Martin Luther on Christian Living

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The fight of the Reformation was always this basic truth about authentic faith, "Salvation is by faith alone but never by a faith that is alone."  It means that if your faith is authentic then it's bound to produce good works.  It won't be a faith that's stagnant and never grows.  Instead, this faith results to good works.  James 2:14-26 makes it clear that the pattern is you get saved and good works follow as a result of salvation.  If that faith produces no good works then consider it a dead faith.

Luther's emphasis on Christian living can be viewed this way.  It's not about being good but becoming good, not to be well but to get well, not being but becoming and it's all by God's grace.  I find the whole idea that you get saved and then God leaves you alone, you must work to keep your salvation and God just saved you initially but you must do the rest to be abhorrent.  The reason is because when a Christian does good works, it's the grace of God that's working in their lives.  Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 2:11-14 gives no room for barren Christianity because if God's grace is there then there's going to be a real change.

Grace may be free but it's not cheap.  It cost God His only Son to make it free and that knowledge alone makes Christians hate sin all the more.  While Christians don't get their sin 100% nailed to the cross but there's one thing certain.  You can't deny that Christians are destined to become good, get well, training and it's a lifelong process from justification to sanctification to glorification.  The Christian life is a battlefield against sin until that glorious day Jesus decides to call His own home.


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