2012 Convention Essay: "Created in Christ Jesus for Good Works"

Lutherans, with their emphasis on justification by grace for Christ’s sake through faith alone, have often been accused of being opposed to good works. However, Christ’s religion teaches that while God demands an absolute perfection, which sinful man can never produce, God has secured righteousness freely for all sinners through the person and work of His Son. While sinners cannot produce the righteousness that will save them, God intends that His people serve Him in righteousness here in time and hereafter in eternity. These truths are taught in Ephesians 2:8–10, Luke 1:74–75, and Titus 2:11–14.
Some object that salvation by faith alone gives Christians a license to sin, but the Bible teaches, “God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). After Martin Luther’s death, Lutheran theologians also struggled with the role of good works—some saying that good works are necessary for salvation and others saying they are injurious to salvation. Both statements were condemned by the Formula of Concord, which taught that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, but that believers are to exercise themselves in good works out of gratitude to God.
Lutheran worship abounds with prayers and exhortations that desire believers to see godliness increase in their daily lives. Similar expressions occur in Luther’s Small Catechism, especially in the Table of Duties. However, the Law should not be preached as moralism so as to make people think that they can become righteous before God by a proper behavior. Only the Gospel about Jesus’ atonement gives people the strength to fulfill God’s will.
The Gospel is not always fully proclaimed, for many Christian preachers speak about Christ’s passive obedience (His death on the cross) and say nothing about Christ’s active obedience (His keeping God’s Law perfectly). When only half of the Gospel is heard, the believer is given the mistaken impression that something is lacking, that is, a life of righteousness before God. But true righteousness before God can only be found in Jesus Christ, not in a combination of the works of Christ and of the believer.
The believer is righteous before God through faith in Jesus and is called a saint. The exhortation to live holy lives follows faith, as a privilege and honor.
Apart from Christ we can do nothing.
In the sight of God, our righteous acts are unacceptable to Him apart from Christ. The sinner has no power to produce good works without sinful motives. For “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Spirit-wrought good works are not done to receive glory or reward by the doer, they are done to glorify God and benefit one’s neighbor. Because the sinful nature still clings to the believer, he needs constant instruction about what is a good work. Bad good works only have the appearance of being good, such as the Pharisee who boasted in the temple (Luke 18:12). Bad good works are not works of faith. They have value only on earth, not in eternity.
Faith without works is dead; works without faith in Christ are equally dead. To God, the works done in the church in Sardis were dead works (Revelation 3:1–6). Christ told them, “Remember what you received and heard” (Revelation 3:3). Through the Gospel message from God’s Word, you have been made alive in Christ and therefore you will produce fruits of faith, which then give glory to God.
When did we see You hungry and feed You?
On Judgment Day, the righteous will ask Jesus, “When did we see You hungry and feed You?” (Matthew 25:37). Jesus will point to the works that believers do in their vocations (that is, God-given callings) as parents, citizens, church members, etc. (read 1 Corinthians 7:17 and 1 Thessalonians 4:10–12). Good works are mostly done in vocation.
Believers see in their neighbors the needs of Jesus, and they respond as Jesus’ lips, eyes, hands, and feet. Through the farmer, rancher, grocer, tailor, shoemaker, carpenter, plumber, banker, trucker, governor, mayor, soldier, police officer, firefighter, doctor, nurse, therapist, lawyer, teacher, mother, father, and children, God is hidden as He does His work among us. God uses believers and unbelievers in their vocations to serve the human race.
Care must be taken so that “church work” is not elevated to the neglect of other God-given vocations. Godly lives show forth the love of Christ in the world. The believer lives a merciful life toward others in the home, workplace, congregation, and community. However, it is the Lord who is at work and is glorified through this life of self-sacrifice (see 2 Corinthians 5:14–15). The common, ordinary works done in Jesus’ name will be revealed in the final judgment as evidence of faith in Christ.
Proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you.
Good works are to be accompanied by good words, as in 1 Peter 2:9. Believers proclaim the excellencies of God in corporate worship (Colossians 3:16) and in their daily interactions with each other (Colossians 3:12–14). They also engage those outside the Church by acts of kindness and mercy.
Every Christian is part of the mission of the Church. God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. As the Gospel is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works to create faith in the hearers. The command to speak the word of our Lord is present in the vocation of a brother or sister in the faith (Matthew 18:15–20). The Bethlehem shepherds and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well are examples of a spontaneous proclamation of the Gospel (see Luke 2:17–18 and John 4:29). All believers are to be prepared to know how to answer each person (Colossians 4:6 and 1 Peter 3:15).
However, consciences are not to be burdened under a moralistic law message filled with guilt convincing people that they must tell the Gospel to others. All Christians are to support the mission of the Church and use opportunities to speak the Gospel. However, they primarily engage the unbelieving world through their vocations as they show their love for Christ in helping others. Jesus is the servant of all servants. Believers get to show humility of service while having all that they do hidden in Him.
As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
The New Testament has many explicit calls for Christians to live godly lives in their vocations. Acts of charity are never the Gospel, but they are connected as fruits of faith. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches what it means to love one’s enemies (Luke 6:27–36). Throughout the Gospels, Jesus calls upon believers to show mercy, first, to fellow believers and then to those outside the Church.
Stir up one another to love and good works.
The 2011 Strategic Plan goal says: “View each congregation in the synod as a mission congregation.” This will involve some in local evangelism work. But the members also need to be encouraged to naturally serve their neighbors in love through their vocations and thereby engage them with Jesus. Neighbors can see how believers deal with crosses in trials as they trust in God. Believers can send letters and cards, include them in prayers, help with meals and transportation, visit people with gifts, or comfort the sick and dying. They can seek out needs in the community that are not being met—food, care for the disabled, help for the blind or deaf, etc.
The mission of engaging others with Jesus is intimately connected with the life in this world of the Christian who is called by the Lord to serve his or her neighbor in Jesus’ name. Christian service and evangelism work together as believers engage others with Jesus in word and deed.
When the topic of good works is considered, there exist many dangers to faith in Jesus because the sinful nature desires to make good works contribute to salvation. However, this danger cannot excuse us from practicing good works. God has made us privileged children who have been created, redeemed, and sanctified for good works. We now get to be our Lord’s heart of grace and mercy, His hand of kind service, and His mouth of peace and comfort. The Bible urges us to consider “how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).
The Convention Essay was delivered by the Rev. Glenn Obenberger, co-pastor of Parkland Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Washington. The essay was redacted by the editor.