Письмо 47
The Error of Passive Faith
The author addresses a misunderstanding regarding justification by faith alone, contrasting it with the necessity of active Christian life.
Save yourselves! Peace be with you!✦ That odd fellow, N.,1 N. has gotten tangled up in the Lutheran idea of justification (that is, that is, just believe and you'll be saved.✦ Works won't help). There's a lot of confusion about this among Lutherans. Everyone goes a different way!
Grace and the Life of Deeds
The author explains that grace is given to empower the believer to fulfill God's will through active obedience and labor.
Here's how one ought to believe: By nature a human being is bound to do God's will, must love God and neighbor and show it by deeds—but he fell and became powerless. The Lord came and established on earth the way of salvation in His Holy Church. Here sins are taken away, and power is given to do God's will. What is that power given for, if not for deeds? The Apostle Paul commands the baptized to walk in "newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).✦ In another place, he says that we have been chosen and called to be holy and blameless before the Lord in love (Eph.✦ 1:4).✦ According to the Apostle Peter, for what purpose are all the divine powers given?✦ For life and godliness (2 Pet.✦2 1:3).✦ How is a person to cleanse his heart? By working to keep the commandments that stand against the passions. Ask for help, but do the work yourself as well.
The Synergy of Labor and Humility
The author balances the necessity of personal effort with the need for divine help, warning against self-reliance.
Without your own effort, help won't come. But even from labor, if help does not come, nothing will come of it. Both are necessary. In a moral sense, to proposition N.3 N.4 one may give weight. So: keep doing the work, keep at it, but don't rely on your deeds and don't fixate on them; instead, as the Apostle says, "forgetting what is behind, stretch forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13). I wish you every blessing from the Lord.
Read the original Russian
Спасайтесь! Мир вам! Чудак N. N. запутался в лютеранской мысли об оправдании (т. е. , только веруй и спасешься. Дела не помогут).
У Лютеран большая в отношении к сему пункту путаница. Кто куда! Вот как надо веровать: Человек по природе обязан исполнять волю Божию, должен любить Бога и ближних и показывать то делами, но он пал и сделался бессилен. Пришел Господь и учредил на земле путь спасения во Святой Своей Церкви. Здесь снимаются грехи и дается сила творить волю Божию. За чем же это дается сила, если не на дела? Апостол Павел крещенным заповедует ходить в «обновлении жизни» (Рим. 6:4).
В другом месте говорит, что мы избраны и призваны быть святыми и непорочными пред Господом в любви (Еф. 1:4). У Апостола Петра: все силы Божественные даны за чем? К животу и благочестию (2Пет. 1:3). Как человек очистит свое сердце? Трудом в исполнении заповедей, противоположных страстям. Проси помощи, но и сам трудись.
Без своего труда и помощь не придет. Но и из труда, если не придет помощь, ничего не выйдет. И то и другое нужно. В нравственном смысле, предложению N. N. можно дать вес. Так: делай, делай, но не опирайся на дела и не засматривайся на них; а по Апостолу, «задняя забывая, в передняя простирайся» (Флп. 3:13).
Желаю вам всех благ от Господа.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.20.19 — On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
- ↩Acts.16.31 — And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household."
- ↩Rom.6.4 — Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
- ↩Eph.1.4 — just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love
- ↩Eph.1.4 — just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love
- ↩2Pet.1.3 — just as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,
- ↩2Pet.1.3 — just as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,
- ↩2Pet.1.3 — just as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,
Notes
- 1 ↩Чудак can mean eccentric, oddball, or mildly endearing odd fellow; tone is lightly critical/affectionate, not harsh.
- 2 ↩Russian «животу» here is the older biblical sense of life (ζωή), not ‘belly’; rendered as life to match 2 Pet 1:3.
- 3 ↩«Предложению N.» is dative and clearly continues into s5–s6 as one construction (“one may give weight to proposition N.”). The bare label «N.» is opaque without the letter’s earlier numbered thesis or schema.
- 4 ↩Standalone «N.» may be a repeated label, a double index (N.N.), or a segmentation artifact. Left unexpanded.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit