For it is not the property of a Christian mind to be displeased with assertions; no, a man must be absolutely pleased with assertions, or he will never be a Christian…In Romans 10 he calls it “confession” saying “and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (v. 10). And Christ says, “He who confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father” (Matt. 10:32). Peter commands us to give a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). And what is the need of many words? Nothing is more widely known and more celebrated among Christians than assertion: take away assertions, and you take away Christianity.

Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will. 500th Anniversary Edition (Ligonier Ministries, 2025), 10, 11.

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Post authored by:

• Inwoo Lee

  

  Inwoo Lee (BA, UCSD) earned his MA (Historical Theology) in 2020 from Westminster Seminary California and is author of “Righteous Before God: William Perkins’ Doctrine of Justification in Elizabethan England” (MA Thesis, Westminster Seminary California, 2020). He lives in the Great Seoul area, in South Korea with his wife Holly.

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