Therefore we are fighting today, not against the obvious wickedness and vice of the papacy but against its fictitious saints, who think that they lead an angelic life when they observe not only the commandments of God but also the counsels of Christ and works that are not required or works of supererogation. We say that this is a waste of time and effort, unless they have grasped that “one thing” which Christ says is the only thing “needful” and, like Mary, have chosen the good portion, which cannot be taken away from them (Luke 10:42). That is what Bernard did. He was a man so pious, holy, and chaste that I think he deserves to be put ahead of all other monks. Once, when he was gravely ill and despaired of his life, he did not place his trust in the celibacy that he had observed so chastely, or in the good works and acts of piety that he had performed in such quantity; but he put all these far from sight and took hold of the blessing of Christ by faith, saying: “I have lived damnably. But Thou, O Lord Jesus Christ, hast a double right to the kingdom of heaven: first, because Thou art the Son of God; secondly, because Thou hast won it by Thy passion and death. The first Thou dost keep for Thyself by Thy birthright; the latter Thou dost grant to me by the right, not of works but of grace.” He did not set his monkery or his angelic life against the wrath and judgment of God but took hold of the one thing that is needful and thus was saved.

Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 26 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 459–460.

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