Martin Luther and Faith Only
By Timothy Glover
Luther claimed that we are saved by faith in Christ, and not by any good works which we could accomplish and used Romans 1:17 as his proof text. Luther had problems harmonizing Paul with James. Consequently, we called James a “thoroughly insipid epistle,” that has no element of truth.
When we put ourselves in Luther’s place, we see a man who is attempting to fight the Catholic teaching that salvation could be earned and even bought. It seems to this student that Luther in his fight went to far in the opposite direction and adopted a position which was just as extreme.
Such a conclusion is based on both Paul and James who do not contradict each other but rather compliment each other. James’ purpose is to teach that Christians are a living demonstration of good works. They do not merely hear the word (ch.1), wish a person well (ch.2) nor give mental assent to something. Neither do they claim to be a friend of God and yet still maintain friendship with the world. Rather, they show their faith by their works, they show out of a good life works with meekness of wisdom (3:13), they bridle their tongues and visit the fatherless and widows. In short, they are a doer of the work (1:26). Corresponding to his emphasis, he writes, “Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only”.
Paul taught the same thing in Gal. 5:6 when he speaks of “faith working through love.” Still, we are not to depend on works as a means of forgiveness or “justification” (Romans). We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:7-10).
After excluding all works, even works which are necessarily associated with faith (Js. 2:22-24).Luther devised what is known as the “Order of Salvation”. It included the awakening of a sinner through the call of the Holy Spirit through the word, repentance and confession of sins to God which results in a change called the “new birth.” Baptism is only a confirming of what God has already accomplished and is in no way connected to salvation, according to him. Yet, Peter says, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Clearly Luther could not harmonize faith with works. People still have the same difficulty. Yet, the Bible teaches that the two do not conflict each other but are compliments.
