FORGET ABOUT GOOD WORKS
Psalm
45:10-11
Listen,
O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house.
The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
Faith is
very fragile and needs to hear the command: “Forget your father’s house.”
Something inside of us strongly compels us to keep trying to earn God’s
approval. We look for good works, in which we can place our trust and which
will bring us praise. We want to show God what we have done and say, “See, I
have done this or that. Therefore, you must pronounce me righteous.”
None of us should be overconfident
when it comes to forgetting our own good works. Each one of us carries in our
heart a horrible religious fanatic. We would all like to be able to do something
so spectacular that we could brag. “Look what I’ve done! With all my prayers
and good works, I’ve done enough for God today that I can feel at peace.” This
happens to me too after I have accomplished something in my ministry. I’m much
happier than if I hadn’t done it. Being happy isn’t wrong in itself. But this
joy is impure because it isn’t based on faith. It’s the kind of happiness that
can make your conscience confused. Consciences are delicate. We need to guard
them against the sin of arrogance. So we can’t be overconfident. We who confess
Christ should always walk in fear and grow in faith. We should realize that we
all carry in our hearts a horrible religious fanatic, who will destroy our
faith with foolish delusions of good works.
The
Holy Spirit provides us with a way to counter this godless delusion. We need to
hold tightly to what we have received through the grace of God. God’s approval
doesn’t come to us by what we do. Rather, it comes through the holiness of
Christ, who suffered for us and rose again from the dead.
Faith Alone: A
Daily Devotional, By Martin
Luther. March 1.