Is it correct to say: God requires good works, or, Good works are
necessary, and, Christians are obliged or in duty bound to do good works
(_bona opera sunt necessaria et debita_)? This question, too, was a
point of dispute in the Majoristic controversy. Originally the
controversy concerning these terms and phrases was a mere logomachy,
which, however, later on (when, after the error lurking in the absolute
rejection of them had been pointed out, the phrases were still flatly
condemned), developed into a violent controversy. The _Formula of
Concord_ explains: "It has also been argued by some that good works are
not _necessary (noetig)_, but are _voluntary (freiwillig)_, because they
are not extorted by fear and the penalty of the Law, but are to be done
from a voluntary spirit and a joyful heart. Over against this the other
side contended that good works are _necessary_. This controversy was
originally occasioned by the words _necessitas_ and _libertas_
["_notwendig_" und "_frei_"], that is, necessary and free, because
especially the word _necessitas,_ necessary, signifies not only the
eternal, immutable order according to which all men are obliged and in
duty bound to obey God, but sometimes also a coercion, by which the Law
forces men to good works. But afterwards there was a disputation not
only concerning the words, but the doctrine itself was attacked in the
most violent manner, and it was contended that the new obedience in the
regenerate is not necessary because of the above-mentioned divine
order." (939, 4f.)
From the very beginning of the Reformation the Romanists had slandered
Luther also by maintaining that he condemned good works and simply
denied their necessity. A similar charge was made by the Majorists
against their opponents generally. And Melanchthon's writings, too,
frequently create the same impression. But it was an inference of their
own. They argued: If good works are not necessary to salvation, they
cannot be necessary at all. Wigand wrote: "It is a most malicious and
insidious trait in the new teachers [the Majorists] that they, in order
to gloss over their case, cry out with the Papists that the controversy
is whether good works are necessary. But this is not in dispute, for no
Christian ever denied it. Good works are necessary; that is certainly
true. But the conflict arises from the appendix attached to it, and the
patch pasted to it, _viz._, 'to salvation.' And here all God-fearing
men say that it is a detrimental, offensive, damnable, papistic
appendix." (Planck 4, 498. 544.)
It is true, however, that the Antinomians (who will be dealt with more
extensively in a following chapter) as well as several other opponents
of the Majorists were unwilling to allow the statement, "Good works are
necessary." Falsely interpreting the proposition as necessarily
implying, not merely moral obligation, but also compulsion and coercion,
they rejected it as unevangelical and semipopish. The word "must" is
here not in place, they protested. Agricola, as well as the later
Antinomians (Poach and Otto), rejected the expressions "_necessarium,_
necessary" and "duty, _debitum,_" when employed in connection with good
works. January 13, 1555, Melanchthon wrote: "Some object to the words,
'Good works are _necessary,_' or, 'One _must_ do good works.' They
object to the two words _necessitas_ and _debitum._ And the
Court-preacher [Agricola] at that time juggled with the word _must: 'das
Muss ist versalzen._' He understood _necessarium_ and _debitum_ as
meaning, coerced by fear of punishment, _extortum coactione_ (extorted
by coercion), and spoke high-sounding words, such as, how good works
came without the Law. Yet the first meaning of _necessarium_ and
_debitum_ is not _extortum coactione,_ but the eternal and immutable
order of divine wisdom; and the Lord Christ and Paul themselves employ
these words _necessarium_ and _debitum._" In December, 1557, he wrote:
"They [the Antinomians] object to the proposition: 'New obedience is
necessary;' again: 'New obedience is a debt (_debitum_).' And now
Amsdorf writes: 'Good works are detrimental to salvation,'and it was
Eisleben's [Agricola's] slogan: 'Das Muss ist versalzen.' In Nordhausen
some one has publicly announced a disputation which contains the
proposition: '_Summa ars Chriatianorum est nescire legem._--The highest
art of a Christian is not to know the Law.'" March 4, 1558: "Some, for
instance, Amsdorf and Gallus, object to the word _debitum._" (_C. R._ 8,
411. 194. 842; 9, 405. 474.)
Andrew Musculus, professor in Frankfurt on the Oder, is reported to have
said in a sermon, 1558: "They are all the devil's own who teach: 'New
obedience is necessary (_nova obedientia est necessaria_)'; the word
'must (necessary)' does not belong here. 'Good works are necessary to
salvation,' and, 'Good works are necessary, but not to salvation'--these
are both of a cloth--_das sind zwei Hosen aus EINEM Tuch._" (Meusel,
_Handlexikon_ 4, 710; Gieseler 3, 2, 216.)
Over against this extreme position, Melanchthon, Flacius, Wigand,
Moerlin, and others held that it was entirely correct to say that good
works are necessary. In the _Opinion_ of November 13, 1559, referred to
above, Melanchthon, after stating that he does not employ the phrase,
"Good works are necessary to salvation," continues as follows: "But I do
affirm that these propositions are true, and that one may properly and
without sophistry say, 'The new obedience or good works are necessary,'
because obedience is due to God and because it is necessary that, after
the Holy Spirit has been received, regeneration or conversion be
followed by motions corresponding to the Holy Spirit.... And the words
'duty' and 'necessity' signify the order of God's wisdom and justice;
they do not signify an obedience which is compelled or extorted by
fear." (_C. R._ 9, 969.) The Frankfurt _Rezess_ of 1558 [Rezess,
Rueckzug, Vergleich = Agreement], written by Melanchthon and signed by
the Lutheran princes, declared: "These propositions, '_Nova obedientia
est necessaria, nova obedientia est debitum,_ New obedience is
necessary, is a debt,' shall not be rejected." The _Rezess_ explained:
"It is certainly a divine, immovable truth that new obedience is
necessary in those who are justified; and these words are to be retained
in their true meaning. 'Necessary' signifies divine order. New obedience
is necessary and is a debt for the very reason that it is an immutable
divine order that the rational creature obeys God." (_C. R._ 9, 496.
498.)
In a similar way this matter was explained by Flacius and other
theologians. They all maintained that it is correct to say, Good works
are necessary. Even Amsdorf wrote 1552 in his _Brief Instruction_
against Major: "For we all say and confess that a Christian after his
renewal and new birth _should_ and _must_ (_soll und muss_) love and
fear God and do all manner of good works, but not in order to be saved
thereby, for he is saved already by faith." (Schlb. 7, 210.) This view,
which was also plainly taught in the _Augsburg Confession,_ prevailed
and received the sanction of our Church in Article IV of the _Formula of
Concord._ When a Christian spontaneously and by the free impulse of his
own faith does (and would do, even if there were no law at all) what,
according to the holy will of God, revealed in the Ten Commandments, he
is obliged and in duty bound to do--such works, and such only, are,
according to the _Formula of Concord,_ truly good works, works pleasing
to God. It was the doctrine of Luther, who had written, _e.g._, in his
_Church Postil_ of 1521: "No, dear man, you [cannot earn heaven by your
good works, but you] must have heaven and already be saved before you do
good works. Works do not merit heaven, but, on the contrary, heaven,
imparted by pure grace, does good works spontaneouslv, seeking no merit,
but only the welfare of the neighbor and the glory of God. _Nein, lieber
Mensch, du musst den Himmel haben und schon selig sein, ehe du gute
Werke tust. Die Werke verdienen nicht den Himmel, sondern wiederum
[umgekehrt], der Himmel, aus lauter Gnaden gegeben, tut die guten Werke
dahin, ohne Gesuch des Verdienstes, nur dem Naechsten zu Nutz und Gott
zu Ehren._" (E. 7, 174.) Again, in _De Servio Arbitrio_ of 1525: "The
children of God do good entirely voluntarily, seeking no reward, but
only the glory and will of God, ready to do the good even if, assuming
the impossible, there were neither heaven nor hell. _Filii autem Dei
gratuita voluntate faciunt bonum, nullum praemium quaerentes, sed solam
gloriam et voluntatem Dei, parati bonum facere, si per impossibile neque
regnum neque infernus esset._" (E. v. a. 7, 234.)