Giants of the Reformation (2)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5.6

The Freedom of a Christian
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
“This is a truly Christian life. Here faith is truly active through love, that is, it finds expression in works of the freest service, cheerfully and lovingly done, with which a man willingly serves another without hope of reward; and for himself he is satisfied with the fullness and wealth of his faith.”

We are not saved by works, but we are not truly saved without them. Where the salvation of Christ has taken root, good works of love will appear and abound (cf. Heb. 6.1-9; Matt. 7.17-20). We must be equipped with a mindset for ministry and learn to pray and plan for good works in every situation to which the Lord sends us each day (Ps. 90.12, 16, 17). Pastors are wise shepherds when they illustrate the specific forms good works can take by preaching in ways that enable people to see themselves doing such good works. Think of Jesus saying, “Go and do likewise” after His vivid parable of the Good Samaritan. In all our preaching and equipping, we will be of most help to God’s people when we chart a course of good works on which they can see themselves travelling day by day in the Lord, following in the footsteps of Jesus, according to the Law and Word of God (1 Jn. 2.1-6).

What would be some examples of general good works all Christians should do?

T. M. Moore

Organizing with the Spirit
The Lord Jesus is building His Church. His Word is the blueprint, His Spirit is the General Contractor, and we are all builders together of the Body of Christ. But are we doing our work God’s way, or ours? The Spirit has His ways of organizing our work, and we do well to understand as much as we can about His methods. This is the argument of Dr. Kent Miller of Michigan State University, and you can watch our Conversation with Dr. Miller, and download a free copy of his paper on the subject, “Organizing with the Spirit,” by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christianin John Dillenberger, ed., Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings(New York: Doubleday, 1962).