The Relationship of Faith and Works

Lutherans have long been accused, as also St. Paul was, of preaching faith at the expense of works. By no means!

Today’s suggested reading in The Treasury of Daily Prayer includes paragraphs 61-74 of Article IV in The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, one of the chief summary statements of Lutheran belief. Here are paragraphs 73-74, which speak to the question of the relationship of faith and good works:

The term alone [sola] offends some people, even though Paul says in Romans 3:28, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” He says in Ephesians 2.8-9, “It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” He says in Romans 3:24, “justified by His grace as a gift.” If the exclusive term alone displeases, let them remove from Paul also the exclusives freely, not of works, it is the gift, and so on. For these also are exclusives. It is, however, the notion of merit that we exclude. We do not exclude the Word or Sacraments, as the adversaries falsely charge against us. We have said earlier that faith is conceived from the Word. We honor the ministry of the Word <Preaching Office and Word> in the highest degree. Love and works must also follow faith. Therefore, they are not excluded so that they do not follow faith, but confidence in the merit of love or of works is excluded in justification. We will clearly show this.

For Lutherans, and for those who want to understand Lutheran teaching, I highly recommend the translation of the Lutheran Confessions from which this quotation was taken. Published by Concordia Publishing House, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions contains many historical notes, explanations, etc. that greatly assist the reader.

Enjoy!