In
his essay, On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther dissects the relationship
between the spiritual and physical nature of man and the roles faith and good
works play in that relationship. Faith, or the true use of the Word of God, is the
only thing a man needs to become a true Christian. Works serve no purpose in
attaining salvation. The purpose of God’s commandments is to show man his
inability to be good rather than provide guidelines for a Christian lifestyle.
We
have spent the last two class periods analyzing these words and especially
Luther’s ideas on good works. We have argued about the possibility of a truly
selfless act since Luther denounces good works that are done for temporal or
eternal gain. However, I do not believe Luther is against gaining from
performing good works, but instead performing good works for the sole purpose
of gaining from it. Luther states that good works are necessary to a Christian
lifestyle for keeping oneself upright and away from sin and lusts of the flesh.
Also, works are very important when it comes to faith. He stated in his essay, “Here
faith is truly active through love,” meaning faith can be expressed through
selfless acts done to benefit ones neighbor. This is one of the main points I
took from Luther’s writing. If a person has faith and, therefore, is Christian,
his works will be good. It is then his responsibility to spread love to others
and, through his works, help spread the Word of God. Many of the examples of
works we brought up in class were eternal and good, but not done in the sole
interest of one’s neighbor. I believe the argument over good works cleansing the
soul to be irrelevant. Instead, I believe one with faith to be inherently good
and free from committing purposeful sin. Once one has faith and follows the
Word of God then they have attained salvation and entered into a union with
Christ. Christ took on all of the sins of the soul and blessed it with his
grace and salvation. Therefore, now that we are one with Christ, it is now our
responsibility to act in his image by performing good works. Faith finds expression in the selfless acts Christians willingly performed by one that is wholly satisfied by the wealth of his faith.
I think this can be tied into is there a such thing as a good or bad Christian. A “good Christian”, in theory, would do good works for his/her neighbor as opposed to a “bad Christian” who would rely on faith alone for his salvation. But according to Luther that is possible. Luther does say that the works of the faithful are good but he never specifically defines what those good works had to be. It just says the work that the Christian does will be good. The Christian doing good works is what we think of when we hear the word Christian. This is a stereotype that has a long history in society, but as we discussed in class with the pedophilic priest this is not always true.
ReplyDeleteYour claim that having faith makes one invulnerable to sin is, I think, essentially what Luther was arguing in "On Christian Liberty"; but while this idea supports the quintessence of the Christian belief system, it doesn't seem to hold up in the real world. The concept of people becoming perfect through a relationship with Christ, I think, is meant more metaphorically than literally--because to become perfect is in direct violation of what being human really is. While humans live on Earth, they are subject to the temptations and vices of their earthly nature. Finding God may give them them a reason to resist sin, faith may make them one with Christ, but can anyone, other than Jesus himself, claim to be completely sinless, even after becoming a Christian? One who has faith should feel the urge to do good works as a way to become closer with God, but that doesn't mean that they are never going to do something bad again. You say that someone with faith is "inherently good and free from committing purposeful sin," but the question of purpose is a very tricky one. What about people who commit sins under the notion that what they are doing is righteous in the eyes of God? Does this not count as sin? Furthermore, are Christians who knowingly do something wrong or selfish not really Christians--or are they just human?
ReplyDeleteFrom our discussion last class, i disagree with the statement that if you have faith you are inherently good and free from committing purposeful sin. I agreed that it is possible for a person to have faith, yet be a bad person who continually commits sins. I agree that a Christian's works should be selfless and be done to spread God's Word and his love. However, I do not think that a Christian's works are truly good if they feel like they are only doing them because they feel like they are required to. Works should be done by people who want to help other people, and therefore, they spread God's love.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that our works are separate form faith. In order to for a work to truly be sincere, one must have faith and our actions are guided by the recognition of the Ten Commandments. However, I do not agree with Luther's statement
ReplyDelete"good works are necessary to a Christian lifestyle for keeping oneself upright and away from sin and lusts of the flesh."
People should do good works for the sake of doing them. However, I don't think that good works would necessarily keep individuals away from sin and lust. I think that the desire to stay away from these things is innate. Thus, individuals should want to be righteous even when they are not performing good deeds.
Furthermore, I agree with your statement that we perform good deeds for the sake of others. I believe that as individuals who possess faith, humans stand together. Thus, when one person performs a beneficial deed, they benefit the the community and the entire human race.
Although the beginning of your post when you summarized "On Christian Liberty", but when you begin to talk about a truly good christian unable to commit purposeful sin; I cant say I agree. This brings up the point we talked about during class on whether there is such thing as a good christian. I think the best explanation to that question is that there are only christians and non christians and christians will always be good christians but might not be the best people.
ReplyDelete