Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Christians are people who never sin or feel sinful. Rather, because of their faith in Christ, God simply doesn’t attribute their sin to them. This teaching is comforting to those who have terrified consciences. For . . . Continue reading →
Luther
Luther: The Divine Curse Requires Divine Righteousness
Thus the curse, which is divine wrath against the whole world, has the same conflict with the blessing, that is, with the eternal grace and mercy of God in Christ. Therefore the curse clashes with the blessing and wants to damn it . . . Continue reading →
Luther: The Law—Do It All!
Therefore this is an important and powerful argument that Paul is presenting here against the righteousness of works: “Neither the Law nor works redeem from the curse, but only Christ.” Therefore I implore you for God’s sake to distinguish Christ from the . . . Continue reading →
Luther: The First Commandment Requires Perfect Obedience
The first commandment teaches us that God wants us to sincerely trust Him. Yet we must fear Him about everything else. … So the good works required by the first commandment are holy and must be obeyed. But who can live up . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Christ Was Innocent For Us
And so this text [Gal. 3:13] is clear, that all men, even the apostles or prophets or patriarchs, would have remained under the curse if Christ had not put Himself in opposition to sin, death, the curse of the Law, and the . . . Continue reading →
Luther: The Apostolic Way Of Reading Scripture
Thus Paul treats this topic in a truly apostolic way, because no sophist or legalist or Jew or fanatic or anyone else speaks this way. Who would dare quote this passage from Moses, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,” and . . . Continue reading →
Luther On What It Means To Be Indwelled By The Spirit
We shouldn’t doubt that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we should certainly recognize that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19. If someone feels a love for God’s Word and gladly hears, speaks, . . . Continue reading →
Luther On What Galatians 2:21 Teaches About Law And Gospel
We, on the other hand, declare with Paul that no law, whether it is human or divine, justifies or makes alive. Therefore we distinguish the Law from righteousness as sharply as death from life or hell from heaven. We are prompted to . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Faith Great Or Small Is Still Faith
Thus we see that Christ does not make a distinction between those who are weak and strong in faith and rejects no one, for small faith is also faith, and if it only continues, it will always become stronger. Christ came into . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Pedagogical Use Of The Law
But the true use of the Law is this, that I know that by the Law I am being brought to an acknowledgement of sin and am being humbled, so that I may come to Christ and be justified by faith. But . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Our Righteousness Before God Is Imputed
The righteousness Paul is speaking about here is external and comes from Christ living in us. It’s not internal, and it doesn’t come from ourselves. So if we are concerned about Christian righteousness, we must completely set aside the self. If I . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Role Of The Law In Salvation
It follows, therefore, that the Law with its function does contribute to justification—not because it justifies, but because it impels one to the promise of grace and makes it sweet and desirable. Therefore we do not abolish the Law; but we show . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Value Of Learning The Greatness Of Our Sin And Misery
To the question, “If the Law does not justify, what is its purpose?” Paul, therefore, replies: “Although the Law does not justify, it is nevertheless extremely useful and necessary. In the first place, it acts as a civic restraint upon those who . . . Continue reading →
Luther: We Must Strive To Think Of Jesus As Paul Does (Not As Rome Does)
We adults, who are imbued with the noxious doctrine of the papists, which we absorbed into our very bones and marrow, acquired an opinion of Christ altogether different from the one that Paul sets forth here. No matter how much we declared . . . Continue reading →
Video: Luther Under The Gospel
Video courtesy Lynden United Reformed Church (Lynden, WA) where Bob Godfrey and I spoke for their Reformation Conference: Luther Nailed It. Note: This was originally published on the Heidelblog in 2017. RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Christ Is Our Comfort In The Struggle With Sin
With these words, then, Paul wants to indicate the weakness there still is in the pious, as in Rom. 8:26: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” For because the awareness of the opposite is so strong in us, that is, because . . . Continue reading →
Luther: A Christian Must Believe He is In A State Of Grace
I have indicated in a variety of ways that the Christian man must believe for a certainty that he is in a state of divine grace, and that he has the cry of the Holy Spirit in his heart, especially when he . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Not Our Merit But Christ’s
But by what merit have we received this righteousness, sonship, and inheritance of eternal life? By none. For what could be merited by men confined under sin, subjected to the curse of the Law, and condemned to eternal death? Therefore we have . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Chief Point Of Scripture
Moreover, the chief point of all Scripture is that we should not doubt but hope, trust, and believe for a certainty that God is merciful, kind, and patient, that He does not lie and deceive but is faithful and true. He keeps . . . Continue reading →
Luther Vs Papal Wickedness
With this wicked doctrine, by which he commands men to doubt the favor of God toward them, the pope has removed God and all His promises from the church, has undermined the blessings of Christ, and has abolished the entire Gospel. Then . . . Continue reading →