Man's will hath some liberty to work civil and outward righteousness, and to choose out as reason can reach unto, but it hath not might without the Holy Ghost to work the righteousness of God, spiritual righteousness. For a man left to the power of his own soul (whom Paul calleth animalem hominem) perceiveth not the things that be of the Spirit of God, but this righteousness is framed and made in the heart, when the Holy Ghost is conceived by the Word.
-Augsburg Confession, tr. Richard Taverner
New:
While our will has some freedom to do outward good works and to make decisions as far as our reason will let us, our will cannot, except by the Holy Spirit, do the works of God. You see, "the natural human, left to its own spirit, neither sees nor understands the things that are of God's Spirit." (I Corinthians 2:14) Only when we hear God's Word and receive His Spirit is the seed of good works born in our hearts.
(See also, Psalm 1:1-3 and Mark 11:12-26, Luther's Bondage of the Will, and William Tyndale's Wicked Mammon)
No comments:
Post a Comment