However, we know that a person isn’t made righteous by the works of the Law but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We ourselves believed in Christ Jesus so that we could be made righteous by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the Law—because no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law. – Galatians 2:16 (CEB)
This week is the third part of my reflections on Martin Luther’s understanding of the Holy Spirit. This week we focus on the role of the Spirit in giving us faith in the work of Christ.
For Luther, the in-dwelling of Christ in the believer comes from the Holy Spirit and leads to justification and sanctification. He explains, “This faith justifies you; it will cause Christ to dwell, live, and reign in you. This faith is the testimony which the Holy Spirit bears to our spirit; that we are the sons of God.”1 Faith is what justifies, and having faith is not a human work but rather a testimony that the Holy Spirit is present within us. Faith is the basic sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Indeed, faith cannot be gained by an act of our will. Rather, he continues, “Therefore if you take notice, you will easily realize that this feeling is not in you because of your own strength. Consequently, it must be acquired through a spirit that is humble and despairs of itself.”2 Faith comes when one trusts in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in one’s own spiritual power.
In fact, for Luther the fundamental sin is not any particular action we take but is rather that we trust ourselves and are focused on our own needs rather than trusting God and living for God’s glory. The faith given by the Spirit is the faith to trust in God’s grace rather than in ourselves. When our attention is turned away from ourselves, it makes room in our hearts to love others. Thus part of faith is a turn from oneself to loving one’s neighbor. Luther writes that the Holy Spirit, “fills [believers] with His love and makes them peaceful, glad, active in all good works, victorious over all evils, contemptuous even of death and hell.”3 Therefore the life given by the Spirit is a life of love for others. It is from this insight that Luther’s basic understanding of Christian ethics derives, that the Christian life is a life of faith active in love. Holiness means having Christ dwell in one’s heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, and this abiding of Christ empowers the believer to go out of their way to help others in need rather than thinking of themselves.
1 LW 27:172.
2 LW 27:172.
3 LW 27:221.