I have a great affection for Martin Bucer in his attempt to reconcile Lutheran and Reformed views in Germany and he was his "own man" in many respects when it came to theology. After much hunting around (and it took alot of hunting) I finally found a copy of his Tetrapolitan Confession at Google Books. Not only is there no mention of imputation, but it also says this about good works:
"But since they who are the children of God are led by the Spirit of God, rather than that they act themselves (Rom 8:14), and 'of him, and through him, and to him, are all things' (Rom 11:36), whatsoever things we do well and holily are to be ascribed to none other than to this one only Spirit, the Giver of all virtues. However it be, he does not compel us, but leads us, being willing, working in us to both will and to do (Phil 2:12). Hence Augustine writes wisely that God rewards his own works in us. By this we are so far from rejecting good works that we utterly deny that any one can be saved unless by Christ's Spirit he be brought thus far, that there be in him no lack of good works, for which God has created in him".
Is this a confession of faith that Tom Wright could sign up to since it invokes Wrights' concern about the Spirit in the Christian life?
2 comments:
As I was reading the quote, and before I noticed your question at the end, I thought it was very much in line with what I have read in N. T. Wright (assuming that I have not misread the quote or Wright).
So, the question I would ask is whether this is a confession that Wright's critics could sign on to.
...Wright's critics need to understand that legalism in Galations is ethnocentric preening with the Torah that implicitly rejects the faithfulness of Christ, not a generalized condemnation of all law and standards as a way of salvation.
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