May 26th, 2002 is Trinity Sunday. That is the day all LCMS
Congregations should be confessing the Athanasian Creed during their worship
services. This Creed, to which all LCMS congregations and pastors have sworn
to believe, teach, and confess, begins:
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold
the catholic [i.e., universal, Christian] faith.
It ends with the following words:
This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and
firmly, he cannot be saved.
Some of the wording in this Creed sounds like we get to heaven by good
works.
Mrs. Dee S. Senob asked over the Internet on Lutherquest
the following question:
At the end of the Athanasian Creed is 'Those who have done good will
enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will go into everlasting
fire.'
Every year when my congregation confesses this Creed and we get to this
sentence, I am puzzled because I do not know what I am actually confessing
in that sentence. My understanding from the Bible and from what I've been
taught is that I cannot earn salvation by good works. So, why is that
sentence in the Creed? I couldn't find anything in the Book of Concord that
explains it. My search on the Internet for information hasn't revealed
anything so far.
Does that sentence refer to 'faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by
action, is dead' (James 2:17) and really means that good works are evidence
of faith? If so, why wasn't that plainly stated?
Could someone please enlighten me on this sentence in the Creed? Also,
where could I find information on who really wrote the Athanasian Creed, how
and why it was written?
Dear Dee:
The following verses explain how we are saved by grace alone and not by
works.
Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." However, Pieper
writes as follows: "But the righteous are judged only according to their
good works because these works are the proof of their faith in Christ; the
evil works of the believers are not even on the Judgment Day brought to light
again because through the believer's justification they have been cast into
the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19), that is have been forgiven."
Christian Dogmatics Vol. III page 540
The following Bible passages apply.
KJV Matthew 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw
we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee? Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me.
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
The point is that we are saved by grace alone, but we will all be judged by
our works. The Judgment is about works, not faith, or else how will God judge
the heathen?
The scales of justice must be equal for Christians and non-Christians at
the judgment. Otherwise, there would be two different standards of judgment,
the Christians being judged by their faith and the heathen being judged by
their works.
The heathen can't be judged by faith because they don't have any faith.
Both Christians and the heathen will be judged equally by their works.
Both the heathen and the Christians will be judged by their works at the
Judgment. The heathen will have no works because they had no faith. Heb 11:6
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him."
The Christians will have good works because they have the full
righteousness and work of Christ given them by grace alone through faith in
Christ. Christians will also have actual good works in which they participated
that God accepts because God gives all Christians good works to do, works
which He accepts according to Eph. 2:10 above.
Therefore, the end of the Athanasian Creed is absolutely correct. It
presupposes the faith of the believer and the unbelief of the heathen. The
existence of, or lack of, good works will be evident to all at the Judgment.
Not only without faith is it impossible to please God, it is impossible to be
saved, according to Mark 16:16.
Think of it this way: Good works come as standard operating equipment on
every Christian that God makes.