Lutheranism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Good works=== [[File:Die-Auferstahung-Christi 15.jpg|thumb|"Even though I am a sinner and deserving of death and hell, this shall nonetheless be my consolation and my victory that my Lord Jesus lives and has risen so that He, in the end, might rescue me from sin, death, and hell", said [[Martin Luther]] concerning the meaning of the Resurrection.<ref>quoted in {{Cite journal |last=Scaer |first=David P. |date=July 1983 |title=Luther's Concept of the Resurrection in his Commentary on I Corinthians 15 |url=http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/scaerlutherresurrection.pdf |access-date=2023-09-28|journal=[[Concordia Theological Quarterly]] |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=219}}</ref>]] Lutherans believe that [[Augsburg Confession]]'s "Article XX: Of Good Works" are the fruit of faith,<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015:5;&version=31; John 15:5], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Tit.%202:14;&version=47; Tit. 2:14], Engelder, T.E.W., ''[https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1 Popular Symbolics]''. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. pp. 62–63, Part XV. "Conversion", paragraph 88 The New Obedience Is The Fruit Of Conversion, The Product Of Faith.</ref> always and in every instance.<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Cor.%209:8;&version=31; 2 Cor. 9:8], Krauth, C.P.,''[https://archive.org/details/conservativeref00kraugoog The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology: As Represented in the Augsburg Confession, and in the History and Literature of the Evangelical Lutheran Church] ''. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.. 1875. pp. 313–314, Part D Confession of the Conservative Reformation: II, Secondary Confessions: Book of Concord, Formula of Concord, Part IV The Doctrinal Result, 2, Section iv, Of Good Works.</ref> Good works have their origin in God,<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Phil%202:13;&version=47; Phil 2:13], Engelder, T.E.W., ''[https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1 Popular Symbolics]''. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. p. 74, Part XIX. "Preservation in Faith", paragraph 102.</ref> not in the fallen human heart or in human striving;<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.%207:18;&version=31; Rom. 7:18] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb%2011:6;&version=49; Heb 11:6], Engelder, T.E.W., ''[https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1 Popular Symbolics]''. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. pp. 39–40, Part VIII. "Sin", paragraph 46 "Original Sin".</ref> their absence would demonstrate that faith, too, is absent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mat.%207:15-16;&version=31;|title=Mat. 7:15–16; NIV – True and False Prophets|work=Bible Gateway|access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> Lutherans do not believe that good works are a factor in obtaining salvation; they believe that we are saved by the grace of God—based on the merit of Christ in his suffering and death—and faith in the Triune God. Good works are the natural result of faith, not the cause of salvation. Although Christians are no longer compelled to keep God's law, they freely and willingly serve God and their neighbors.<ref>Albrecht Beutel, "Luther's Life", tr. Katharina Gustavs, in ''The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther'', ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2003), 11.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page