Response to God's Grace

Therefore our concern now must be to be grateful to the Father of all mercy and consolation and to see to it that our faith henceforth does not consist in words but in power. For St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 [4:20], "The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power." Our ability to speak or write eloquently about it is not sufficient; rather must our lives and our deeds testify to the truth, as we demonstrate our love and bestow our works of kindness on friend and foe.

Thus we must pray first of all that God may impart more and more strength to us and our friends and let his dear child Jesus grow in our hearts from day to day that we may praise, glorify, and confess him with a zealous and happy heart.

Martin Luther

Comments

[Sage S.]

Melinda,

Are you referring to Luther responding to the grace of the Holy Spirit in the words of the Gospel, his response of confession, repentance, and belief, according to which God fulfills His ordained covenantal promise to credit his Son Jesus' death and righteousness unto Luther's account, removing his guilt and conferring upon him the gift of salvation? Or are you referring to a more general response to grace in its various forms after the moment of salvation occurs?

I ask because I understand Greg to be a Calvinist with regards to God's working in the act of salvation, so I was rather struck to see you make such an overt reference to responding to God's grace. Thank you.