In the
following from Reformed theologian Heinrich Heppe (1820-1879), from 1861, refutes
the naïve “all works are as menstrual rags” belief among many (not all!) Protestants:
23.—And yet for the regenerate the doing of
good works is a duty.—HEIDEGGER (XXIII, 60): “Good works are no less necessary
than actual sanctifications.”
24.—Why? Because the regenerate can do wors
which are not good bonitate graduum,
i.e., perfectly good, but which are good bonitate
essentiali, i.e., essentially good. As right faith, however weak it may be,
is yet real faith, so the works which the Christian does with believing heart,
be they never so defective, are yet really works of faith and are therefore
essentially good and well-pleasing to God.
BRAUN (I, iii, 11, 5): “Works are called good
or of a perfect goodness, and of a perfection essential or graduated (graduum). Those works are said to have goodness or essential perfection,
which are done (a) according to God’s command, (b) out of a heart purified by
faith, and (c) for the glory of God, i.e., those which fulfil the three
conditions of which we have just been speaking. These are not found in the unregenerate,
but in the regenerate only. Works which are good or perfect in goodness or in a
perfection of degrees, are those in which the three conditions are found in
perfection, where nothing is done except as prescribed in the law of God; out
of a heart which has been perfectly purified by perfect faith and which acts
solely for the glory of God. In this sense only the blessed in heaven emit good
works, not believers on earth.—6: None the less works of the regenerate may be
called virtues and good works. Not because they are good by goodness of degree,
but by essential goodness; so that, although they are not perfectly good, they
are yet truly good, as heat in the fourth degree is true heat no less than in
the eighth, although not so strong. As therefore our faith however imperfect is
none the less faith if it be sincere, so too with our works which proceed from
it. In one word, our works are pleasing to God in the same sense in which we ourselves
are pleading to Him. We are pleasing to God through faith in Jesus Christ; then
so are our works.”
25.—The purposes of good works ae the
following. By them the Christian should above all glorify God, whose gracious
Spirit effects the good works in him; he should next by them offer God thanks
for grace received, attest his faith before the world, assure himself thereby
of his position in grace and further the edification of his neighbour. In fact
even for the attainment of everlasting life the performance of good works is
necessary.
URSIN (Explic.
Catech., pp. 314-315, conf. p.
307): The causae impulsivae of good
works are: “(1) regeneration, necessarily involving justification; (2) gratitude
for redemption; (3) making God famous; (4) confirmation of our faith and
election, and (5) a good example y which others may become profitable to
Christ.” (Heinrich Heppe, Reformed
Dogmatics, ed. Ernst Bizer [trans. G.T. Thomson; London: The Wakeman Trust,
2000], 578-79)
On Isa 64:6
itself, as well as the role of works in salvation, be sure to see, for e.g.:
Review of Can Our Works Save Us? Refuting Sola Fide
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness
Are Good Works Always "Filthy/Menstrual Rags"? Not According to John Calvin
Does LDS Theology Confuse the Relationship Between Justification and Sanctification?
