But listen to how Luther preaches sanctification.
It is for this reason that your preaching will be something altogether new and foreign to the world, namely, that apart from faith in me all else in sin, regardless how good and holy the deed may be in the eyes of the world. On the other hand, for those who believe in me, all sins, regardless of how great and grievous they may be, are covered up and forgiven; yes everything that believers do, whether they eat or drink, wake or sleep, and so on, all good works are acceptable and pleasing before God. But as far as the godless and unbelievers are concerned, regardless of how good and holy they appear, are all sins, so that even when they take a bite of bread they incur displeasure and commit sin, and on Judgment Day they will have to give account of each vain word they have spoken (Luther's House Postils, The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 6, p. 100).
Sanctification is vocational. It's when Jesus, through His imputed righteousness given to the sinner through the means of grace, sanctifies your works. Ordinary works. Everyday works. You don't have to be trained to do them. They aren't special, apart from the fact that the sin which stains them is covered up with Christ's righteousness.
So how do you do good works? Listen to a sermon, eat Jesus' body and drink His blood and believe that these are given for you. Then go do something. Anything. As long as that something isn't returning to a life of sin, you're living the sanctified life. You're doing good works.
My apologies for responding to your comment almost a year later. It got hung up awaiting moderation, and, as you can see, I have not been very active on this blog for a while.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised that you disagree with my view on imputed righteousness (I see that you are an apologist for traditional Romanism).
If I understand your argument correctly, you are stating that faith was reckoned (logizomai) to Abraham as righteousness because his faith was a righteous act. God simply reckoned what already existed by virtue of his works.
If God reckoned as man reckoned, I would agree with you. But His logizomai is different thing altogether. That is the whole point of the first half of Romans. If there is not even a single penny in the bank, and God reckons that there is $25, then there is $25 by virtue of His creative Word.
So the righteousness that is manifest apart from the Law (Rom 3:21-22), which is found in Christ and through faith is reckoned to us who are spiritually bankrupt. So it is really there. This passive faith receives the righteousness of Christ, which in turn sanctifies the entirety of our works.
This is not simply conceptual theology, but as you point out in citing Rom 6, it is a baptismal reality. The Baptized are given Christ's righteousness (imputed, reckoned by God), and thus are able to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive in Christ.
Thus, righteousness is also active in good works, worked for the benefit of your neighbor. But this follows God's reckoning of righteousness; it does not precede it.
Luther's distinction between the two kinds of righteousness (passive before God, active before the world) is very helpful in this respect.