1. Is it the will of God that believers should abound in good works?

No one denies that all men, and especially those who have been born again and renewed by the Holy Ghost, should perform good works.

Matt. 5:16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

2 Cor. 9:8. That ye may abound to every good work.

1 Thess. 4:7. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Eph. 2:10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.

And as it is impossible for a good tree to bring forth evil fruit, Matt. 7:18, it is in like manner impossible, that one justified by faith, should be destitute of good works.

We also believe, teach, and confess, that all men, but especially those born again and renewed by the Holy Ghost, should perform good works. (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iv.)

In the first place, as to this article, there is no dispute amongst us, in regard to the following points, namely, that it is the will, arrangement, and command of God, that believers are to abound in good works. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iv.)

2. What are good works?

Good works are those inward and outward actions, enjoined by God, and comprehended in the ten commandments, which faith, wrought by the Holy Spirit, enables the regenerate to perform, to the glory of God, and as an evidence both of our obedience, and of our gratitude to Him.

3. Then you maintain that no works are truly good, save those which have been commanded by God himself?

Certainly; for those are not truly good works, which every person, of his own mind, thinks out for himself, or which are done after the ordinances of men, but only those which God himself has prescribed and enjoined in his Word.

Deut. 12:32. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. What things soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

4. How are truly good works performed?

Such good works are not performed of our own natural powers, but only when a person is reconciled to God through faith, and renewed by the Holy Ghost, or as Paul says, new created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (See Form of Concord, as above.)

5. Do good works, then, please God, and if so, why?

Good works please God, and are agreeable unto him, on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is apprehended by faith, which faith causes the person of man to be acceptable and well-pleasing to God. (Form of Concord, as above; Apology, Art iii.)

6. Are not the good works of the heathen pleasing to God?

Those works which belong to the preservation of external discipline, and which are performed even by unbelievers, and the unconverted, although they are praiseworthy in the eyes of the world, and besides are rewarded by God with temporal possessions in this world: yet, since they do not proceed from true faith, are indeed sin in the eyes of God, that is, they are tainted with sin, and are considered by God sins and impurities, because the person is not reconciled to God: for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruits. And, whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Rom. 14:23. (See Form of Concord, Part ii, Sol. Dec.)

7. What reasons can be assigned why good works must be performed?

Good works must be performed:

1. Because of the divine injunction.
2. For the exercise of faith.
3. As a confession of one’s faith.
4. Out of gratitude.
5. On account of the rewards which have been graciously promised them.

For good works must be done, because God has enjoined them, furthermore for the exercise of faith, as a confession, and out of gratitude. For these reasons good works must necessarily be performed, which although they are done in the flesh, not as yet entirely renewed, retarding the operations of the Holy Ghost, and infecting them with some of its own impurity; yet are holy works and pleasing to God, because of faith, and are sacrifices and governmental acts of Christ, who thus exhibits his kingdom to the world. For in them he sanctifies the heart, represses Satan, and in order to preserve the Gospel among men, opposes the confession of the saints to the realm of the devil, revealing his power in our weakness. (Apology, Art. iii.)

8. Are these rewards of good works the grace by which we are justified?

They are not: for, we receive the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, justification and everlasting life, only through faith, not by our merits.

The rewards of good works are therefore correctly defined, partly, as temporal possessions in this life, partly, as the degrees of glory in the life to come. But these rewards themselves do not depend on the merit of our works, but depend solely on the grace of God, who has promised them.

9. Can we, then, earn our justification and everlasting life by good works?

Not in the least. First. For we receive the forgiveness of sins and justification solely through faith in Christ, as Christ himself says, Luke 17:10, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do.”

Secondly. “The idea that good works are meritorious, obscures the glory of Christ, since men exhibit these works of theirs to God as the price by which they are redeemed, and as their atonement.” (Augsburg Confession, Art. vi.)

“Whoever, then, thinks to effect this by works, and to merit grace, despises Christ, and seeks a way of his own unto God, contrary to the Gospel.” (Augsburg Confession, Art. xx.)

Thirdly. “Affrighted consciences do not find peace in such works; on the contrary, whilst they in real terror constantly heap one good work on another, they finally despair, because they can find no work that is pure enough; so that the law constantly accuses and condemns them.” (Apology, Art. iii.)

Fourthly. “Those who rely on their good works, never attain to the knowledge of God, but, angry themselves, rather flee from a condemning and punishing God: besides, they never think that they are heard. But faith shows that God freely forgives and hearkens for the sake of His Son.” (Augsburg Confession, Art. xx.)

Finally, it is opposed to Holy Scripture, which testifies that we are justified and saved solely through faith, without works, as was shown in the preceding article. (Apology, Art. iii.)

10. Are good works necessary or not?

It is clearly evident from what has been already said that good works are necessary, not indeed for salvation, but because of other reasons. For, they are required of believers, as fruits of faith: and faith without love is dead, although love is not the cause of our salvation. (Form of Concord, Art. iv; Augsburg Confession, Art. xx.)

11. Does not this seem to conflict with the liberty of the children of God, inasmuch as their works are not necessary, but free and voluntary?

These two by no means conflict with each other; a matter which becomes perfectly clear, so soon as a double distinction is observed. For, in the first place, the word “necessary” is used to denote an absolute necessity, or a compulsion. In the second place, the word “necessary” is used in a conditional sense, meaning an obedience, which we owe to God, and which is shown because of God’s arrangement, command, and will. In the primary sense, the necessity abolishes all freedom of action; but in the latter it is subordinate to this freedom. (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iv; Sol. Dec., Art. iv.)

12. Which is the other distinction?

This concerns the word “free” or “freedom,” which is used in a special and general sense. Taken in its special sense, it is opposed to necessity and constraint; but taken in a general sense, it is set over against the regulation, command, and duty of the law; for the law is not strictly opposed to freedom, but they are subordinate the one to the other.

13. Adapt these distinctions to the question at issue, and show whether good works are necessary or free.

If these distinctions are observed, it is clear that the works of the regenerate are both free and necessary. But they are necessary, not from the necessity of constraint, but only from the necessity of command, or of that obedience due to God which true believers, in so far as they are born again, show, not from constraint or compulsion of the law, but of a willing spirit, because they are no longer under the law, but under grace. (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iv.)

Again: these works are free, the word free being taken in its special sense, in so far as the regenerate work with a voluntary mind; but they are not free in such a way, “as if it were arbitrary with a regenerate man to do good or to abstain from it, as he wished, and yet retain faith, even if he intentionally remained in sin.” (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iv.)

14. If good works are necessary, does it follow that they are necessary for salvation?

In former years, soon after the death of our sainted Luther, there were some who made use of such expressions as these: “Good works are necessary to salvation; it is impossible to be saved without good works; no one has ever been saved without good works.” But these expressions have met with the disapproval and condemnation of the orthodox, from sure and weighty reasons, as being such as deviate from the form of sound words. (See Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iv; also Sol. Dec.)

15. Mention these reasons.

1. These expressions directly conflict with the doctrine of the exclusive particles, i.e., the words with which St. Paul excludes our works and merit from the article of justification. For St. Paul excludes our works and merits entirely from that article, and ascribes everything solely to the grace and mercy of God, and to the merit of Christ, assuring us of the blessedness only of that man to whom God imputes righteousness without works. Rom. 4:6.
2. Such expressions as the above deprive troubled and afflicted consciences of the true comfort of the Gospel, and give rise to doubt concerning the grace of God.
3. Expressions of this character increase temerity and a false delusion of one’s own righteousness, and a confidence in our own worthiness. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iv.)
4. They were taken from the Formula of the Interim, and therefore originated with declared enemies of the truth. (Form of Concord, as above.)
5. Our sainted Luther rejected and condemned these expressions on the part of the false apostles, who led the Galatians into error, also on the part of the Papists, Anabaptists, and finally of some others. (Form of Concord, as above.)

16. Do not good works sustain faith, righteousness, and salvation?

No. “For faith does not take hold of righteousness and salvation in such a way as afterward to transfer its office to works, so that the latter must thereafter sustain faith, righteousness, and salvation; but faith is the real and only means by which righteousness and salvation are not only received but also sustained.”

“We believe, teach, and also confess, that works do not sustain faith and salvation in us, but that the Spirit of God alone maintains salvation in us through faith, of whose presence and indwelling the good works are witnesses.” (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iv; Epitome, Art. iv.)

17. Can you prove this from Holy Scripture?

St. Paul, Rom. 5:1, 2, ascribes unto faith the access to grace, and not merely this but also the fact that we persevere in grace and boast of future glory; that is, he ascribes to faith alone the beginning, the middle, and the end, saying: Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iv.)

Rom. 11:20. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.

Col. 1:22, 23. To present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable, in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.

1 Peter 1:5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

18. If good works are not necessary to salvation, are they then injurious and destructive to salvation?

“If any one were to mingle his good works with the article of Justification, fix his righteousness or his trust in salvation on them, therewith to merit the grace of God, and thereby to be saved; St. Paul himself says, thrice repeating it, that to such a man his good works may not only become useless and a hindrance, but also destructive to salvation.” (Form of Concord, as above.)

Phil. 3:7, 8. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ; yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

19. In this manner good works would in themselves be injurious and pernicious.

You draw a wrong inference reasoning from that which is accidental to that which is essential. For, through that which is accidental, it happens that good works are injurious; in so far, namely, as a false confidence is put in them contrary to the express word of God. Nevertheless, it is not on this account lawful to maintain, simply and without reservation, that good works are injurious to believers or to their salvation. For this expression, thus unrestrictedly stated, is false and offensive; by it discipline and honesty is weakened, and a rude, wild, secure, Epicurean life introduced and strengthened. (Form of Concord, as above.)