10. The reward of good works.
Scripture does not merely speak of a reward (μισϑός),222) but also of a great reward (μισϑός πολύς)223) of the good works of Christians. Therefore, one must not be forbidden to use the word "reward" because of the abuse that is made of this word. Therefore, to remain with the Scriptures, we unhesitatingly teach publicly and specifically that God rewards the good works of Christians, already here in time, but especially in eternity.224) The world does not have the grace, says Luther,225) to recognize and reward the good works of Christians, for example, their preaching of the Gospel in the world, their prayer and intercession. On the contrary, Christians are hated and persecuted by the world precisely because of their best works.226) Under these circumstances, God cannot refrain from taking care of the good works of Christians with a reward.
But this reward — so the Scriptures further instruct us — is to be understood strictly as a reward of grace. Whoever submits an account to God on the basis of his works, thereby submits his request for release from the kingdom of God, because in the kingdom of God only grace is valid. This double truth, that God rewards the works of Christians, but that the reward is not an obligatory or legal wage, but a reward of grace, is expressed especially clearly and sharply in Matt. 19:27-20:16 is expressed. At this point Peter raises the question of wages. Peter reminds the Lord of the fact that they, the disciples, unlike the young man who did not want to leave his goods, left everything and followed the Lord. Peter therefore asks the question, "What will be our reward (τί αρα εσται ήμϊν)?" To this the Lord answers two things: 1. That all the works done to him, Christ,227) will find reward, and a great reward at that;228) 2. but that the raising of a legal claim on the basis of works turns the first into the last, that is, from children of grace into children of disgrace, who receive the reward
222) 1 Cor. 3:8.<w:t>223) Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:23, 35.
224) 1 Tim. 4:8; Luke 14:14.
225) On Gal. 3:22. (St. L. IX, 443; Erl., lat., II, 100.)
226) Because of the sermon of the gospel, the apostles are blamed, Acts 5:40. — Rom. 8:36; 1 Cor. 4:13.
227) Matt. 19:29: ενεχεν τον ονόματος μ ον.
228) Matt. 19:29: πας δς άφήκεν οικίας ...εκατονταπλαοίονα [other reading: πολλαπλασΐονα] λήψεται και ζωήν αιώνιον κληρονομήσει.
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of the righteous by works, damnation.229) Concerning the correct interpretation of this passage, which has experienced such strange misinterpretations in our time, Luther says:230) "We stick to the simple doctrine and opinion of Christ, who wants to show with this parable how it is in the kingdom of heaven, that is, in Christianity on earth, that God judges and works there in a strange way, namely in this way: that he makes the first the last and the last the first. And all is said to humble those who are something, that they should rely on nothing but God's goodness and mercy; again, that those who are nothing should not despair, but rely on God's goodness as well as those. So now Christ first of all frightens the presumptuousness of those who fence with works to heaven, as the Jews did and wanted to be the closest to God, as our clergy have also done up to now. These all work for certain wages … and despise those who have done nothing at all, and their great toil and labor shall be counted no more than that idleness and loose living. Then they murmur against the householder, which seemeth them not right, and blaspheme the gospel, and are hardened in their doings; then they lose the favor and grace of God, and must take away their temporal reward, and trot away with their penny, and be damned: for they have not served for everlasting favor, but for reward; which they shall have, and no more. But the others must confess that they have earned neither the penny nor the favor, but more is given them than they would have thought was promised them. These remain in grace and are saved for it, because they have enough time here, too, for it all depends on the good will of the father of the house." The fact that a legal claim made on the basis of works results in exclusion from the kingdom of God should not alienate anyone who has some
229) Gal. 3:10: οσοι εξ έργων είσ'ιν νπό κατάραν είσίν. — Quite apart from whether the words πολλοί γάρ ειοι κλητοί, ολίγοι δε εκλεκτοί belong to the text or not, by the way, the words stand in C. D. It. Syr. Meyer also considers them genuine, though for a wrong reason, namely, their "apparent impropriety" in this place, which may have caused their omission in B. L. etc. had caused. If anywhere, just here the words fit the context, as will be shown below.
230) St. L. XII. 508 ff.
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knowledge of what Christianity is. A Christian is a Christian not by any faith, but by the faith that "builds on pure grace," that is, holds that God gives him righteousness, eternal life, and all things by grace for Christ's sake, without merit of works. Now if someone submits a wage claim to God on the basis of his works, he thereby gives up the faith through which he is a Christian. As surely as the reward of grace is not only compatible with faith in grace, but also strengthens faith in grace,231) the demand for a legal reward is the death of faith in grace. We therefore also hold that a Christian, in so far as he is a Christian or a new man, does not at all come to the thought, which is monstrous from the Christian standpoint, of placing himself on the legal standpoint toward God on the basis of his works. A look at the quality of his works also keeps him from this. He sees that his works are stained with sins232) and need divine forgiveness, so that they do not condemn him. So how should he come to demand a reward for his works!233) The thought of the causa efficiens of his good works also keeps him from it. Certainly, he, the Christian, does the works. But he does not do them out of his natural nature. It is God who works the works in him and through him with his divine grace and power. What comes from his own natural nature is only hindrance and defilement of the works. If God nevertheless rewards the works, He thereby crowns His own work in the Christian. So how would a Christian, as a Christian, come to want to make himself tributary to God on the basis of his good works!234)
231) Because the reward is given purely by grace for the sake of Christ's merit. Chemnitz, Examen, p. 185. The reward of grace, even in bodily things, does not push the grace of God in Christ into the background, but brings it even more into the field of vision.
232) Chemnitz remarks on Is. 64:6 ("All our righteousness is like a foul garment"): Non de lapsibus, sed de bonis operibus loquitur propheta. (Examen, p. 187.)
233) Quenstedt (II, 1421): An potest postulare a Deo solutionem debitorum, qui quotidie debet petere a Deo: Dimitte nobis debita nostra? An meretur praemium aeternum, qui quotidie deprecatur poenam aeternam ? Aut qua fronte potest ostentare merita, cui petenda semper est venia? [Google]
234) Chemnitz (Examen, p. 188): Non sumus idonei ex nobis ipsis, 2 Cor. 3, sed Deus est, qui operatur in nobis et ut velimus et ut faciamus
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But now it stands that the Christian also has the old man about him, who asserts opinio legis against the Christian concept of grace and thereby puts the Christian in danger of losing grace and salvation. Hence Christ's admonition to the Twelve and to all Christians until the Last Day to take care that they do not become last from first. Luther addresses this powerfully, even applying it to himself. He says: " It is certainly necessary in our times that this gospel be preached to those who now know the gospel, to me and my kind, who can teach and master all the world and consider ourselves to be the next and have eaten up God's spirit pure with feathers and legs. For how is it that so many sects have arisen, one doing this, the other doing that in the gospel? Therefore it is without doubt that no one pays attention to them, that this passage affects them or concerns them: ‘The first are the last’. … Did it not happen the same way to the Pope? Since he did not mean anything else to his own, but that he was God's governor and the nearest of all, he also persuaded the world; but in the same way he became the devil's governor and the farthest from God, so that no man under the sun ever raged and raged against God and his Word. And yet he did not see the abominable treachery, for he was sure and did not fear this subtle, sharp, high, excellent judgment: ‘The first are last’. For it strikes at the very depth of the heart, at one's own spiritual conceit, which even in poverty, dishonor, misfortune considers itself the first, yes, then most of all. … So that God says: The first shall be last,' he takes away all presumption from thee, and forbids thee to exalt thyself above any harlot, though thou be Abraham, David, Peter, or Paul. But in that he saith: "The last shall be first," he defends you from all despair, and forbids you to be above any saint, even if you were Pilate, Herod, Sodom and Gomorrah. For as we have no cause to presume, neither have we cause to despair: but the middle way is strengthened and preserved by this gospel,
aliqua ipsi grata, Phil. 2. quod si igitur accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis ? 1 Cor. 4. Non igitur debitum ex vera et propria ratione meriti, sed misericordia et bonitas Dei est, quod dona sua in nobis Deus coronat. [Google]
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that we should not look to the penny, but to the goodness of the Father of the house, which is the same and the same over high and low, first and last, saints and sinners; and that no man should boast of it, or be comforted by it, or be presumptuous of it, more than another; for he is God not only of the Jews, but also of the heathen, even of all, whatsoever they be or be called."
That a semipelagian-synergistic theology cannot find itself in this sense of the warning words: "The first will be the last, and the last will be the first",235) is only natural, because it has eliminated the Christian concept of grace from theology in principle by letting the origin of faith and the staying in faith depend on aliquid in homine (on the right behavior, self-decision, self-setting etc.). That is why Thieme can also report of the modern positive theologians: "The Lutheran dogma, quod bona opera penitus excludenda sint, non tantum cum de iustificatione fidei agitur, sed etiam cum de salute nostra aeterna disputatur (F. C. 531, 7 [Trigl. 799, F.C ., Epit., IV, 7 🔗]), is held by only a few Lutherans nowadays."236) But if, in addition to the grace of God, good works are necessary for the attainment of salvation, grace and therefore also the reward of grace are thus eliminated from the Christian doctrine, and in its place, on principle, the reward of merit is set. It is equally futile to discuss with the Romans the question whether the reward of good works is a reward of grace or a reward of merit, because the Roman doctrine of the way to salvation has its essence in the fact that good works "truly merit" (vere mereri) justification and salvation.237) The Romans only disagree among themselves about whether good works "truly" deserve salvation half or fully. The Tridentine distributes the attainment of salvation from Christ's merit and to the merit of works.238) A number of Roman theologians,
235) Meyer, for example, finds in the warning of Christ the thought expressed that only a few in the kingdom of God bring it to a first-class performance and reward; Lange, for example, that in the kingdom of God it does not depend on extensive as well as intensive activity; Nösgen, for example, that the reward is conditioned by the faithfulness. These are all interpretations that stand in direct contradiction to the context.
236) RE. 3 XXI, 120.<w:t xml:space="preserve">237) Trident, sess. VI, cap. 16 and can. 32.
238) Trident, sess. VI, cap. 16: Ideo bene operantibus usque in finem et in Deo sperantibus proponenda est vita aeterna et tanquam gratia filiis Dei per Christ Iesum misericorditer promissa et tanquam merces ex
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especially Jesuits, reject this distribution and want that good works alone, apart from Christ's merit, truly deserve salvation. Andradius, the interpreter of the decisions of the Council of Trent, rejects it as contrary to Scripture and inconsistent if the bestowal of eternal life is divided between Christ's merit and the merit of our works, since Paul says: "To him who does works, the reward is imputed not by grace, but by duty." Andradius wants it recorded that the pious, with their good works, are no less deserving of salvation than the wicked, with their evil works, are deserving of eternal torment. The Jesuit Vasquez says, "that the works of the righteous have nothing to do with Christ's merits or person".239) Quenstedt, who otherwise writes with a certain reserve, adds here, "Satan so puffs up these men and so charms them by the conceit of their own merits that they fall out of Christ's righteousness and, leaning on a cane, sink down." 240) by the way, these disagreements among the Romans are of practically no importance, since even in the distribution of merit to Christ and good works the Christian concept of "grace" and therefore of "reward of grace" is completely abandoned: "If it is by grace, it is not by merit of works, otherwise grace would not be grace." 241) More important to the polemic is to point out another attempted deception of the Romans. When the Romans ascribe to works a half or whole merit or duty reward and describe such works as "done in God" and done by "living members of Christ,"242) they are reckoning with quantities that do not exist at all. Works,
ipsius Dei promissione bonis ipsorum operibus et meritis fideliter reddenda. [Google] Chemnitz (Examen, p. 186) remarks: "The reader should note that it seemed too impertinent to the Tridentine Fathers found it too impudent to attribute eternal life to our merits alone.. Therefore, they exercise some modesty and, for the sake of honor, distribute eternal life between Christ's merit and the merits of our works."
239) Operibus iustorum nullam accessionem dignitatis provenire ex meritis Christi aut ex eius persona. Cf. the quotations in Quenstedt from. the writings of the modestiores and crassiores Pontificii, II, 1421 sq. [Google].
240) Quenstedt 1. c.: Satan hos homines inflat et meritorum suorum persuasione fascinat, ut iustitia Christi excidant et ficulneo adminiculo innixi corruant. [Google]
241) Rom. 11:6.<w:t xml:space="preserve">242) Trident, sess. VI, can. 32.
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with which one "really" (vere) wants to earn salvation are not done "in God" but against God.243) Such works are also not rewarded, but are under God's curse.244) Also, such works are not done by "living members of Christ", but by those who have lost Christ245) or have not yet become members of the body of Christ at all.246) The situation is therefore this: As long as a man stands with his thoughts still extra muros ecclesiae, that is, has not yet recognized that man is in possession of salvation by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, without works, so long, when the reward of good works is addressed, he always thinks only of a reward of merit and not of a reward of grace. But as soon as someone has received Christian thoughts through the gospel, that is, believes in the forgiveness of sins and the salvation that Christ has completely acquired and offers in the gospel, his thoughts about the reward of good works also take on a Christian form, namely, that the reward can only ever be a reward of grace, as Christ so powerfully inculcates in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Therefore, The Apology also says: "We do not quarrel about the word 'wages'. If the adversaries admit that we are justified by faith for Christ's sake, and that good works are pleasing to God for faith's sake, we will not afterwards make a great dispute about the word 'wages'. We confess that eternal life is a reward because it is something that comes to us (res debita) because of the promise, not because of our merits. … Further, we say that good works are truly meritorious and meritoria. Not that they should merit forgiveness of sins or make us righteousness before God. For they are not pleasing to God; they are done by those whose sins are already forgiven. Neither are they worthy of eternal life, but are meritorious of other gifts which are given in this life and after this life." 247)
In what sense the Scriptures speak of a reward of good works, Luther takes thus:248) "In the end there remains to act a question, because in this sermon we have heard,
243) Rom. 10:3.<w:t>244) Gal. 3:10.<w:t>245) Gal. 5:4.
246) Rom. 9:31. 32.<w:t>247) Apol. 147, 241. 246. [Trigl 219, III, 241, 🔗, 246 🔗]
248) In his explanation of chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, St. L. VII, 666 ff.
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that Christ presses so hard on works, saying ch. 5:3, 7: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’; ‘Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy’; again v. 12: 'They shall be rewarded in heaven who suffer persecution for his sake'. And what is more, in the end of the 6th chapter, v. 46: "If you love those who love you, what reward will you have?” And in the 6th chapter, v. 4, of almsgiving, fasting and praying: "Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you publicly". From what passages do the unintelligent, false pastors conclude that one enters the kingdom of heaven and is saved by our works and deeds, and they build their foundations, monasteries, pilgrimages, masses, etc., on this basis. — Although this question is a little sharp and belongs more to the school of scholars than to the sermon chair for the simple, common man, nevertheless, because it occurs so often in the text, we do not have to pass it over and say something about it. For it is necessary that every man should know a little difference between grace and merit. For the two do not go together. Where grace is preached, merit cannot be preached; and what is grace cannot be merit, otherwise grace would not be grace, says St. Paul Rom. 11:6. There is no doubt about it. Therefore he that mixeth the two together maketh men to err, and deceiveth both himself and them that hear him. … Therefore let us hold fast our doctrine, that we leave no work anywhere to come to the matters of obtaining God's favor and grace, of being delivered from sins, and of entering into the kingdom of heaven. In short, my merit should be nothing. And if it is needed for this purpose, I should only trample it underfoot and condemn it to hell as a sorrowful devil, as this would hinder my faith and deny Christ. … But what sayest thou to this, that so many passages are of reward and merit? To this we say now, for the simple, that they are all comforts for Christians. For if you have become a Christian and have a merciful God and forgiveness of sins, both of which are past, and which are still in you daily, it will certainly be so that you will have to do and suffer much for the sake of faith and your baptism. For the wicked devil, together with the world and the flesh, will cling to you and torment you everywhere, as he has shown enough in these three
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chapters to make the world too narrow for you. He showed us enough in the first chapter that the world would become too narrow for you. If he leaves us stuck in it without word and comfort, we should despair and say: Who wants to be a Christian, preach and do good works? For we see how they are, and how the world tramples them under foot, blasphemes and defiles them, shows all shrewdness and deceitfulness, and finally takes away their honor, body and goods; and he calls me to be no other than poor, sorrowful, hungry, meek, peaceful, suffering and persecuted; shall it then last forever and not even change? — Then he must go forth and comfort and strengthen me, saying, Ye are now in grace, and the children of God: though ye suffer these things in the world, be not dismayed; but stand fast, and be not weary, nor let any thing come upon you, but do every man whatsoever he shall do: though he suffer these things, they shall not hurt him: and know that the kingdom of heaven is his, and that he shall be richly rewarded. How will he be paid? We have it before, through Christ, without and before all our doing. So, as St. Paul says, God wants to make a great, clear star out of you and give you a special gift, even in this life. For even here on earth a Christian can gain so much from God through his prayer and good works that he can save a whole country, take away wars, dear times, pestilence, etc. … Not that his work will make him a great, bright star and give him a special gift, even in this life. … Not that the work is so precious because of its dignity, but because he has promised it to us for strength and comfort, so that we do not think that our work, plague and misery are lost and forgotten. … Hence the fine passages and admonitions, such as Hebr. 10:35: Magnam habetis renumerationem etc., 'Let not your confidence fail you, which hath great reward'. And Christ Matt. 19:29: 'There is no one who leaves house or brethren or sister or father or mother or wife or child, who does not receive again a hundredfold now in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life' etc. So he also speaks here: Merces vestra magna est in coelo, 'It shall be well rewarded you in heaven'. So that he shows that they already have the kingdom of heaven and yet shall have it all the more gloriously when it is now revealed. … Now therefore learn to answer such passages, where it stands of merit and reward: I hear well that Christ saith: 'Blessed are the poor, for they shall receive the
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Kingdom of Heaven' and: 'Blessed are you, if for my sake you suffer persecution, for your reward is great in heaven' etc. But with this he does not teach me the foundation of my salvation, but gives me a promise of what comfort I shall have from it in my suffering and Christian life. You do not have to make a mixture for me and brew the two together, nor do you have to make my merit from that which God gives me in Christ, through baptism and the gospel. For it does not stand here that I can earn these things, nor that I may add to them Christ's baptism, but that those who are Christ's disciples, to whom he preached here, and who must suffer all things for his sake, know what they must comfort themselves with, because they will not suffer on earth, that they may have all things the more abundantly in heaven. For although, as I have said, in Christ all things are equal, and grace gives one to another, and brings to each one all salvation, as the highest and most common good, that he who has Christ certainly has all things, yet there will be a difference of clarity and glory, so that we may be adorned and shine. Just as now there is a difference of gifts, that one labors and suffers more than another; but in that life all will be made manifest, so that all the world will see what each has done, and will have the greater glory, which the whole heavenly host will rejoice in. That is enough of that for now. God keep us in his grace, shown in Christ! Amen." 249)