God’s Alien Work And His Proper Work

In our Sunday morning Bible class, we are studying Luther’s Commentary on Genesis. That work is an example of Luther at his best. His expositions of Scripture are stunning in their depth and insight. And here we find explanations of some of his key theological ideas, including the three estates (household, church, and state) and his doctrine of vocation.

Sunday we learned about God’s blessing of Noah after the flood and this distinction: God’s “proper work,” because it best expresses His nature, is to give life, grace, and love. He does indeed punish sin, but this is his “alien” work.

This distinction, related to that between Law and Gospel, is a recurring theme in Luther’s theology. He refers to this text from Isaiah:

For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed–strange is his deed! and to work his work–alien is his work! (Isaiah 28:21)

From The Heidelberg Disputation:

And that it is which Isa. 28:21 calls the »alien work« of God »that he may do his work« (that is, he humbles us thoroughly, making us despair, so that he may exalt us in his mercy, giving us hope).

I think it’s important to realize this about God–something probably only knowable through His revelation in the Incarnate Son–that His deepest nature is life-giving, expressed in the Gospel, and that His wrath, while very real, being a function of His holiness, is somehow alien to His nature, though something He uses to bring us to Himself. I think some people have the opposite idea, that God is intrinsically wrathful, though He makes exceptions to some.