So far as the words are concerned, we know all this very well and can discourse on it. But in the struggle, when the devil tries to mar the image of Christ and to snatch the Word from our hearts, we discover that we do not know them as well as we should. Whoever could define Christ accurately then, exalting Him and looking to Him as his sweet Savior and High Priest and not as a stern Judge, would have overcome all evils and would already be in the kingdom of heaven. But to do this in the midst of struggle is the hardest thing there is. I am speaking from experience, for I am acquainted with the devil’s craftiness. Not only does he try to frighten us by inflating the Law and making many logs out of one speck (Matt. 7:3–5), for he is very skillful both at aggravating sin and at inflating the conscience in good works; but he also makes a practice of frightening us by transforming himself into the Person of the Mediator Himself. He cites some passage of Scripture or some saying of Christ and thus strikes our hearts and gives the impression of being Christ Himself. So strong is this impression that our conscience would be ready to swear that this is the same Christ whose saying he has cited. So crafty is this enemy that he does not present the entire Christ to us; he presents only a part of Him, namely, that He is the Son of God and Man, born of the Virgin. Eventually he attaches something else to this, some saying in which Christ terrifies sinners, like Luke 13:3: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” By adulterating the genuine definition of Christ with his poison he produces this effect, that although we believe that Christ is the Mediator, in fact our troubled conscience feels and judges that He is a tyrant and a tormentor. So Satan deceives us, and we easily lose the pleasant sight of Christ, our High Priest and Mediator. Once this happens, we avoid Christ as though He were Satan.
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 (Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 38–39.
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Post authored by:
Tony Phelps
Tony grew up in Rhode Island. He was educated at University of Rhode Island (BA) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He worked in the insurance industry for ten years. He planted a PCA church in Wakefield, RI where he served for eleven years. He has pastored Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Colorado Springs (2015–18), and Living Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Allentown PA (2019–25). He is currently pastor of Christ Our Hope Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Charlestown, RI. Tony is married to Donna and together they have three children.
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