Thesis 9.
To say that works without Christ are dead, but not mortal, appears to constitute a perilous surrender of the fear of God
"For in this way men become certain and therefore haughty, which is perilous. For in such a way God is constantly deprived of the glory which is due him and which is transferred to other things, since one should strive with all diligence to give him the glory -- the sooner the better. For this reason the Bible advises us, "Do not delay being converted to the Lord." [Sirach 5:8] For if that person offends him who withdraws glory from him, how much more does that person offend him who continues to withdraw glory from him and does this boldly! But whoever is not in Christ or who withdraws from him withdraws glory from him, as is well known." (LW 31, 47).
As we have shown before, Theses 7 and 8 have insisted that works done without fear of God by either the righteous or unrighteous are mortal sins, but theologians of glory are always looking for loopholes and arguing the leg off an iron pot. They raise the following questions; What is one to say of works that are genuinely good but done by nonbelievers, that is, works "without Christ"? Is every act of an unbeliever is a mortal sin?
Most theologians and pastors were so often asked this kind of question in class and Bible study. How many "benevolent pagans' are among us? Even though they do not believe in Jesus Christ, they still do good works. For no other reason than that they are nonbelievers, if we say their every act is a mortal sins, is that not too harsh?
The scholastic tradition tried to deal with this, as usual, by making a distinction between works that are dead but not deadly (mortal). Good works done "without Christ" are said to be dead in the sense that (being without grace) they are not meritorious, but still they were not such as to be mortal, that is, deserving of eternal condemnation.
Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica answered the question of "Whether Every Act of an Unbeliever is a Sin?"
""¦ mortal sin takes away sanctifying grace, but does not wholly corrupt the good of nature. Since therefore, unbelief is a mortal sin, unbelievers are without grace indeed, yet some good of nature remains in them. Consequently it is evident that unbelievers cannot do those good works which proceed from grace, viz. meritorious works; yet they can, to a certain extent, do those good works for which the good of nature suffices. Hence it does not follow that they sin in everything they do." (Summa Theologica, II-II, Q 10, Art. 4)
Here Luther equates "dead works' with "deadly works'. Luther argued that if works are dead, then God's glory is displaced. Thus are dead works mortal sins. For Luther, the distinction between "dead works' and "deadly works' made us surrender the fear of God. Once again the issue is the fear of God. To say that a work is dead but not deadly is perilous for piety because it leaves the unbeliever some room for avoiding the crisis inherent in the command to fear God. As long as we can comfort ourselves that our works are only dead, but not deadly, we can "postpone' both giving glory to God and, consequently, turning to God. Therefore, Luther boldly argued:
"To an unbelieving person nothing renders service or work for good. He himself is in servitude to all things, and all things turned out for evil to him, because he uses all things in impious way for his own advantage, and not for the glory of God." (Martin Luther "Concerning Christian Liberty: with , Letter of martin Luther To Pope Leo X, RDMc publishing, 2007, p. 41.)
Recently, some churches and denominations have caused a stir in the Christian church by allowing same sex marriage and gay clergy. The Presbyterian Church (USA) changed the denomination's definition of marriage so that PCUSA pastors and PCUSA churches may conduct same-sex weddings, and they have even allowed openly gay clergy. In addition, Ireland, a well-known conservative Catholic country, passed same-sex marriage referendum. In modern times, opposing same sex marriage has become known as an icon of discrimination and oppression.
Faith without fear of God has also become more widespread in Christianity. Many churches require Christians to be, "gracious," to homosexual as well as nonbeliever, in the name of the protection of the weak in society.
Meanwhile, many of the sacred scriptural truths which precipitated the Reformation are in danger of being lost. The challenges to Christian truth have first been tolerated, then accepted, and now affirmed.
With the 500th Reformation Anniversary coming up soon, we should listen humbly to the voice of the reformer. Theological attempts to be, "more gracious," to the challenges to Christian truth only lead further disaster.
Reverend and Doctor Jin O Jeong is an assistant pastor for the Korean congregation at Zion Lutheran Church, Belleville, IL. He graduated from Luther University and received a Ph.D from Yonsei University. He was also a Research Fellow at Hebrew University and Visiting Scholar at Yale Divinity School. Tel: 618-920-9311 Email : jjeong@zionbelleville.org
