3rd Freedom Teaching - The Power of Faith

[joseph]

The Second power of Faith – Honoring God
Deacon Kathy Walzer

Last time we talked about Luther’s discussion of the first power of
faith, that it justifies us before a holy God and allows us to be
counted righteous by grace received through faith. As Abraham, so we
to, believe God and it is accounted to us as righteousness.

The second power of Faith, Luther goes on to explain, is that by
putting our faith in God (and not our own works), we honor Him, by
acknowledging that He is true, and faithful, and righteous, and alone
is able to justify the unrighteous (us). Unbelief, by contrast, makes
God out to be a liar, and sets ourselves up as righteous (self-
righteous) and so we make ourselves into idols and refuse to accept
the mercy and salvation that God offers us in Christ by sheer grace
through faith.

Because faith honors God as righteous and true, “it submits to His
will in all things and allows itself to be treated according to God’s
good pleasure” trusting in God’s goodness in and through all
circumstances. And such a soul becomes “most obedient to God in all
things by this faith.” This obedience, however, “is not rendered by
works, but by faith alone.”

Unbelief, however, is the very epitome of rebellion, renouncing God’s
truthfulness and rejecting his offer of grace. And so, Luther asks,
“what good are works done in such wickedness, even if they were works
of angels or apostles?” All sins are included, rolled up as it were,
into the sin of unbelief, says Luther, so that “they who imagine that
they are fulfilling the law by doing the works of chastity and mercy
required by the law (the civil and human virtues) may not be saved.”
They must either “seek mercy or be justly condemned” because of the
sin of unbelief.

Therefore, Luther contends that we must first be righteous before we
can do any good works, because good works done without faith
(especially if we put our trust in the works themselves for our
righteousness) cannot save, but worse, deceive us, and may even
prevent us from seeking the mercy of God at the foot of the cross.

“Faith works truth and righteousness,” says Luther, “by giving God
what belongs to him. Therefore God in turn glorifies our
righteousness.” He does this by reckoning us righteousness by faith
as He did Abraham and all others who believed Him.