Martin Luther and Justification for salvation

Martin Luther’s ideas

• Luther, the protestant reformer, was influenced by St Paul, especially Romans 1:16-17 where Paul claimed that salvation comes to “everyone who has faith”

• Luther proposed Sola fide, which means justification by faith alone. Luther was also influenced in this by Augustine’s teaching on original sin. As mankind is fallen and sinful, humans are incapable of saving themselves.

• Therefore, it is by faith alone that humans can be saved, not works. Justification is received by humans passively, meaning that it is not because of any effort that they make.

Luther: STRENGTH

• Luther claimed that doing good works are the result of being a faithful Christian, but it is the faith that is relevant to salvation.

• So, Luther does manage to incorporate works as having great value in Christianity, but only as a symptom of faith. He used an analogy; faith and works are like fire and heat, the latter flows inevitably from the former.

• This is how he can explain the parable of the sheep and the goats in which Jesus suggests the works of people are what saves them.

• Luther can claim those works were salvific only because they were the symptom of faith, which is what was truly salvific.

criticism of sola fide: strengths of works

• The Epistle of James appears to suggest that justification is by works, not faith alone. James points out that if someone is in need of food, just having faith won’t actually solve that problem, works are needed.

• JJames points out that even the Demons believe in God. This suggests that James was distinguishing between two types of faith.

• There is the faith that demons have, which must be what James refers to as ‘dead’ and it seems that the reason it is dead is because it involves evil works.

• The other kind of faith which is not dead must therefore be a faith that is combined with and bolstered by good works.

• There is a kind of faith which is dead and valueless because it cannot perform its function of uniting a being with Christ, as can be seen in the case of demons. Only faith combined with good works is the living kind which unites a being with Christ.

• James claims that Abraham was justified by his works – his willingness to sacrifice his son due to his devotion to God.

• He had faith in God, but the faith was “active along with his works, and faith was completed by works … you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone … faith without works is dead” James 2:14-26)

• The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

evaluation of strength of works: council of trent

• This council took place from 1545-1563. It claimed that both faith and works were required for justification because works were an essential part of faith. Their argument is that if you consider what the function of faith is, you should see that good works are required in combination with it for it to perform that function and thus have value, without which, as James says, faith would be ‘dead’.

• The council held that the function of faith was to bring a person into “fellowship” with Jesus. However they then argued that faith could not achieve that function unless it were combined with hope and charity. This is a reference to Aquinas and St Paul, who characterised Faith, hope and charity as the three Christian virtues. Hope and especially charity/love is a kind of work. The council claimed that faith alone “neither unites man perfectly with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body.

• The council was very clear, in direct opposition to Luther, that good works are not “merely the fruits and signs of justification” but are part of the “cause” and “preservation” of justification.

• Justification is therefore by faith and works, because a faith disconnected from the works of hope and charity is dead.

protestant response to council of trent;

• Trent’s proclamation contradicts the bible teaching that good works do not merit grace because grace is a “gift” from God. The point is that a gift cannot be something earned or worked for, so grace cannot be ‘earned’ by good works’.

• “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8).

STRENGTH: impact + calvin

• the reformation reduced reliance on hierarchial church structures, empowering local congregations

• luther’s advocacy for sola scriptura meant that individual believers could interpret scripture for themselves without corruption from catholic church

• In Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559), calvin argues, like Luther, that justification is by faith alone and not by works.

• While Luther emphasized faith as trusting in God’s promise, Calvin developed the idea of believers being united with Christ (unio mystica). He argued that justification and sanctification are inseparable, meaning that true faith inevitably produces good works.

• Luther’s justification for salvatuion that emerged in reformation is significant because it inspired wider protestant theology and reformative developments within christianity

counter to calvin: lack of unity

• over 45,000 christian denominations w/in the church

• destroys unity

• cyprian of carthage- metaphor of JC’s tunic

• by going against justification of works and faith, creates a schism and lack of unity w/in church→ destroys four marks

synoptic link

• iraneus

• believed that salvation happens when you reach the image of god through your actions and development w/in yourself

• cannot happen through faith alone

• actively work through good works to achieve image of god and thus salvation

counter to iraneus

• Luther’s theology, aligned with Bonhoeffer’s view, is that while salvation is by faith alone and not earned through works, a true understanding of Christ’s role in salvation transforms individuals

• This transformation leads to good deeds as a response to God’s love, not as a means to earn salvation

• Bonhoeffer distinguishes between:

• Cheap grace: Grace that requires no real change, no discipleship, and no obedience.

• Costly grace: True grace that demands a transformed life and active discipleship.

• costly grace makes someone turn into the image of god: just because good works is not intrinsic to salvation, it does not mean that justification is not transformative.