Verse 8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
Much of Luther's theology came from Ephesians. Especially this chapter.
A few years ago I had a conversation with an Amish man about this verse and how it compared to the book of James, which states "faith without workes is dead."
Paul seems to be arguing that salvation has nothing to do with our actions, but James argues that we can't claim to be faithful without doing good works.
I think they are both right. We are saved by God's grace. Period.
But if we claim to believe that Jesus is the Messiah then we should act like we have read the bible and at least attempt to live like Jesus wants us to.
We do good works not to earn God's love, but because God first loved us. We follow the Ten Commandments not because they are a set of rules we must follow but because it is a privilege to be God's children and that is how God's children behave.
We love because we have been loved.
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