LUTHER'S PRIMARY WORKS ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
"The works of a Christian man, who is justified and saved by his faith out of the pure and unbought mercy of God, ought to be regarded in the same light as would have been those of Adam and Eve in Paradise, and of all their posterity, if they had not sinned. Of them it is said : "The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Gen. ii. 15.) Now Adam had been created by God just and righteous, so that he could not have needed to be justified and made righteous by keeping the garden and working in it ; but, that he might not be unemployed, God gave him the business of keeping and cultivating Paradise. These would have indeed been works of perfect freedom, being done for no object but that of pleasing God, and not in order to obtain justification, which he already had to the full, and which would have been innate in us all.
So it is with the works of a believer. Being by his faith replaced afresh in Paradise and created anew, he does not need works for his justification, but that he may not be idle, but may keep his own body and work upon it. His works are to be done freely, with the sole object of pleasing God. Only we are not yet fully created anew in perfect faith and love ; these require to be increased, not however through works, but through themselves"
Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works. Bad works do not make a bad man, but a bad man does bad works. Thus it is always necessary that the substance or person should be good before any good works can be done, and that good works should follow and proceed from a good person. p120-121
CONCERNING THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
From Luther's Primary Works, The Babylonish Captivity
"The first thing then we have to notice in baptism is the divine promise, which says : He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. This promise is to be infinitely preferred to: the whole display of works, vows, religious orders, and whatever has been introduced by the invention of man. On this promise depends our whole salvation, and we must take heed to exercise faith in it, not doubting at all that we are saved, since we have been baptized. Unless this faith exists and is applied, baptism profits us nothing ; nay, it is hurtful to us, not only at the time when it is received, but in the whole course of our after life." page 183
"Hence to seek efficacy in the sacrament independently of the promise and of faith is to strive in vain and to fall into condemnation. Thus Christ says : " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi. 16.) Thus He shows that in the sacrament faith is so necessary that it can save us even without the sacrament ; and on this account when He says : " He that believeth not," He does not add : "and is not baptized."
Martin Luther, page 191-192
"The works of a Christian man, who is justified and saved by his faith out of the pure and unbought mercy of God, ought to be regarded in the same light as would have been those of Adam and Eve in Paradise, and of all their posterity, if they had not sinned. Of them it is said : "The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Gen. ii. 15.) Now Adam had been created by God just and righteous, so that he could not have needed to be justified and made righteous by keeping the garden and working in it ; but, that he might not be unemployed, God gave him the business of keeping and cultivating Paradise. These would have indeed been works of perfect freedom, being done for no object but that of pleasing God, and not in order to obtain justification, which he already had to the full, and which would have been innate in us all.
So it is with the works of a believer. Being by his faith replaced afresh in Paradise and created anew, he does not need works for his justification, but that he may not be idle, but may keep his own body and work upon it. His works are to be done freely, with the sole object of pleasing God. Only we are not yet fully created anew in perfect faith and love ; these require to be increased, not however through works, but through themselves"
Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works. Bad works do not make a bad man, but a bad man does bad works. Thus it is always necessary that the substance or person should be good before any good works can be done, and that good works should follow and proceed from a good person. p120-121
CONCERNING THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
From Luther's Primary Works, The Babylonish Captivity
"The first thing then we have to notice in baptism is the divine promise, which says : He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. This promise is to be infinitely preferred to: the whole display of works, vows, religious orders, and whatever has been introduced by the invention of man. On this promise depends our whole salvation, and we must take heed to exercise faith in it, not doubting at all that we are saved, since we have been baptized. Unless this faith exists and is applied, baptism profits us nothing ; nay, it is hurtful to us, not only at the time when it is received, but in the whole course of our after life." page 183
"Hence to seek efficacy in the sacrament independently of the promise and of faith is to strive in vain and to fall into condemnation. Thus Christ says : " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi. 16.) Thus He shows that in the sacrament faith is so necessary that it can save us even without the sacrament ; and on this account when He says : " He that believeth not," He does not add : "and is not baptized."
Martin Luther, page 191-192
