Green on Article XII: Of Good Works

This was one of the new Articles added in 1563, and appears to have been borrowed to some extent from the Article “ De Bonis Operibus” in the Wurtemburg Confession, in which the following passage occurs : —

“ Non est autem sentiendum, quod iis bonis operibus, quae nos facimus, in judicio Dei, ubi agitur de expiatione peccatorum, et placatione divinae irae, ac merito aeternae salutis, confidendum sit. Omnia enim bona opera, quae nos facimus, sunt imperfecta, nec possunt severitatem divini judicii ferre.”

§ 2 .—OBJECT.

Article XI. emphasises the great Reformation doctrine of

Justification by Faith only; Article XII. was drawn up with

the view of guarding against the practical evil which had been

seen to arise from the misunderstanding of that great doctrine.

Luther laid so much stress on faith that he came to depreciate

works, and even to deny them their proper place, and to speak

of S. James’ Epistle, which emphasises the necessity of good

works, as “ straminea epistola.” 1 Calvin’s exaggerated teaching on the subject of Predestination also tended to depreciation of man’s work. The matter, of course, did not rest with the authors of these teachings ; their followers went much ‘further, with the result that antinomianism became widely prevalent. It was in order to meet this evil outcome of the teaching of some of the Reformers that this Article was framed in 1563.

§ 3. — EXPOSITION.

(1.) Good Works are in themselves not Meritorious.

Good works … cannot put away our sins and endure the severity of God’s judgment :

Two things are here affirmed with regard to good works : —

(a) They cannot put away (expiare) sin.

Only the Blood of Christ can expiate sin (1 S. John i. 7) ; and it is a fatal error to put human merit in its place, as was too often done in mediaeval times.

( b ) They cannot endure the severity of God’s judgment.

We must all acknowledge that there is something of imperfection even in our best deeds (Ps. cxliii. 2).2 Good works, therefore, are not rewarded “ de condiyno , ” i.e ., because of their deserving it.3 &

With the teaching of the Article ‘on this head we should contrast —

(i.) The doctrine of the Church of Rome, according to which the good works of those who are justified are in themselves meritorious. See Council of Trent, Session VI., Canon XXXII. : —

“ Si quis dixerit, hominis justificati bona opera ita esse dona Dei, ut non sint etiam bona ipsius justificati merita ; aut ipsum

“Neither may we rejoice in any works that we do, which all be so im¬ perfect and impure that they are not able to stand before the righteous judgment-seat of God.”

3 As to the meaning of the scholastic phrase “mcritum de condiyno ” see notes on Art. XIII. The doctrine expressed by it was repudiated by the Continental, as by the English, Reformers. See, e.g., Saxon Confession, Art, IX. : .

“ Ideo inanis est imaginatio fingentium obedientiam placere sua dignitate, et esse meritum condigni, ut loquuntur, et justitiam coram Deo, quae sit meritum vitae aeternae.’

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justification bonis operibus, quae ab eo per Dei gratiam et Christi meritum fiunt, non vere mereri augmentum gratiae, vitam aeternam et ipsius vitae aeternae, si tamen in gratia decesserit, consecutionem, atque etiam gloriae augmentum ; anathema sit.”

(ii.) The tenets of Pelagius and his followers, who held that some men have lived perfectly sinless lives,1 so that their works would be able to endure the severity of God’s judgment.

(2.) Good Works are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ.

yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ,

Though not meritorious in themselves, yet the good works of Christians are pleasing to God, because of our union with Christ (see 1 S. Pet. ii. 5 ; Eph. ii. 10; Tit. ii. 14, iii. 8 ; ITeb. xiii. 16, 20, 21). To deny this is to divorce morality from religion. Some of the Reformers, however, did deny it,2 and no more severe blow could be struck at Christian morality.

(3.) The Relation of Good Works to Justifying Faitii.

Good works … are the fruits of faith, and follow after Justi¬ fication, … and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known, as a tree discerned by the fruit.

The relation of good works to faith is here very clearly and carefully stated : —

(<x) Good works are the fruits of faith.

( [b ) They do spring necessarily out of faith, so that where true faith is we may be sure that good works will also be found, and where good works are wanting faith is certainly dead (S. Matt. vii. 16-20; Tit. ii. 14; S. Jas. ii. 17-26).

(c) Thus works do not precede faith, so that a man may be justified by them, but follow after justification (justificatos sequuntur) — Eph. ii. 8-10.

The “ Homily of Salvation,” referred to in the last Article, lays down in similar language the proper relation of good works to faith : —

1 See notes on Art. IX.

2 Lutlicr, e.g., in 1518 offered to maintain this proposition at Heidelberg against all comers: “Non ille justus est qui multum operatur, sed qui sine opere multum credit in Christum.”

“Hor when they say that we be justified freely, they mean not that we should or might afterward be idle, and that nothing should be required on our parts afterward ; neither they mean not so to he justified without our good works, that we should do no good works at all” (p. 25)… .

“It followeth necessarily that some other thing should be required for our salvation than the law ; and that is a true and lively faith in Christ, bringing forth good works and a life accord¬ ing to God’s commandments” (p. 28)… .

“ Our office is not to pass the time of this present life unfruit- fully and idly after that we are baptized or justified, not caring how few good works we do to the glory of God and profit of our neighbours : much less it is our office, after that we be once made Christ’s members, to live contrary to the same” (pp. 29, 30).

Some examples may be given to show how this question of the relation of good works to faith is treated in the Confessions of the Protestant and Reformed bodies on the Continent : —

Augsburg Confession, Part I. Art. XX. :

[…]

“Principio, quod opera nostra non possint reconciliare Deum, aut mereri remissionem peccatorum, et gratiam et justificationem, sed hanc tantum fide consequimur… .

“Praeterea docent nostri, quod necesse sit bona opera facere, non ut confidamus per ea gratiam mereri, sed propter voluntatem Dei. Tantum fide apprehenditur remissio peccatorum ac gratia. Et quia per fidem accipitur Spiritus Sanctus, jam corda renovantur, et induunt novos affectus, ut parere bona opera possint.”

Tetrapolitan Confession, Cap. III. and Cap. V. :

[…]

“ His bona opera, tarn non rejicimus, ut prorsus negemus quen- quam plene posse salvum fieri, nisi hue per spiritum Christi evaserit, ut nihil jam bonorum operum in eo desyderetur, ad quae quidem Deus ilium condidit.”

Bohemian Confession, Articles IX. and X. :

“ Salvifica fides … ita per charitatem operatur quaevis bona et sancta opera, ex quibus tanquam arbor ex fructibus cognoscitur. Sicut enim ignis absque calore, et sol absque splendore : ita etiam vera fides et Christi particeps, sine renovatione et sine cliaritate, adeoque sine multis sanctis et bonis operibus nunquam et nusquam esse potest… .

“ Et talia bona opera placent Deo, non propter propriam ipsornm dignitatem et perfectionem … sed placent Deo per solum Chris¬ tum Iesum in persona vel homine, qui prius a Christo Domino per fidem in ipsum justificatus, et Deo acceptus redditus est, quando credit. ”

Belgic Confession, Art. XXIY. :

“ Fieri itaque non potest ut haec fides sancta in homine otiosa sit. Neque enim loquimur de fide vana atque mortua, sed de ea tantum quae in scriptura dicitur per charitatem operari : quaeque impellit hominem ut in illis sese operihus exerceat, quae Deus ipse in verbo suo praecepit. Haec vero opera a sincera fidei hujus radice emanantia, ideo demum bona et Deo grata sunt, quia per illius gratiam sanctificantur : ad nos autem justificandos nullius sunt prorsus moment!”

Second Helvetic Confession, Art. XYI. :

“ Docemus enim vere bona opera enasci ex viva fide, per Spiri- tum Sanctum, et a fidelibus fieri secundum voluntatem vel regulam verbi Dei… . Damnamus itaque omnes qui bona opera contem- nunt, non curanda et inutilia esse blaterant. Interim, quod et antea dictum est, non sentimus per opera bona nos servari, illaque ad salutem ita esse necessaria, ut absque illis nemo unquam sit servatus.”

Some difficulty has been caused by the apparent contradiction between the statements of S. Paul and S. James as to the place to be assigned to good works. Contrast Rom. iii. 20 ; iv. 2, 3 ; v. 1, with S. Jas. ii. 14, 21, 24, 26. The seeming contradic¬ tion may, however, be cleared up by a careful examination of the meaning of the terms used, and by keeping in mind the purpose with which each Apostle is writing.

The Epistle of S. James is a practical letter; he has in mind people who are content with a profession of belief only, and make no attempt to live up to it, and so, like a prophet of the Old Testament, or a practical preacher of our own day, S. James warns people that their life must be consistent with their pro¬ session, that mere intellectual acceptance is useless. “ The demons believe,” he says, but they are none the better ; they shudder, and are demons still (ii. 19). The man who relies upon faith is challenged to show his faith apart from works. Such exhibition is, of course, impossible. The test and proof of faith lies in the actions of life (ii. 14-18), so that where good works are found a living faith may be known to exist ( cf . S. Matt. vii. 16). By deeds, therefore, man will eventually be justified, his works form-

ing the ground of God’s judgment at the last day (cf. S. Matt, vii. 2 2, 23 ; Rom. ii. 5, 6 ; 2 Cor. v. 10, xi. 15 ; Rev. xx. 12, xxii. 12).

The Epistle to the Romans is a theological treatise, and there¬ fore the author approaches the subject of the relation of faith and works from a different standpoint. ‘ Justification/ as we have already seen, means with S. Paul the entering upon a state of $ LKaioavvYj , the coming of sinful man into a right relation with God, which is the starting-point of a new life. No efforts of man’s own can attain this Sucaiocruvti for himself, he has no power of himself to help himself, he is only required to accept in faith what God has done for him through Christ ; in other words, man is justified (in S. Paul’s sense of the term) by faith only, and not by works. At the same time the Apostle makes it clear in his writings that good works follow upon justification (Eph. ii. 10); that faith which justifies is not idle or barren, but issues in obedience (Rom. vi. 16), working by love (Gal. v. 6 ; 1 Thess. i. 3), and without love is altogether valueless (1 Cor. xiii. 2).

§ 4.— NOTEWORTHY EXPRESSION IN THIS ARTICLE.

The phrase “ justificatos sequuntur” should be noted. It is traceable to S. Augustine. Cf. “ De Fide et Operibus,” Cap. xiv. § 3 1 : —

“ Sequuntur enim (bona opera) justification, non praecedunt justificandum.”

This passage of S. Augustine is quoted in the “ Homily on Fasting” (p. 292; ed. S.P.C.K.).

Notes

• Preface to the New Testament, 1524, p. 105.
• Cf. the Homily “ Of the Misery of Man,” Part ii. p. 17 :