is not under the law but under grace ; and being accepted for what Christ did, it is of little consequence what he does. Luther denounced this perversion of the Gospel, which overlooked en- tirely the distinction between the law as a covenant of works demanding perfect obedience as the condition of justification, and the law as the revelation of the immutable will of God as to what rational creatures should be and do in character and con- duct. He insisted that faith was the receiving of Christ, not only for the pardon of sin, but also as a saviour from its power ; that its object was not merely the death, but also the obedience of Christ.1
The controversy was renewed not long after in another form, in consequence of the position taken by George Major, also a pupil of Luther and Melancthon, and for some years professor of theology and preacher at Wittenberg. He was accused of ob- jecting to the proposition " we are saved by faith alone " and of teaching that good works were also necessary to salvation. This was understood as tantamount to saying that good works are necessary to justification. Major, indeed, denied the justice of this charge. He said he did not teach that good works were necessary as being meritorious, but simply as the necessary fruits of faith and part of our obedience to Christ ; nevertheless, he maintained that no one could be saved without good works. How then can infants be saved? And how can this uncondi- tional necessity of good works be consistent with Paul's doctrine that we are justified by faith without works ? Whom God jus- tifies He glorifies. Justification secures salvation ; and, therefore, if faith alone, or faith without works, secures justification, it se- cures salvation. It is very evident that this was a dispute about words. Major admitted that the sinner was in a state of salva- tion the moment he believed, but held that if his faith did not produce good works it was not a saving faith. In his sermon " On the Conversion of Paul," he said: " As thou art now justified by faith alone, and hast become a child of God, and since Christ and the Holy Ghost through that faith dwell in thy heart, so are good works necessary, not to obtain salvation (which thou already hast as a matter of grace, without works, through faith alone on the Lord Jesus Christ), but to hold fast your salvation, that it be not lost, and also because if thou dost not produce good works, it is an evidence that thy faith is false and dead, a mere pretence or opinion." Amsdorf, the chief representative
* See Domer, Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie, Munich, 1867, pp. 336- 344.
240 PART in. Ch. xvm. — sanctification.
of the extremists in this controversy, laid down his doctrine in the following propositions : (1.) Etsi haec oratio : bona opera sunt necessaria ad salutem in doctrina legis abstractive et de idea tolerari potest, tamen multae sunt graves causae, propter quas vitanda, et fugienda est non minus, quam haec oratio : Christus est creatura. (2.^ In foro justificationis haec propositio nullo modo ferenda est. (3.) In foro novae obedientiae post reconcili- ationem nequaquam bona opera ad salutem, sed propter alias causas necessaria sunt. (4.) Sola fides justificat in principio, medio, et fine. (5.) Bona opera non sunt necessaria ad retinen- dam salutem. (6.) Synonyma sunt et aequipollentia, seu ter- mini convertibiles, justificatio et salvatio, nee ulla ratione distrahi aut possunt aut debent. (7.) Explodatur ergo ex ecclesia co- thurnus papisticus propter scandala multiplicia, dissensiones innu- merabiles et alias causas, de quibus Apostoli Act. xv. loquuntur."
The " Form of Concord," in which this and other controversies in the Lutheran Church were finally adjusted, took the true ground on this subject, midway between the two extreme views. It rejects the unqualified proposition that good works are necessary to salvation, as men may be saved who have no opportunity to testify to their faith by their works. On the other hand, it utterly condemns the unwarrantable declaration that good works are hurt- ful to salvation ; which it pronounces to be pernicious and full of scandal. It teaches that " Fides vera nunquam sola est, quin car- itatem et spem semper secum habeat." *
The same doctrine was clearly taught in the Lutheran Symbols from the beginning, so that the charge made by Romanists, that Protestants divorced morality from religion, was without founda- tion, either in their doctrine or practice. In the " Apology for the Augsburg Confession " it is said : " Quia fides affert Spiritum Sanctum, et parit novam vitam in cordibus, necesse est, quod pa- riat spirituales motus in cordibus. Et qui sint illi motus, ostendit propheta, cum ait : ' Dabo legem meam in corda eorum.' Post- quam igitur fide justificati et renati sumus, incipimus Deum timere, diligere, petere, et expectare ab eo auxilium In- cipimus et diligere proximos, quia corda habent spirituales et sanctos motus. Haec non possunt fieri, nisi postquam fide justi- ficati sumus et renati accipimus Spiritum Sanctum Pro-
fitemur igitur, quod necesse est, inchoari in nobis et subinde magis magisque fieri legem. Et complectimur simul utrumque, videlicet spirituales motus et externa bona opera. Falso igitur
1 Epitome, m. xi. ; Hase, Libri Symbolici, 3d edit. 1846, p. 586.