Required reading
Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge (Vol 3) (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Chapter 18 by reading up to the heading '6. Relation of good works to reward.'
My summary
Hodge continues to teach us about sanctification.
Firstly Hodge discusses the method of sanctification. Sanctification occurs by:
(i) faith;
(ii) union with Christ;
(iii) the inward work of the Holy Spirit;
(iv) constant occasion for the exercise of all the graces of the Spirit;
(v) the church;
(vi) the sacraments;
(vii) the constnt exercise of the kingly office of Christ.
Secondly Hodge speaks about the fruits of sanctification: good works. They are defined as works:
(i) that the law prescribes;
(ii) that have motives that the law requires;
(iii) that are called 'good' in the Scriptures.
Thirdly today, Hodge tells us about the necessity of good works in comparison to the teaching of Antinomianism.
What grabbed me
I loved the overview of the Protestant teaching on the necessity of good works: 'On this subject there has never been any real difference of opinion among Protestants, although there was in the early Lutheran Church some misunderstanding. First. It was universally admitted that good works are not necessary to our justification ; that they are consequences and indirectly the fruits of justification, and, therefore, cannot be its ground. Secondly, it was also agreed that faith, by which the sinner is justified, is not as a work, the reason why God pronounces the sinner just. It is the act by which the sinner receives and rests upon the righteousness of Christ, the imputation of which renders him righteous in the sight of God. Thirdly, faith does not justify because it includes, or is the root or principle of good works ; not as " fides obsequiosa." Fourthly, it was agreed that it is only a living faith, i. e., a faith which works by love and purifies the heart, that unites the soul to Christ and secures our reconciliation "with God. Fifthly, it was universally admitted that an immoral life is inconsistent with a state of grace ; that those who wilfully continue in the practice of sin shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The Protestants while rejecting the Romish doctrine of subjective justification, strenuously insisted that no man is delivered from the guilt of sin who is not delivered from its reigning power ; that sanctification is inseparable from justification, and that the one is just as essential as the other.'
Good works don't save, but are of vital importance.
Next week's reading
Conclude Chapter 18.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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