans
(1515-1516), which is accessible since 1908; nor what he had
urged as spiritual adviser of his convent brethren when in deep
distress--compare the charming letter to Georg Spenlein, dated
April 8, 1516,[1]
Luther's first literary works to Appear in print were also
occasioned by the work of his calling and of his office in the
Wittenberg congregation. He had no other object in view than to
edify his congregation and to lead it to Christ when, in 1517, he
published his first independent work, the _Explanation of the
Seven Penitential Psalms_. On Oct 31 of the same year he
published his _95 Theses against Indulgences_. These were indeed
intended as controversial theses for theologians, but at the same
time it is well known that Luther was moved by his duty toward
his congregation to declare his position in this matter and to
put in issue the whole question as to the right and wrong of
indulgences by means of his theses. His sermon _Of Indulgences
and Grace_, occasioned by Tetzel's attack and delivered in the
latter part of March, 1515, as well as his sermon _Of Penitence_,
delivered about the same time, were also intended for his
congregation. Before his congregation (Sept., 1516-Feb., 1517) he
delivered the _Sermons on the Ten Commandments_, which were
published in 1518, and the _Sermons on the Lord's Prayer_, which
were also published in 1518 by Agricola. Though Luther in the
same year published a series of controversial writings, which
were occasioned by attacks from outside sources, viz., the
_Resolutiones disputationis de virtute indulgentiarum_, _the
Asterisci adversus obeliscos Joh. Eccii_, and the _Ad dialogum
Silv. Prieriatis responsio_, still he never was diverted by this
necessary rebuttal from his paramount duty, the edification of
the congregation. The autumn of the year 1518, when he was
confronted with Cajetan, as well as the whole year of 1519, when
he held his disputations with Eck, etc, were replete with
disquietude and pressing labors; still Luther served his
congregation with a whole series of writings during this time,
and only regretted that he was not entirely at its disposal. Of
such writings we mention: Explanation of the Lord's Prayer for
the simple Laity (an elaboration of the sermons of 1517); Brief
Explanation of the Ten Commandments; Instruction concerning
certain Articles, which might be ascribed and imputed to him by
his adversaries; Brief Instruction how to Confess; Of Meditation
on the Sacred Passion of Christ; Of Twofold Righteousness; Of the
Matrimonial Estate; Brief Form to understand and to pray the
Lord's Prayer; Explanation of the Lord's Prayer "vor sich und
hinter sich"; Of Prayer and Processions in Rogation Week; Of
Usury; Of the Sacrament of Penitence; Of Preparation for Death;
Of the Sacrament of Baptism; Of the Sacrament of the Sacred Body;
Of Excommunication. With but few exceptions these writings all
speared in print in the year 1519, and again it was the
congregation which Luther sought primarily to serve. If the
bounds of his congregation spread ever wider beyond Wittenberg,
so that his writings found a surprisingly ready sale, even afar,
that was not Luther's fault. Even the _Tessaradecas
consolatoria_,[2] written in 1519 and printed in 1530, a book of
consolation, which was originally intended for the sick Elector
of Saxony, was written by him only upon solicitation from outside
sources.
To this circle of writings the treatise _Of Good Works_ also
belongs. Though the incentive for its composition came from
George Spalatin, court-preacher to the Elector, who reminded
Luther of a promise he had given, still Luther was willing to
undertake it only when he recalled that in a previous sermon to
his congregation he occasionally had made a similar promise to
deliver a sermon on good works;[3] and when Luther actually
commenced the composition he had nothing else in view but the
preparation of a sermon for his congregation on this important
topic.
But while the work was in progress the material so accumulated
that it far outgrew the bounds of a sermon for his congregation.
On March 25. he wrote to Spatatin that it would become a whole
booklet instead of a sermon; on May 5. he again emphasizes the
growth of the material; on May 13. he speaks of its completion at
an early date, and on June 8. he could send Melanchthon a printed
copy. It was entitled: _Von den gutenwerckenn: D. M. L.
Vuittenherg_. On the last page it bore the printer's mark:
_Getruck zu Wittenberg bey dem iungen Melchior Lotther. Im
Tausent funfhundert vnud zweynitzsgen Jar_. It filled not less
than 58 leaves, quarto. In spite of its volume, however, the
intention of the book for the congregation remained, now however,
not only for the narrow circle of the Wittenberg congregation,
but for the Christian layman in general. In the dedicatory
preface Luther lays the greatest stress upon this, for he writes:
"Though I know of a great many, and must hear it daily, who think
lightly of my poverty and say that I write only small Sexternlein
(tracts of small volume) and German sermons for the untaught
laity, I will not permit that to move me. Would to God that
during my life I had served but one layman for his betterment
with all my powers; it would be sufficient for me, I would thank
God and suffer all my books to perish thereafter...Most willingly
I will leave the honor of greater things to others, and not at
all will I be ashamed of preaching and writing German to the
untaught laity."
Since Luther had dedicated the afore-mentioned _Tessaradecas
conolatoria_ to the reigning Prince,[4] he now, probably on
Spalatin's recommendation, dedicated the Treatise on Good Works
to his brother John, who afterward, in 1525, succeeded Frederick
in the Electorate. There was probably good reason for dedicating
the book to a member of the reigning house. Princes have reason
to take a special interest in the fact that preaching on good
works should occur within their realm, for the safety and sane
development of their kingdom depend hugely upon the cultivation
of morality on the part of their subjects. Time and again the
papal church had commended herself to princes and statesmen by
her emphatic teaching of good works. Luther, on the other hand,
had been accused--like the Apostle Paul before him (Rom.
3:31)--that the zealous performance of good works had abated,
that the bonds of discipline had slackened and that, as a
necessary consequence, lawlessness and shameless immorality were
being promoted by his doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Before 1517 the rumor had already spread that Luther intended to
do away with good works. Duke George of Saxony had received no
good impression from a sermon Luther had delivered at Dresden,
because he feared the consequences which Luther's doctrine of
justification by faith alone might have upon the morals of the
masses. Under these circumstances it would not have been
surprising if a member of the Electoral house should harbor like
scruples, especially since the full comprehension of Luther's
preaching on good works depended on an evangelical understanding
of faith, as deep as was Luther's own. The Middle Ages had
differentiated between _fides informis_, a formless faith, and
_fides formata_ or _informata_, a formed or ornate faith. The
former was held to be a knowledge without any life or effect, the
latter to be identical with love, for, as they said, love which
proves itself and is effective in good works must be added to the
formless faith, as its complement and its content, well pleasing
to God. In Luther's time every one who was seriously interested
in religious questions was reared under the influence of these
ideas.[5]
Now, since Luther had opposed the doctrine of justification by
love and its good works, he was in danger of being misunderstood
by strangers, as though he held the bare knowledge and assent to
be sufficient for justification, and such preaching would indeed
have led to frivolity and disorderly conduct. But even apart from
the question whether or not the brother of the Elector was
disturbed by such scruples, Luther must have welcomed the
opportunity, when the summons came to him, to dedicate his book
_Of Good Works_ to a member of the Electoral house. At any rate
the book could serve to acquaint him with the thoughts of his
much-abused pastor and professor at Wittenberg, for never before
had Luther expressed himself on the important question of good
works in such a fundamental, thorough and profound way.
2. Contents of the Work.--A perusal of the contents shows that
the book, in the course of its production, attained a greater
length than was originally intended. To this fact it must be
attributed that a new numeration of sections begins with the
argument on the Third Commandment, and is repeated at every
Commandment thereafter, while before this the sections were
consecutively numbered. But in spite of this, the plan of the
whole is clear and lucid. Evidently the whole treatise is divided
into two parts: the first comprising sections 1-17, while the
second comprises all the following sections. The first, being
fundamental, is the more important part. Luther well knew of the
charges made against him that "faith is so highly elevated" and
"works are rejected" by him; but he knew, too, that "neither
silver, gold and precious stone, nor any other precious thing had
experienced so much augmentation and diminution" as had good
works "which should all have but one simple goodness, or they are
nothing but color, glitter and deception." But especially was he
aware of the fact that the Church was urging nothing but the
so-called self-elected works, such as "running to the convent,
singing, reading, playing the organ, saying the mass, praying
matins, vespers, and other hours, founding and ornamenting
churches, altars, convents, gathering chimes, jewels, vestments,
gems and treasures, going to Rome and to the saints, curtsying
and bowing the knees, praying the rosary and the psalter," etc.,
and that she designated these alone as truly good works, while
she represented the faithful performance of the duties of one's
calling as a morality of a lower order. For these reasons it is
Luther's highest object in this treatise to make it perfectly
clear what is the essence of good works. Whenever the essence of
good works has been understood, then the accusations against him
will quickly collapse.
In the fundamental part he therefore argues; _Truly good works
are not self-elected works of monastic or any other holiness, but
such only as God has commanded and as are comprehended within the
bounds one's particular calling, and all works, let the name be
what it may, become good only when they flow from faith, the
"first, greatest, and noble of good works." (John 6:19.)_ In this
connection the essence of faith, that only source of all truly
good works, must of course be rightly understood. It is the sure
confidence in God, that all my doing is well-pleasing to him; it
is trust in His mercy even though He appear angry and puts
sufferings and adversities upon us; it is the assurance of the
divine good will even though "God should reprove the conscience
with sin, death and hell, and deny it all grace and mercy, as
though He would condemn and show His wrath eternally." Where such
faith lives in the heart, there the works are good "even though
they were as insignificant as the picking up of a straw"; but
where it is wanting, there are only such works as "heathen, Jew
and Turk" may have and do. Where such faith possesses the man, he
needs no teacher in good works, as little as does the husband or
the wife, who only look for love and favor from one another, nor
need any instruction therein "how they are to stand toward each
other, what they are to do, to leave undone, to say, to leave
unsaid, to think."
This faith, Luther continues, is "the true fulfilment of the
First Commandment, apart from which there is no work that could
do justice to this Commandment." With this sentence he combines,
on the one hand, the whole argument of faith, as the best and
noblest of good works, with his opening proposition (there are no
good works besides those commanded of God), and, on the other
hand, he prepares the way for the following argument, wherein he
proposes to exhibit the good works according to the Ten
Commandments. For the First Commandment does not forbid this and
that, nor does it require this and that; it forbids but one
thing, unbelief; it requires but one thing, faith, "that
confidence in God's good will at all times." Without this faith
the best works are as nothing, and if man would think that by
them he could be well-pleasing to God, he would be lowering God
to the level of a "broker or a laborer who will not dispense his
grace and kindness gratis."
This understanding of faith and good works, so Luther now
addresses his opponents, should in fairness be kept in view by
those who accuse him of declaiming against good works, and they
should learn from it, that though he has preached against "good
works," it was against such as are falsely so called and as
contribute toward the confusion of consciences, because they are
self-elected, do not flow from faith, and are done with the
pretension of doing works well-pleasing to God.
This brings us to the end of the fundamental part of the
treatise. It was not Luther's intention, however, to speak only
on the essence of good works and their fundamental relation to
faith; he would show, too, how the "best work," faith, must prove
itself in every way a living faith, according to the other
commandments. Luther does not proceed to this part, however,
until in the fundamental part he has said with emphasis, that the
believer, the spiritual man, needs no such instruction (1.
Timothy 1:9), but that he of his own accord and at all times does
good works "as his faith, his confidence, teaches him." Only
"because we do not all have such faith, or are unmindful of it,"
does such instruction become necessary.
Nor does he proceed until he has repeated his oft repeated words
concerning the relation of faith to good works to the relation of
the First to the other Commandments. From the fact, that
according to the First Commandment, we acquire a pure heart and
confidence toward God, he derives the good work of the Second
Commandment, namely, "to praise God, to acknowledge His grace, to
render all honor to Him alone." From the same source he derives
the good work of the Third Commandment, namely, "to observe
divine services with prayer and the hearing of preaching, to
incline the imagination of our hearts toward God's benefits, and,
to that end, to mortify and overcome the flesh." From the same
source he derives the works of the Second Table.
The argument on the Third and Fourth Commandments claims nearly
one-half of the entire treatise. Among the good works which,
according to the Third Commandment, should be an exercise and
proof of faith, Luther especially mentions the proper hearing of
mass and of preaching, common prayer, bodily discipline and the
mortification of the flesh, and he joins the former and the
latter by an important fundamental discussion of the New
Testament conception of Sabbath rest.
Luther discusses the Fourth Commandment as fully as the Third.
The exercise of faith, according to this Commandment, consists in
the faithful performance of the duties of children toward their
parents, of parents toward their children, and of subordinates
toward their superiors in the ecclesiastical as well as in the
common civil sphere. The various duties issue from the various
callings, for faithful performance of the duties of one's
calling, with the help of God and for God's sake, is the true
"good work."
As he now proceeds to speak of the _spiritual powers_, the
government of the Church, he frankly reveals their faults and
demands a reform of the present rulers. Honor and obedience in
all things should be rendered unto the Church, the spiritual
mother, as it is due to natural parents, unless it be contrary to
the first Three Commandments. But as matters stand now the
_spiritual magistrates_ neglect their peculiar work, namely, the
fostering of godliness and discipline, like a mother who runs
away from her children and follows a lover, and instead they
undertake strange and evil works, like parents whose commands are
contrary to God. In this case members of the Church must do as
godly children do whose parents have become mad and insane.
Kings, princes, the nobility, municipalities and communities must
begin of their own accord and put a check to these conditions, so
that the bishops and the clergy, who are now too timid, may be
induced to follow. But even the civil magistrates must also
suffer reforms to be enacted in their particular spheres;
especially are they called on to do away with the rude "gluttony
and drunkenness," luxury in clothing, the usurious sale of rents
and the common brothels. This, by divine and human right, is a
part of their enjoined works according to the Fourth Commandment.
Luther, at last, briefly treats of the Second Table of the
Commandments, but in speaking of the works of these Commandments
he never forgets to point out their relation to faith, thus
holding fast this fundamental thought of the book to the end.
Faith which does not doubt that God is gracious, he says, will
find it an easy matter to be graciously and favorably minded
toward one's neighbor and to overcome all angry and wrathful
desires. In this faith in God the Spirit will teach us to avoid
unchaste thoughts and thus to keep the Sixth Commandment. When
the heart trusts in the divine favor, it cannot seek after the
temporal goods of others, nor cleave to money, but according to
the Seventh Commandment, will use it with cheerful liberality for
the benefit of the neighbor. Where such confidence is present
there is also a courageous, strong and intrepid heart, which will
at all times defend the truth, as the Eighth Commandment demands,
whether neck or coat be at stake, whether it be against pope or
kings. Where such faith is present there is also strife against
the evil lust, as forbidden in the Ninth and Tenth Commandments,
and that even unto death.
3. The Importance of the Work.--Inquiring now into the importance
of the book, we note that Luther's impression evidently was
perfectly correct, when he wrote to Spalatin, long before its
completion--as early as March 15.--that he believed it to be
better than anything he had heretofore written. His book,
indeed, surpasses all his previous German writings in volume, as
well as all his Latin and German ones in clearness, richness and
the fundamental importance of its content. In comparison with the
prevalent urging of self-elected works of monkish holiness, which
had arisen from a complete misunderstanding of the so-called
evangelical counsels (comp. esp. Matthew 19:16-22) and which were
at that time accepted as self-evident and zealously urged by the
whole church, Luther's argument must have appeared to all
thoughtful and earnest souls as a revelation, when he so clearly
amplified the proposition that only those works are to be
regarded as good works which God has commanded, and that
therefore, not the abandoning of one's earthly calling, but the
faithful keeping of the Ten Commandments in the course of one's
calling, is the work which God requires of us. Over against the
wide-spread opinion, as though the will of God as declared in the
Ten Commandments referred only to the outward work always
especially mentioned, Luther's argument must have called to mind
the explanation of the Law, which the Lord had given in the
Sermon on the Mount, when he taught men to recognize only the
extreme point and manifestation of a whole trend of thought in
the work prohibited by the text, and when he directed Christians
not to rest in the keeping of the literal requirement of each
Commandment, but from this point of vantage to inquire into the
whole depth and breadth of God's will--positively and
negatively--and to do His will in its full extent as the heart
has perceived it. Though this thought may have been occasionally
expressed in the expositions of the Ten Commandments which
appeared at the dawn of the Reformation, still it had never
before been so clearly recognized as the only correct principle,
much less had it been so energetically carried out from beginning
to end, as is done in this treatise. Over against the deep-rooted
view that the works of love must bestow upon faith its form, its
content and its worth before God, it must have appeared as the
dawn of a new era (Galatians 3:13-35) when Luther in this
treatise declared, and with victorious certainty carried out the
thought, that it is true faith which invests the works, even the
best and greatest of works, with their content and worth before
God.
This preposition, which Luther here amplifies more clearly than
ever before, demanded nothing less than a breach with the whole
of prevalent religious views, and at that time must have been
perceived as the discovery of a new world, though it was no more
than a return to the dear teaching of the New Testament
Scriptures concerning the way of salvation. This, too, accounts
for the fact that in this writing the accusation is more
impressively repelled than before, that the doctrine of
justification by faith lone resulted in moral laxity, and that,
on the other hand, the fundamental and radical importance of
righteousness by faith for the whole moral life is revealed in
such a heart-refreshing manner. Luther's appeal in this treatise
to kings, princes, the nobility, municipalities and communities,
to declare against the misuse of spiritual powers and to abolish
various abuses in civil life, marks this treatise as a forerunner
of the great Reformation writings, which appeared in the same
year (1520), while, on the other hand, his espousal of the rights
of the "poor man"--to be met with here for the first time--shows
that the Monk of Wittenberg, coming from the narrow limits of the
convent, had an intimate and sympathetic knowledge of the social
needs of his time. Thus he proved by his own example that to take
a stand in the center of the Gospel does not narrow the vision
nor harden the heart, but rather produces courage in the truth
and sympathy for all manner of misery.
Luther's contemporaries at once recognized the great importance
of the treatise, for within the period of seven months it passed
through eight editions; these were followed by six more editions
between the years of 1521 and 1525; in 1521 it was translation
into Latin, and in this form passed through three editions up to
the year 1525; and all this in spite of the fact that in those
years the so-called three great Reformation writings of 1520 were
casting all else into the shadow. Melanchthon, in a
contemporaneous letter to John Hess, called it Luther's best
book. John Mathesius, the well-known pastor at Joachimsthal and
Luther's biographer, acknowledged that he had learned the
"rudiments of Christianity" from it.
Even to-day this book has its peculiar mission to the Church. The
seeking after self-elected works, the indifference regarding the
works commanded of God, the foolish opinion, that the path of
works leads to God's grace end good-will, are even to-day widely
prevalent within the kingdom of God. To all this Luther's
treatise answers: Be diligent in the works of your earthly
calling as commanded of God, but only after having first
strengthened, by the consideration of God's mercy, the faith
within you, which is the only source of all truly good works and
well-pleasing to God.
M. Reu.
Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.
FOOTNOTES
[1] (Enders, _Luther's Briefwechsel_, I, p. 29.) Luther here
writers: Learn Christ, dear Brother, learn Christ crucified;
learn to sing unto him and, despairing of self, to say: "Thou,
Lord Jesus art my righteousness, I, however, am Thy sin. Thou has
taken unto Thyself what was mine, and has given me what is
Thine." In this faith, receive the erring brethren, make their
sins your own, and if you have anything good, let it be theirs.
[2] Above, pp. 103-171.
[3] On Feb. 24, Luther answered Spalatin: _Die sermone bonorum
operum nibil memini; sed et tot jam edidi, ut periculum sit, ne
emtores tandem fatigam;_ but on Feb. 26, he wrote again: _Memoria
mihi rediit de operibus bonis sermone tractandis, in concione
scilicet id promisi; dabo operam, ut fiat._ (De Weite, _Luther's
Briefe_, I, p. 419, 421, 430 ff.)
[4] See Dedicatory Letter, above, p. 107.
[5] We mention but one of many testimonies. John Dietenberger in
his book, _Der leye. Obe der gelaub allein selig mache_, printed
in Strassburg 1523, says on leaf B26: "Faith is a gift of God,
which may appear bare or ornate; still it remains but one faith,
which, however, has another effect when ornate than when bare.
Ornate faith makes man a child of grace, an heir of the kingdom
of heaven and justified. Bare faith, however, does not separate
man from devils, helps not to the kingdom of heaven, and leads to
no justification."
A TREATISE ON GOOD WORKS
1520
DEDICATION
JESUS[1]
To the Illustrious, High-born Prince and Lord, John, Duke of
Saxony, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, my gracious
Lord and Patron.
Illustrious, High-born Prince, gracious Lord! My humble duty and
my feeble prayer for your Grace always remembered!
For a long time, gracious Prince and Lord, I have wished to show
my humble respect and duty toward your princely Grace, by the
exhibition of some such spiritual wares as are at my disposal;
but I have always considered my powers too feeble to undertake
anything worthy of being offered to your princely Grace.
Since, however, my most gracious Lord Frederick, Duke of Saxony,
Elector and Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire, your Grace's brother,
has not despised, but graciously accepted my slight book,[2]
dedicated to his electoral Grace, and now published--though such
was not my intention--I have taken courage from his gracious
example and ventured to think that the princely spirit, like the
princely blood, may be the same in both of you, especially in
gracious kindness and good will. I have hoped that your princely
Grace likewise would not despise this my humble offering which I
have felt more need of publishing than any other of my sermons or
tracts. For the greatest of all questions has been raised, the
question of Good Works, in which is practised immeasurably more
trickery and deception than in anything else, and in which the
simple-minded man is so easily misled that our Lord Christ has
commanded us to watch carefully for the sheep's clothing under
which the wolves hide themselves. [Matt. 7:15]
Neither silver, gold, precious stones, nor any rare thing has
such manifold alloys and flaws as have good works, which ought to
have a single simple goodness, and without it are mere color,
show and deceit.
And although I know and daily hear many people, who think
slightingly of my poverty, and say that I write only little
pamphlets[3] and German sermons for the unlearned laity, this
shall not disturb me. Would to God I had in all my life, with all
the ability I have, helped one layman to be better! I would be
satisfied, thank God, and be quite willing then to let all my
little books perish.
Whether the making of many great books is an art and a benefit to
the Church, I leave others to judge. But I believe that if I were
minded to make great books according to their art, I could, with
God's help, do it more readily perhaps than they could prepare a
little discourse after my fashion. If accomplishment were as easy
as persecution, Christ would long since have been cast out of
heaven again, and God's throne itself overturned. Although we
cannot all be writers, we all want to be critics.
I will most gladly leave to any one else the honor of greater
things, and not be at all ashamed to preach and to write in
German for the unlearned laymen. Although I too have little skill
in it, I believe that if we had hitherto done, and should
henceforth do more of it, Christendom would have reaped no small
advantage, and have been more benefited by this than by the
great, deep books and _quaestiones_[4], which are used only in
the schools, among the learned.
Then, too, I have never forced or begged any one to hear me, or
to read my sermons. I have freely ministered in the Church of
that which God has given me and which I owe the Church. Whoever
likes it not, may hear and read what others have to say. And if
they are not willing to be my debtors, it matters little. For me
it is enough, and even more than too much, that some laymen
condescend to read what I say. Even though there were nothing
else to urge me, it should be more than sufficient that I have
learned that your princely Grace is pleased with such German
books and is eager to receive instruction in Good Works and the
Faith, with which instruction it was my duty, humbly and with all
diligence to serve you.
Therefore, in dutiful humility I pray that your princely Grace
may accept this offering of mine with a gracious mind, until, if
God grant me time, I prepare a German exposition of the Faith in
its entirety. For at this time I have wished to show how in all
good works we should practice and make use of faith, and let
faith be the chief work. If God permit, I will treat at another
time of the Faith[5] itself--how we are daily to pray or recite
it.
I humbly commend myself herewith to your princely Grace,
Your Princely Grace's
Humble Chaplain,
Dr. Martin Luther.
From Wittenberg, March 39th, A.D. 1520.
THE TREATISE
[Sidenote: Faith and the Commandments]
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except
those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except
that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know
and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's
commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments." [Matt. 19:17] And when the
young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may
inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the
Ten Commandments. [Matt. 19:18 f.] Accordingly, we must learn how
to distinguish among good works from the Commandments of God, and
not from the appearance, the magnitude, or the number of the
works themselves, nor from the judgment of men or of human law or
custom, as we see has been done and still is done, because we are
blind and despise the divine Commandments.
[Sidenote: Faith the Best Work]
II. The first and highest, the most precious of all good works is
faith in Christ, as He says, John vi. When the Jews asked Him:
"What shall we do that we may work the works of God?" He
answered: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom
He hath sent." [John 6:28 f.] When we hear or preach this word,
we hasten over it and deem it a very little thing and easy to do,
whereas we ought here to pause a long time and to ponder it well.
For in this work[6] all good works must be done and receive from
it the inflow of their goodness, like a loan. This we must put
bluntly, that men may understand it.
We find many who pray, fast, establish endowments, do this or
that, lead a good life before men, and yet if you should ask them
whether they are sure that what they do pleases God, they say,
"No"; they do not know, or they doubt. And there are some very
learned men, who mislead them, and say that it is not necessary
to be sure of this; and yet on the other hand, these same men do
nothing else but teach good works. Now all these works are done
outside of faith, therefore they are nothing and altogether dead.
For as their conscience stands toward God and as it believes, so
also are the works which grow out of it. Now they have no faith,
no good conscience toward God, therefore the works lack their
head, and all their life and goodness is nothing. Hence it comes
that when I exalt faith and reject such works done without faith,
they accuse me of forbidding good works, when in truth I am
trying hard to teach real good works of faith.
[Sidenote: All Works done in Faith are Good]
III. If you ask further, whether they count it also a good work
when they work at their trade, walk, stand, eat, drink, sleep,
and do all kinds of works for the nourishment of the body or for
the common welfare, and whether they believe that God takes
pleasure in them because of such works, you will find that they
say, "No"; and they define good works so narrowly that they are
made to consist only of praying in church, fasting, and
almsgiving. Other works they consider to be in vain, and think
that God cares nothing for them. So through their damnable
unbelief they curtail and lessen the service of God, Who is
served by all things whatsoever that are done, spoken or thought
in faith.
So teaches Ecclesiastes ix: "Go thy way with joy, eat and drink,
and know that God accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always
white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the
wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity."
[Eccles. 9:7] "Let thy garments be always white," that is, let
all our works be good, whatever they may be, without any
distinction. And they are white when I am certain and believe
that they please God. Then shall the head of my soul never lack
the ointment of a joyful conscience.
So Christ says, John viii: "I do always those things that please
Him." [John 8:29] And St. John says, I. John iii: "Hereby we know
that we are of the truth, if we can comfort our hearts before Him
and have a good confidence. And if our heart condemns or frets
us, God is greater than our heart, and we have confidence, that
whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him, because we keep His
Commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His
sight." [1 John 3, 19 ff.] Again: "Whosoever is born of God, that
is, whoever believes and trusts God, doth not commit sin, and
cannot sin." [1 John 3, 9] Again, Psalm xxxiv: "None of them that
trust in Him shall do sin." [Ps. 34:22] And in Psalm ii: "Blessed
are all they that put their trust in Him." [Ps. 2:12] If this be
true, then all that they do must be good, or the evil that they
do must be quickly forgiven. Behold, then, why I exalt faith so
greatly, draw all works into it, and reject all works which do
not flow from it.
[Sidenote: Faith the Test of Good Works]
IV. Now every one can note and tell for himself when he does what
is good or what is not good; for if he finds his heart confident
that it pleases God, the work is good, even if it were so small a
thing as picking up a straw. If confidence is absent, or if he
doubts, the work is not good, although it should raise all the
dead and the man should give himself to be burned. [1 Cor. 13:3]
This is the teaching of St. Paul, Romans xiv: "Whatsoever is not
done of or in faith is sin." [Rom. 14:23] Faith, as the chief
work, and no other work, has given us the name of "believers on
Christ." For all other works a heathen, a Jew, a Turk, a sinner,
may also do; but to trust firmly that he pleases God, is possible
only for a Christian who is enlightened and strengthened by
grace.
That these words seem strange, and that some call me a heretic
because of them, is due to the fact that men have followed blind
reason and heathen ways, have set faith not above, but beside
other virtues, and have given it a work of its own, apart from
all works of the other virtues; although faith alone makes all
other works good, acceptable and worthy, in that it trusts God
and does not doubt that for it all things that a man does are
well done. Indeed, they have not let faith remain a work, but
have made a _habitus_[7] of it, [John 6:29] as they say, although
Scripture gives the name of a good, divine work to no work except
to faith alone. Therefore it is no wonder that they have become
blind and leaders of the blind. [Matt. 15:14] And this faith
brings with it at once love, peace, joy and hope. For God gives
His Spirit at once to him who trusts Him, as St. Paul says to the
Galatians: "You received the Spirit not became of your good
works, but when you believed the Word of God." [Gal. 3:2]
[Sidenote: Faith makes all Works Equal]
V. In this faith all works become equal, and one is like the
other; all distinctions between works fall away, whether they be
great, small, short, long, few or many. For the works are
acceptable not for their own sake, but because of the faith which
alone is, works and lives in each and every work without
distinction, however numerous and various they are, just as all
the members of the body live, work and have their name from the
head, and without the head no member can live, work and have a
name.
From which it further follows that a Christian who lives in this
faith has no need of a teacher of good works, but whatever he
finds to do he does, and all is well done; as Samuel said to
Saul: "The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt
be turned into another man; then do thou as occasion serves thee;
for God is with thee." [1 Sam. 10:6] So also we read of St. Anna,
Samuel's mother: "When she believed the priest Eli who promised
her God's grace, she went home in joy and peace, and from that
time no more turned hither and thither," [1 Sam. 1:17 f.] that
is, whatever occurred, it was all one to her. St. Paul also says:
"Where the Spirit of Christ is, there all is free." [Rom. 8:2]
For faith does not permit itself to be bound to any work [1 Cor.
3:17], nor does it allow any work to be taken from it, but, as
the First Psalm says "He bringeth forth his fruit in his season,"
[Ps. 1:3] that is, as as a matter of course.
[Sidenote: An Analogy]
VI. This we may see in a common human example. When a man and a
woman love and are pleased with each other, and thoroughly
believe in their love, who teaches them how they are to behave,
what they are to do, leave undone, say, not say, think?
Confidence alone teaches them all this, and more. They make no
difference in works: they do the great, the long, the much, as
gladly as the small, the short, the little, and vice versa; and
that too with joyful, peaceful, confident hearts, and each is a
free companion of the other. But where there is a doubt, search
is made for what is best; then a distinction of works is imagined
whereby a man may win favor; and yet he goes about it with a
heavy heart, and great disrelish; he is, as it were, taken
captive, more than half in despair, and often makes a fool of
himself.
[Sidenote: The First Stage of Faith: Works]
So a Christian who lives in this confidence toward God, knows all
things, can do all things, undertakes all things that are to be
done, and does everything cheerfully and freely; not that he may
gather many merits and good works, but because it is a pleasure
for him to please God thereby, and he serves God purely for
nothing, content that his service pleases God. On the other hand,
he who is not at one with God, or doubts, hunts and worries in
what way he may do enough and with many works move God. He runs
to St. James of Compostella,[8] to Rome, to Jerusalem, hither and
yon, prays St. Bridget's prayer[9] and the rest, fasts on this
day and on that, makes confession here, and makes confession
there, questions this man and that, and yet finds no peace. He
does all this with great effort, despair and disrelish of heart,
so that the Scriptures rightly call such works in Hebrew _Aven
amal_ [Ps. 90:10], that is, labor and travail. And even then they
are not good works, and are all lost. Many have been crazed
thereby; their fear has brought them into all manner of misery.
Of these it is written, Wisdom of Solomon v: "We have wearied
ourselves in the wrong way; and have gone through deserts, where
there lay no way; but as for the way of the Lord, we have not
known it, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us." [Wisd.
5:6 f.]
[Sidenote: The Second Stage of Faith: Sufferings]
VII. In these works faith is still slight and weak; let us ask
further, whether they believe that they are well-pleasing to God
when they suffer in body, property, honor, friends, or whatever
they have, and believe that God of His mercy appoints their
sufferings and difficulties for them, whether they be small or
great. This is real strength, to trust in God when to all our
senses and reason He appears to be angry; and to have greater
confidence in Him than we feel. Here He is hidden, as the bride
says in the Song of Songs: "Behold he standeth behind our wall,
he looketh forth at the windows" [Song 2:9]; that is, He stands
hidden among the sufferings, which would separate us from Him
like a wall, yea, like a wall of stone, and yet He looks upon me
and does not leave me, for He is standing and is ready graciously
to help, and through the window of dim faith He permits Himself
to be seen. And Jeremiah says in Lamentations, "He casts casts
off men, but He does it not willingly." [Lam. 3:32]
This faith they do not know at all, and give up, thinking that
God has forsaken them and is become their enemy; they even lay
the blame of their ills on men and devils, and have no confidence
at all in God. For this reason, too, their suffering is always an
offence and harmful to them, and yet they go and do some good
works, as they think, and are not aware of their unbelief. But
they who in such suffering trust God and retain a good, firm
confidence in Him, and believe that He is pleased with them,
these see in their sufferings and afflictions nothing but
precious merits and the rarest possessions, the value of which no
one can estimate. For faith and confidence make precious before
God all that which others think most shameful, so that it is
written even of death in Psalm cxvi, "Precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of His saints." [Ps. 116:13] And just as
the confident and faith are better, higher and stronger at this
stage than in the first stage, so and to the same degree do the
sufferings which are borne in this faith excel all works of
faith. Therefore between such works and sufferings there is an
immeasurable difference and the sufferings are infinitely better.
[Sidenote: The Highest Stage of Faith: Torments of Conscience]
VIII. Beyond all this is the highest stage of faith, when God
punishes the conscience not only with temporal sufferings, but
with death, hell, and sin, and refuses grace and mercy, as though
it were His will to condemn and to be angry eternally. This few
men experience, but David cries out in Psalm vi, "O Lord, rebuke
me not in Thine anger." [Ps. 6:1] To believe at such times that
God, in His mercy, is pleased with us, is the highest work that
can be done by and in the creature;[10] but of this the
work-righteous and doers of good works know nothing at all. For
how could they here look for good things and grace from God, as
long as they are not certain in their works, and doubt even on
the lowest step of faith.
[Sidenote: The Works Rejected]
In this way I have, as I said, always praised faith, and rejected
all works which are done without such faith, in order thereby to
lead men from the false, pretentious, Pharisaic, unbelieving good
works, with which all monastic houses, churches, homes, low and
higher classes are overfilled, and lead them to the true,
genuine, thoroughly good, believing works. In this no one opposes
me except the unclean beasts, which do not divide the hoof, [Lev.
11:4] as the Law of Moses decrees; who will suffer no distinction
among good works, but go lumbering along: if only they pray,
fast, establish endowments, go to confession, and do enough,
everything shall be good, although in all this they have had no
faith in God's grace and approval. Indeed, they consider the
works best of all, when they have done many, great and long works
without any such confidence, and they look for good only after
the works are done; and so they build their confidence not on
divine favor, but on the works they have done, that is, on sand
and water, from which they must at last take a cruel fall, as
Christ says, Matthew vii. [Matt. 7:16] This good-will and favor,
on which our confidence rests, was proclaimed by the angels from
heaven, when they sang on Christmas night: "_Gloria in excel sis
Deo_, Glory to God in the highest, peace to earth, gracious favor
to man." [Luke 2:14][11]
[Sidenote: The First Commandment]
[Sidenote: Its Work is Faith]
IX. Now this is the work of the First Commandment, which
commands: "Thou shalt have no other gods," went which means:
"Since I alone am God, thou shalt place all thy confidence, trust
and faith on Me alone, and on no one have a god, if you call him
God only with your lips, or worship him with the knees or bodily
gestures; but if you trust Him with the heart, and look to Him
for all good, grace and favor, whether in works or sufferings, in
life or death, in joy or sorrow; as the Lord Christ says to the
heathen woman, John iv: "I say unto thee, they that worship God
must worship Him in spirit and in truth." [John 4:24] And this
faith, faithfulness, confidence deep in the heart, is the true
fulfilling of the First Commandment; without this there is no
other work that is able to satisfy this Commandment. And as this
Commandment is the very first, highest and best, from which all
the others proceed, in which they exist, and by which they are
directed and measured, so also its work, that is, the faith or
confidence in God's favor at all times, is the very first,
highest and best, from which all others must proceed, exist,
remain, be directed and measured. Compared with this, other works
are just as if the other Commandments were without the First, and
there were no God. Therefore St. Augustine well says that the
works of the First Commandment are faith, hope and love. As I
said above,[12] such faith and confidence bring love and hope
with them. Nay, if we see it aright, love is the first, or comes
at the same instant with faith. For I could not trust God, if I
did not think that He wished to be favorable and to love me,
which leads me, in turn, to love Him and to trust Him heartily
and to look to Him for all good things.
[Sidenote: All Works Without Faith are Idolatry]
X. Now you see for yourself that all those who do not at at all
times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life
and death, trust in His favor, grace and good-will, but seek His
favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep this
Commandment, and practise real idolatry, even if they were to do
the works of all the other Commandments, and in addition had all
the prayers, fasting, obedience, patience, chastity, and
innocence of all the saints combined. For the chief work is not
present, without which all the others are nothing but mere sham,
show and pretence, with nothing back of them; against which
Christ warns us, Matthew vii: "Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing." [Matt. 7:15] Such are all who
wish with their many good works, as they say, to make God
favorable to themselves, and to buy God's grace from Him, as if
He were a huckster or a day-laborer, unwilling to give His grace
and favor for nothing. These are the most perverse people on
earth, who will hardly or never be converted to the right way.
Such too are all who in adversity run hither and thither, and
look for counsel and help everywhere except from God, from Whom
they are most urgently commanded to seek it; whom the Prophet
Isaiah reproves thus, Isaiah ix: "The mad people turneth not to
Him that smiteth them" [Isa. 9:13]; that is, God smote them and
sent them sufferings and all kinds of adversity, that they should
run to Him and trust Him. But they run away from Him to men, now
to Egypt, now to Assyria, perchance also to the devil; and of
such idolatry much is written in the same Prophet and in the
Books of the Kings. This is also the way of all holy hypocrites
when they are in trouble: they do not run to God, but flee from
Him, and only think of how they may get rid of their trouble
through their own efforts or through human help, and yet they
consider themselves and let others consider them pious people.
[Sidenote: Faith Must Do all Works]
XI. This is what St. Paul means in many places, where he ascribes
so much to faith, that he says: _Justus ex fide sua vivit_, "the
righteous man draws his life out of his faith," [Rom. 1:17] and
faith is that because of which he is counted righteous before
God. If righteousness consists of faith, it is clear that faith
fulfils all commandments and makes all works righteous, since no
one is justified except he keep all the commands of God. Again,
the works can justify no one before God without faith. So utterly
and roundly does the Apostle reject works and praise faith, that
some have taken offence at his words and say: "Well, then, we
will do no more good works," [Rom. 3:8] although he condemns such
men as erring and foolish.
So men still do. When we reject the great, pretentious works of
our time, which are done entirely without faith, they say: Men
are only to believe and not to do anything good. For nowadays
they say that the works of the First Commandment are singing,
reading, organ-playing, reading the mass, saying matins and
vespers and the other hours, the founding and decorating of
churches, altars, and monastic houses, the gathering of bells,
jewels, garments, trinkets and treasures, running to Rome and to
the saints. Further, when we are dressed up and bow, kneel, pray
the rosary and the Psalter, and all this not before an idol, but
before the holy cross of God or the pictures of His saints: this
we call honoring and worshiping God, and, according to the First
Commandment, "having no other gods"; although these things
usurers, adulterers and all manner of sinners can do too, and do
them daily.
Of course, if these things are done with such faith that we
believe that they please God, then they are praiseworthy, not
because of their virtue, but because of such faith, for which all
works are of equal value, as has been said.[13] But if we doubt
or do not believe that God is gracious to us and is pleased with
us, or if we presumptuously expect to please Him only through and
after our works, then it is all pure deception, outwardly
honoring God, but inwardly setting up self as a false god. This
is the reason why I have so often spoken against the display,
magnificence and multitude of such works and have rejected them,
because it is as clear as day that they are not only done in
doubt or without faith, but there is not one in a thousand who
does not set his confidence upon the works, expecting by them to
win God's favor and anticipate His grace; and so they make a
fair[14] of them, a thing which God cannot endure, since He has
promised His grace freely, and wills that we begin by trusting
that grace, and in it perform all works, whatever they may be.
[Sidenote: Works and Faith Contrasted]
XII. Note for yourself, then, how far apart these two are:
keeping the First Commandment with outward works only, and
keeping it with inward trust. For this last makes true, living
children of God, the other only makes worse idolatry and the most
mischievous hypocrites on earth, who with their apparent
righteousness lead unnumbered people into their way, and yet
allow them to be without faith, so that they are miserably
misled, and are caught in the pitiable babbling and mummery. Of
such Christ says, Matthew xxiv: "Beware, if any man shall say
unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there" [Matt. 24:23]; and John
iv: "I say unto thee, the hour Cometh, when ye shall neither in
this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship God, for the Father
seeketh spiritual worshipers." [John 4:21 f.]
These and similar passages have moved me and ought to move
everyone to reject the great display of bulls, seals, flags,
indulgences, by which the poor folk are led to build churches, to
give, to endow, to pray, and yet faith is not mentioned, and is
even suppressed. For since faith knows no distinction among
works, such exaltation and urging of one work above another
cannot exist beside faith. For faith desires to be the only
service of God, and will grant this name and honor to no other
work, except in so far as faith imparts it, as it does when the
work is done in faith and by faith. This perversion is indicated
in the Old Testament, when the Jews left the Temple and
sacrificed at other places, in the green parks and on the
mountains. [Isa. 65:3, 66:17] This is what these men also do:
they are zealous to do all works, but this chief work of faith
they regard not at all.
[Sidenote: The Abundance of Works Included in Faith]
XIII. Where now are they who ask, what works are good; what they
shall do; how they shall be religious? Yes, and where are they
who say that when we preach of faith, we shall neither teach nor
do works? Does not this First Commandment give us more work to do
than any man can do? If a man were a thousand men, or all men, or
all creatures, this Commandment would yet ask enough of him, and
more than enough, since he is commanded to live and walk at all
times in faith and confidence toward God, to place such faith in
no one else, and so to have only one, the true God, and none
other.
Now, since the being and nature of man cannot for an instant be
without doing or not doing something, enduring or running away
from something (for, as we see, life never rests), let him who
will be pious and filled with good works, begin and in all his
life and works at all times exercise himself in this faith; let
him learn to do and to leave undone all things in such continual
faith; then will he find how much work he has to do, and how
completely all things are included in faith; how he dare never
grow idle, because his very idling must be the exercise and work
of faith. In brief, nothing can be in or about us and nothing can
happen to us but that it must be good and meritorious, if we
believe (as we ought) that all things please God. So says St.
Paul: "Dear brethren, all that ye do, whether ye eat or drink, do
all in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord." [1 Cor. 10:31] Now it
cannot be done in this Name except it be done in this faith.
Likewise, Romans viii: "We know that all things work together for
good to the saints of God." [Rom. 8:26]
Therefore, when some say that good works are forbidden when we
preach faith alone, it is as if I said to a sick man: "If you had
health, you would have the use of all your limbs; but without
health, the works of all your limbs are nothing"; and he wanted
to infer that I had forbidden the works of all his limbs;
whereas, on the contrary, I meant that he must first have health,
which will work all the works of all the members. So faith also
must be in all works the master-workman and captain, or they are
nothing at all.
[Sidenote: Why Laws are Given]
XIV. You might say: "Why then do we have so many laws of the
Church and of the State, and many ceremonies of churches,
monastic houses, holy places, which urge and tempt men to good
works, if faith does all things through the First Commandment?" I
answer; Simply because we do not all have faith or do not heed
it. If every man had faith, we would need no more laws, but every
one would of himself at all times do good works, as his
confidence in God teaches him.
[Sidenote: Four Kinds of Men]
But now there are four kinds of men: the first, just mentioned,
who need no law, of whom St. Paul says, I. Timothy "The law is
not made for a righteous man," [1 Tim. 1:9] that is, for the
believer, but believers of themselves do what they know and can
do, only because they finally trust that God's favor and grace
rests upon them in all things. The second class want to abuse
this freedom, put a false confidence in it, and grow lazy; of
whom St. Peter says, I. Peter ii, "Ye shall live as free men, but
not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness," [1 Pet.
2:16] as if he said: The freedom of faith does not permit sins,
nor will it cover them, but it sets us free to do all manner of
good works and to endure all things as they happen to us, so that
a man is not bound only to one work or to a few. So also St.
Paul, Galatians v: "Use not your liberty for an occasion to the
flesh." [Gal. 5:13] Such men must be urged by laws and hemmed in
by teaching and exhortation. The third class are wicked men,
always ready for sins; these must be constrained by spiritual and
temporal laws, like wild horses and dogs, and where this does not
help, they must be put to death by the worldly sword, as St. Paul
says, Romans xiii: "The worldly ruler bears the sword, and serves
God with it, not as a terror to the good, but to the evil." [Rom.
13:3 f.] The fourth class, who are still lusty, and childish in
their understanding of faith and of the spiritual life, must be
coaxed like young children and tempted with external, definite
and prescribed decorations, with reading, praying, fasting,
singing, adorning of churches, organ-playing, and such other
things as are commanded and observed in monastic houses and
churches, until they also learn to know the faith. Although there
is great danger here, when the rulers, as is now, alas! the case,
busy themselves with and insist upon such ceremonies and external
works as if they were the true works, and neglect faith, which
they ought always to teach along with these works, just as a
mother gives her child other food along with the milk, until the
child can eat the strong food by itself.
[Sidenote: Charity Endures Unnecessary Works]
XV. Since, then, we are not all alike, we must tolerate such
people, share their observances and burdens, and not despise
them, but teach them the true way of faith. So St. Paul teaches,
Romans xiv: "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, to teach
him." [Rom. 14:1] And so he did himself, I. Corinthians ix: "To
them that are under the law, I became as under the law, although
I was not under the law." [1 Cor. 9:20] And Christ, Matthew xvii,
when He was asked to pay tribute, which He was not obligated to
pay, argues with St. Peter, whether the children of kings must
give tribute, or only other people. St. Peter answers; "Only
other people." Christ said: "Then are the children of kings free;
notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea,
and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first Cometh up; and
in his mouth thou shalt find apiece of money; take that and give
it for me and thee." [Matt. 17:25]
Here we see that all works and things are free to a Christian
through his faith; and yet, because the others do not yet
believe, he observes and bears with them what he is not obligated
to do. But this he does freely, for he is certain that this is
pleasing to God, and he does it willingly, accepts it as any
other free work which comes to his hand without his choice,
because he desires and seeks no more than that he may in his
faith do works to please God.[15]
But since in this discourse we have undertaken to teach what
righteous and good works are, and are now speaking of the highest
work, it is clear that we do not speak of the second, third and
fourth classes of men, but of the first, into whose likeness all
the others are to grow, and until they do so the first class must
endure and instruct them. Therefore we must not despise, as if
they were hopeless, these men of weak faith, who would gladly do
right and learn, and yet cannot understand because of the
ceremonies to which they cling; we must rather blame their
ignorant, blind teachers, who have never taught them the faith,
and have led them so deeply into works. They must be gently and
gradually led back again to faith, as a sick man is treated, and
must be allowed for a time, for their conscience sake, to cling
to some works and do them as necessary to salvation, so long as
they rightly grasp the faith; lest if we try to tear them out so
suddenly, their weak consciences be quite shattered and confused,
and retain neither faith nor works. But the hardheaded, who,
hardened in their works, have no heed to what is said of faith,
and fight against it, these we must, as Christ did and taught,
let go their way, that the blind may lead the blind.
[Sidenote: The Contradiction of Faith and Daily Sins]
XVI. But you say: How can I trust surely that all my works are
pleasing to God, when at times I fall, and talk, eat, drink and
sleep too much, or otherwise transgress, as I cannot help doing?
Answer: This question shows that you still regard faith as a work
among other works, and do not set it above all works. For it is
the highest work for this very reason, because it remains and
blots out these daily sins by not doubting that God is so kind to
you as to wink at such daily transgression and weakness. Aye,
even if a deadly sin should occur (which, however, never or
rarely happens to those who live in faith and trust toward God),
yet faith rises again and does not doubt that Sin is already
gone; as it is written I. John ii: "My little children, these
things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
have an Advocate with God the Father, Jesus Christ, Who is the
propitiation of all our sins." [1 John 2:1] And Wisdom xv: "For
if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy power." [Wis. 15:2] And
Proverbs xxiv: "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up
again." [Prov. 24:16] Yes, this confidence and faith must be so
high and strong that the man knows that all his life and works
are nothing but damnable sins before God's judgment, as it is
written, Psalm cxliii: "In thy sight no man living be justified"
[Ps. 143:2]; and he must entirely despair of his works, believing
that they cannot be good except through this faith, which looks
for no judgment, but only for pure grace, favor, kindness and
mercy, like David, Psalm xxvi: "Thy loving kindness is ever
before mine eyes, and I have trusted in Thy truth" [Ps. 26:3];
Psalm iv: "The light of Thy countenance is lift up upon us (that
is, the knowledge of Thy grace through faith), and thereby hast
Thou put gladness in my heart" [Ps. 4:7]; for as faith trusts, so
it receives.
See, thus are works forgiven, are without guilt and are good, not
by their own nature, but by the mercy and grace of God because of
the faith which trusts on the mercy of God. Therefore we must
fear because of the works, but comfort ourselves because of the
grace of God, as it is written, Psalm cxlvii: "The Lord taketh
pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy."
[Ps. 147:11] So we pray with perfect confidence: "Our Father,"
and yet petition: "Forgive us our trespasses"; we are children
and yet sinners; are acceptable and yet do not do enough; and all
this is the work of faith, firmly grounded in God's grace.
[Sidenote: The Source of Faith]
XVII. But if you ask, where the faith and the confidence can be
found and whence they come, this it is certainly most necessary
to know. First: Without doubt faith does not come from your works
or merit, but alone from Jesus Christ, and is freely promised and
given; as St. Paid writes, Romans v: "God commendeth His love to
us as exceeding sweet and kindly, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us" [Rom. 5:8]; as if he said: "Ought
not this give us a strong unconquerable confidence, that before
we prayed or cared for it, yes, while we still continually walked
in sins, Christ dies for our sin?" St. Paul concludes; "If while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us, how much more then, being
justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him;
and if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved
by His life."
Lo! thus must thou form Christ within thyself and see how in
Him God holds before thee and offers thee His mercy without any
previous merits of thine own, and from such a view of His grace
must thou draw faith and confidence of the forgiveness of all thy
sins. Faith, therefore, does not begin with works, neither do
they create it, but it must spring up and flow from the blood,
wounds and death of Christ, if thou see in these that God is so
kindly affectioned toward thee that He gives even His Son for
thee, then thy heart also must in its turn grow sweet and kindly
affectioned toward God, and so thy confidence must grow out of
pure good-will and love--God's love toward thee and thine toward
God. We never read that the Holy Spirit was given to any one when
he did works, but always what men have heard the Gospel of Christ
and the mercy of God. From this same Word and from no other
source must faith still come, even in our day and always. For
Christ is the rock out of which men suck oil and honey, as Moses
says, Deuteronomy xxxii. [Deut. 32:13]
[Sidenote: The Second Commandment]
XVII. So far we have treated of the first work and of the First
Commandment, but very briefly, plainly and hastily, for very much
might be said of it. We will now trace the works farther through
the following Commandments.
[Sidenote: The Second Commandment]
The second work, next to faith, is the work of the Second
Commandment, that we shall honor God's Name and not take it in
vain. This, like all the other works, cannot be done without
faith; and if it is done without faith, it is all sham and show.
After faith we can do no greater work than to praise, preach,
sing and in every way exalt and magnify God's glory, honor and
Name.
And although I have said above,[16] and it is true, that there is
no difference in works where faith is and does the work, yet this
is true only when they are compared with faith and its works.
Measured by one another there is a difference, and one is higher
than the other. Just as in the body the members do not differ
when compared with health, and health works in the one as much as
in the other; yet the works of the members are different, and one
is higher, nobler, more useful than the other [Rom. 12:4, 1 Cor.
12]; so, here also, to praise God's glory and Name is better than
the works of the other Commandments which follow; and yet it must
be done in the same faith as all the others.
But I know well that this work is lightly esteemed, and has
indeed become unknown. Therefore we must examine it further, and
will say no more about the necessity of doing it in the faith and
confidence that it pleases God. Indeed there is no work in which
confidence and faith are so much experienced and felt as in
honoring God's Name; and it greatly helps to strengthen and
increase faith, although all works also help to do this, as St.
Peter says, II. Peter i: "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give
diligence through good works to make your calling and election
sure."
[Sidenote: Its Positive Works]
XIX. The First Commandment forbids us to have other gods, and
thereby commands that we have a God, the true God, by a firm
faith, trust, confidence, hope and love, which are the only works
whereby a man can have, honor and keep a God; for by no other
work can one find or lose God except by faith or unbelief, by
trusting or doubting; of the other works none reaches quite to
God. So also in the Second Commandment we are forbidden to use
His Name in vain. Yet this is not to be enough, but we are
thereby also commanded to honor, call upon, glorify, preach and
praise His Name. And indeed it is impossible that God's Name
should not be dishonored where it is not rightly honored. For
although it be honored with the lips, bending of the knees,
kissing and other postures, if this is not done in the heart by
faith, in confident trust in God's grace, it is nothing else than
an evidence and badge of hypocrisy.
See now, how many kinds of good works a man can do under this
Commandment at all times and never be without the good works of
this Commandment, if he will; so that he truly need not make a
long pilgrimage or seek holy places. For, tell me, what moment
can pass in which we do not without ceasing receive God's
blessings, or, on the other hand, suffer adversity? But what else
are God's blessings and adversities than a constant urging and
stirring up to praise, honor, and bless God, and to call upon His
Name? Now if you had nothing else at all to do, would you not
have enough to do with this Commandment alone, that you without
ceasing bless, sing, praise and honor God's Name? And for what
other purpose have tongue, voice, language and mouth been
created? As Psalm li. says: "Lord, open Thou my lips, and my
mouth shall show forth Thy praise." [Ps. 51:15] Again: "My tongue
shall sing aloud of Thy mercy." [Ps. 51:14]
What work is there in heaven except that of this Second
Commandment? As it is written in Psalm lxxxiv: "Blessed are they
that dwell in Thy house: they will be for ever praising Thee."
[Ps. 84:4] So also David says in Psalm xxxiv: "God's praise shall
be continually in my mouth." [Ps. 34:1] And St. Paul, I.
Corinthians x: "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever
ye do, do all to the glory of God." [1 Cor. 10:31] Also
Colossians iii: "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the
Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father."
[Col. 3:17] If we were to observe this work, we would have a
heaven here on earth and always have enough to do, as have the
saints in heaven.
[Sidenote: The Praise of God]