Efficacy of good
works for salvation
The sermon is very clear on the
necessity of good works. Almsgiving is the principal means by which sins are
remitted. It is better than fasting and prayer:
Almsgiving is therefore good even as
penance. Fasting is better than prayer but almsgiving is better than both. Love
covers a multitude of sins, but prayer from a good conscience delivers from
death. Blessed is every man that is found full of these things, for almsgiving
removes the burden of sin (16, 4). (Johannes Quasten, Patrology, 4 vols.
[Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, Inc., 1992], 1:57)