8. The Mischief of Luther's Doctrine.--Though Luther did not reject good works, and though he held that justifying faith would produce them, yet his doctrine has been the source of much mischief in the world. When it was charged by his vicar general, Staupitius, that his doctrines were the delight of debauches, and that many scandalous practices were the consequences of some of his publications, he could not deny the charge, but contented himself by saying, "I am neither afraid of such censorious representations, nor surprised to hear them." [26] Luther's doctrine of salvation by faith alone, as stated by Melanchthon, with his approval, stands thus: "Man's justification before God proceeds from faith alone. This faith enters man's heart by the grace of God alone." [27] This leaves man a passive creature in relation to his salvation. He is helpless to procure it; he can do nothing to hasten it; he is helpless; he must wait the divine workings of the grace of God. "As all things which happen," says Melanchthon, "happen necessarily, according to the divine predestination, there is no such thing as liberty in our wills." [28] [Note 4, end of section.] Other followers of Luther, among them one Nicholas Amsdorf, went so far as to maintain that good works were a hindrance to salvation.[29] 9. By denying the existence of human liberty, and maintaining {236} that all things happen necessarily, the reformers, with Luther at their head, laid themselves open to the charges made by the partisans of the church of Rome, viz.: Their doctrine threw open a door to the most unbounded licentiousness since it furnished men with this defense for the crimes they committed--"We could do no other, our fate did not permit us to do otherwise." By saying that good works were not necessary to salvation, and assisted in no way to procure it, the Reformers took away the chief incentive to good works, and removed the principal restraint to the doing of evil. 10. Moreover, their doctrine rendered void the ordinances and works required by the gospel; neither repentance nor baptism, nor any other act of obedience to God is essential if salvation is by faith alone. To say that it is a doctrine adverse to the whole tenor of scripture, notwithstanding a few isolated passages depended upon by the Reformers and their successors to support it, is not necessary here. It is sufficient to remark that it is a doctrine which would render the commandments of God incompatible with the powers and capacity of his creatures; a doctrine which destroys at once the consistency of God and the moral responsibility of man; and therefore a doctrine most pernicious and dangerous to entertain. [See note 5, end of section.]