Justification is the thing around which all else circles. Look to any doctrine or practice of a church and observe how a person is justified to God.
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Luther wanted unity in the Church, but not if it meant sacrificing the very truths that upheld that Church. Three memorable, Latin slogans that came out of the Lutheran reform movement can help us determine when we are parting from Christian truth.
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Christ’s words stand on their own; we do not need—nor should we—add anything to them in order to make them effective. The reason for this, is that it is his word that makes them effective.
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The force of Luther’s writing up to this point is that the German reformers and the church in Rome held to the same basic, credal beliefs.
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While it may be “omitted without sin and danger,” it may not be done without danger of sin. If people believe that Holy Communion is a work, a sacrifice done by a priest, and a service performed by themselves to receive God’s grace and forgiveness, then they are in real danger.
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When we confess that we “believe in God,” we are saying that we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
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Luther speaks here of the money-making Roman Mass. We have dealt earlier with masses paid for in order to absolve the dead, or others not present.
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With the Nicene Creed, Luther confessed that God the Father is eternal, that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.
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Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin. The blood of the perfect Lamb of God was the redemption price, liberating us from not only sin, but death and the devil to boot.
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Luther begins with the beginning: that God is that One God, the Only God, who has created everything. This beginning includes the great mystery of the Christian faith...
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Faith. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ alone. This must not be yielded, else anything may be believed. A system of law, or works, or any human tradition could be said to lead to salvation.
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Oh! the dawn of that glorious Day! When Jesus returns, what need will there be of Councils? Every knee will bow before him and his word will be enough for all.
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Divine justice owes humanity nothing. We do not deserve to be justified to God because of anything we do. Indeed, our sin and sinfulness deserves exactly the opposite.
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We busy ourselves with a kind of mundane yet exuberant piety, the machinations of religion, so that we might deceive ourselves (and others, I suppose) into thinking we are holy and righteous.
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The justification of sinners is received as God’s gift, not because of religious or moral activity. Justification is a legal term, appropriated by the Apostle Paul to express God’s great gift.
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All those things that Luther denounced were outward displays. They ought to be fixed, but dealing with those outer matters neglects the more important things, the inner matters that end up improving the outer.
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In this great, narrative sentence, there is one subject and a countless number of direct objects. Let us begin with the objects of the subject.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. The old adage rings as true today as it seems it did in Luther’s day.
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It was after Jesus saw the desolate villages, the “sheep without a shepherd,” that he called the twelve disciples. God equips his Church with a variety of vocations...
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The Spirit of God often uses new situations to change our perspective, to bring us to repentance. We are all sinners, so we are all in need of daily and constant repentance.
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God uses his Word and Sacraments to grow our faith, and increase and unify the Church. Nevertheless, his Word and Sacraments are distributed by the work of his Spirit through people.
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Luther is still speaking primarily of the fanatics, the schwärmerei, those who used Luther’s words to their own ends. They twisted his teachings, bringing division to the church instead of reform.
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Luther taught that we are only able to know God as God makes himself known to us: through his Word and through the Sacraments. There was no room special revelation...
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There is only one thing worse than not being permitted to meet with those who disagree with you. Meeting with them, only to hear them speak in a manner that is unreasonable, is even worse.
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When you are brought before a group you should not have anxiety about what you should testify, since the Spirit will teach you in the moment the words that need to be spoken.
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Up to this point in the Lutheran Confessions, we have largely had the writings of Philip Melancthon, professor of Greek at the University of Wittenberg, and friend of and collaborator with Martin Luther in the Protestant Reformation.
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We cannot reason our way to God. Nor can traditions light the way to divine truth. Human institutions are unable to direct us to God.
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The old saying, “Do as I say but not as I do,” is applicable to pharisaical instruction. Jesus is teaching that we ought to observe right teaching of the Scripture, though not necessarily imitate the actions of those teaching.
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Christians are called to lives of submission. We are to honor our parents, deferring to their authority. We are to obey earthly authorities, as well as church leadership.
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The Lutheran reformers wanted to proclaim a clear word of Scripture. Human traditions that promised God’s favor were summarily dismissed in favor of God’s gracious favor being freely given through faith, for Christ’s sake.
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