A Treatise on Good Works by Martin Luther

Martin Luther's Treatise on Good Works emerges here as a pastoral answer to a troubled Christian world, not a grand reform manifesto. Written first as a promised sermon and then expanded for a wider audience, it speaks plainly in German for ordinary believers and is dedicated to Duke John of Saxony so that a leading prince may grasp why true morality depends on faith. Luther attacks the confusion of his age: the idea that human effort, public piety, or church status can earn God's favor. At the heart of the treatise is a radical claim: faith in Christ is itself the highest good work, because the First Commandment demands trust in God above all. From that living faith flow all genuine works—prayer, worship, self-discipline, charity, honest labor, and the duties of one's calling. Luther insists that only God-commanded deeds are truly good, and he extends that standard to clergy, bishops, and civil authorities, condemning hypocrisy, abuse, luxury, usury, brothels, and false teaching. He also presents the mass as Christ's testament of forgiveness, urging attentive hearing, repentance, and grateful faith. Widely praised as one of Luther's clearest works, it helped define the Reformation's moral and spiritual vision. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.