Have you done any good works lately? When you do them is God working
through you or are you the one who is doing them? Did you motivate your own
good works or did God? What about good intentions, or virtual good works, are
they real good works? Can we motivate ourselves to do good works?
Back in the 1518, before there was computer generated virtual reality,
Luther was writing about the difference between virtual works and real works.
Luther addresses the subject of who is doing the good works by examining
our motivation for every kind of good work whether it is prayer, donations of
time and money, to volunteering to sing in the choir and etc. Luther writes in
his Commentary on Romans chapter 14:
"Therefore examine yourself when you pray, when you make a sacrifice,
when you enter the choir or do anything else whether you would do the same
thing if you had your liberty, and then discover who you are in the eyes of
God. For if you would not do it, if you would rather be free and without
restraint, then you are doing nothing, because you are a servant and a
hireling. However, there are some who know this and set themselves down in
some corner and say: 'I will arouse in myself a good intention and a will if
this is necessary.' Meanwhile the devil laughs and replies to him: 'Preen your
fur, little kitten, we are going to have company,' then he gets up, goes to
the choir, and prays and says: 'Little owl, how beautiful you are! Where did
you get the peacock feathers?' If I did not know (according to the fable) that
you were an ass, I would believe that you were a lion, such is your roar; but
put on your lion's skin, your ears will cause you to be recognized. Then the
tedium begins, he counts the pages and the verses, wondering if the prayer is
almost finished, and comforting himself he says: 'Scotus proved that a virtual
intention suffices and an actual intent is not required.' Then the devil says
to him: "Well said, you are right, be secure."
Luther continues, "O God, what a laughing stock we are for our
enemies! A good intention is not so easy as that, nor (good God!) is it given
into your power, O man, to arouse it in yourself, as Scotus and his school
teach and learn to our harm. For in our time this presumptuousness is most
pernicious, that we can form good intentions of ourselves, as if we were
sufficient of ourselves to think up anything, in direct opposition to the
express statement of the apostle. Hence we snore on in our smugness, relying
on our free will that we have at hand whenever we wish the power to make a
pious intention. Why then does the apostle pray: "May the Lord direct
your hearts and bodies" (2Thess. 3:5)? And why does the church pray:
"May our words be spoken and our thoughts and works directed always to
doing Thy righteousness." [A prayer for Prime in the Roman Breviary.] But
these ideas are the snares of the unrighteous, of which we read in Ps. 5:9:
"Their heart is a snare," and in Prov. 11:6: "The unrighteous
shall be caught in their own snares."
"Not so, you unrighteous men, not so! But it is necessary that you
prostrate yourself in your chamber and pray to God with all your strength that
He give to you also the intention which you have presumed to arouse in
yourself. You cannot walk in a security which has been produced of and by
yourself, but rather in one which has been sought and looked for from His
mercy."
Luther says the whole notion of doing something for God by our own
motivation is Pelagian. (Pelagius was a 4th Century false teacher who said
people get to heaven by good works.) The Pelagians had no fear that they
needed God's grace to please Him with their good works. Luther says part of
their confusion was that they didn't understand that God allows the ungodly to
sin even when they do their so-called "good works". Yet Job says,
"I feared all my works." Job 9:28; and again, another says:
"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord always" Prov. 28:14. The
Christian always knows that he can't do anything without the grace of God. On
the other hand, foolish Christians think their good intentions, and by their
own estimation what they believe are their good works, are proof of God's
grace. But the truth is the proof of God's saving grace is only the cross of
Christ and not what we do.
Luther writes: "And this is the reason why the apostle Peter also
commands: 'Fear God' (1Peter 2:17), and Paul says: 'Knowing the fear of the
Lord, we persuade men ' (2cor. 5:11), and again: 'Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling' (Phil. 2:12). And in Ps. 2:11 we read: 'Serve the
Lord with fear and with trembling rejoice unto Him.' Now how can one fear God
or his own works unless he regards these things as evil or suspect? For fear
comes from evil. Thus the saints are concerned about constantly imploring the
grace of God. They do not place their trust in their good intention or their
general diligence, but they are always still afraid that they are doing
something wrong. And humbled by this fear, they seek and sigh, and by this
humility they cause God to be favorable toward them. [Luther is speaking about
fruit of the spirit at this point not justification.] And thus the most
pestilent class of preachers today is that group which preaches about the
signs of present grace, so that it makes men secure, when in fact the very
best sign of grace is that we fear and tremble, and the surest sign of God's
wrath is to be smug and self-confident. And yet everyone pants for this with
marvelous ardor. For in this way grace is found through fear, and through
grace a man is made willing for good works, and without grace he is unwilling.
And yet through this unwillingness (if I may say so) he is fearless, strong,
and secure, because he accomplishes outwardly the works which are good in his
own eyes and in the eyes of men." LW25:494, 498"
Luther's conclusion is that Christians should always be fearful and tremble
that they have not done the proper good works. It is those who think they are
doing a good job who are in danger of losing their salvation. It is almost
like those who are afraid that they have committed the unforgivable sin. If
they are afraid, that is a sure sign that they didn't commit it but if they
are not afraid they will never be concerned about being associated with the
church.
So, what should I do? Whatever good works we do, we know that all our works
are tainted by sin. Don't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.
In other words, don't even think about keeping count. Every remembrance of our
good works is another reason to repent. God won't lose count. If the work was
good, it was God who gave me the grace to do it. In every circumstance,
without God we cannot do anything. So, I try to put off from myself any
thought of personal accomplishment in the service of Christ and pray that God
helps me to serve my neighbor.
Good works are a mirror of justification. If I am faithless it is my fault.
If I believe it is God's gift. So in sanctification or good works, when I sin,
it is my fault. When I accomplished a good work in God's eyes, it was the
grace of God that allowed me to serve. All our service is only the power of
the cross in our lives. We are to keep our focus on the cross and Christ is
the one who looks back at us and determines if He sees faithful or unfaithful
servants.
These words tell me it is time to repent.