Thirdly, he does not give its due to man’s freedom in co-operating
in the doing of what is good; it is true he does not expressly deny
it, but it was his usual practice in his addresses to the people to
say as little as possible of his doctrine of the enslaved will.[131]
Along with faith, however, he extols the Holy Ghost. “Leave it to
the Holy Ghost!” Indeed faith itself, and the strong feeling which
should accompany it, are exclusively the work of the Holy Ghost. It
is the Holy Ghost alone Who believes, and feels, and works in man,
according to Luther’s teaching elsewhere. This action of God alone is
something different from actual grace. In the instructions he gave to
Melanchthon in 1536 concerning justification and works,[132] Luther
entirely ignores any action on man’s part as a free agent, and yet
here we have the “clearest expression” of his doctrine of how good
works follow on justification. The Protestant author of “Luthers
Theologie in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung” remarks of this work
(and the same applies to the above sermons and other statements):
“Luther is always desirous, on the one hand of depreciating man’s
claim to personal worth and merit, and on the other by his testimony
to God’s mercy in Christ, of furthering faith and the impulses and
desires which spring from faith and the spirit; here, too, he says
nothing of any choice as open to man between the Divine impulses
working within him and those of his sinful nature.”[133]
Fourthly, and most important of all, Luther says nothing of the true
significance of morality for the attainment of everlasting life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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