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It could hardly be said any more efficiently and crisply. But then he says: “the only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).
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The apostle Paul wrote that there are some matters in life that are indifferent in regard to the Christian life he was talking specifically about taking on ritual matters in the law of Moses. In each case we find that faith and works can indeed be distinguished from one another, and then see that each has its own function, but then realize that they cannot be totally separated in life. So how does one think through the matter of faith and works? It is helpful to go to the New Testament and to the writings of Luther for some guidance. In his day good works often did not mean doing good for other people but using money to buy church-sponsored indulgences and observing religious customs and rules under the watchful eye of church authorities. It was especially about good works in that sense that Luther had objections. That way of thinking is almost always on the surface when we talk about giving to the church within the over-all stewardship of what has been entrusted to us. Immediately that old, familiar thought comes to mind: we are saved by grace, accepted in faith, not by our good works. That is not because they are any worse (or better) than most other Christians, but so often, by default or spiritual DNA, they think immediately about what the Bible, Martin Luther, and the Lutheran confessional documents say about faith and works. Lutheran Christians sometimes get nervous when we begin to talk about ethics. But the point is that how we handle that which is entrusted to us is an ethical concern. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, but it is something that is not thought or talked about. Amen.Ĭhristian stewardship has an ethical basis to it. Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, comforted by your promises, we may embrace and forever hold fast to the hope of eternal life which you have given us in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Living in Abundance: Faith Working through Loveīlessed Lord God, you have caused the Holy Scriptures to be written for the nourishment of your people. The second session looks at the distinction between faith and works as they relate to stewardship.
LOVE IN FAITH SERIES
A three-part series of Bible lessons about stewardship.