He who wants to hear God speak should read Holy Scripture.
~Martin Luther~
Tag Archives: Luther’s Works
Martin Luther – How to Hear God Speak
4 AugMartin Luther – How to Fight For Joy Like a Justified Sinner
27 Jul
When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: “I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there shall I be also.”
~Martin Luther~
Martin Luther – Motivation to Dig Deeper in the Original Languages
9 Jul
Since it becomes Christians then to make good use of the Holy Scriptures as their one and only book and it is a sin and a shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God, it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility and inducement to this study, and desires his Bible to be an open book. O how happy the dear fathers would have been if they had had our opportunity to study the languages and come thus prepared to the Holy Scriptures! What great toil and effort it cost them to gather up a few crumbs, while we with half the labor—yes, almost without any labor at all—can acquire the whole loaf! O how their effort puts our indolence to shame! Yes, how sternly God will judge our lethargy and ingratitude!
~Martin Luther~
Martin Luther – Why Learn the Languages?
5 Jul
And let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6:17] is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored; and, as the gospel itself points out [Matt. 14:20], they are the baskets in which are kept these loaves and fishes and fragments. If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God forbid!), we shall not only lose the gospel, but the time will come when we shall be unable either to speak or write a correct Latin or German. As proof and warning of this, let us take the deplorable and dreadful example of the universities and monasteries, in which men have not only unlearned the gospel, but have in addition so corrupted the Latin and German languages that the miserable folk have been fairly turned into beasts, unable to speak or write a correct German or Latin, and have wellnigh lost their natural reason to boot.
For this reason even the apostles themselves considered it necessary to set down the New Testament and hold it fast in the Greek language, doubtless in order to preserve it for us there safe and sound as in a sacred ark. For they foresaw all that was to come, and now has come to pass; they knew that if it was left exclusively to men’s memory, wild and fearful disorder and confusion and a host of varied interpretations, fancies, and doctrines would arise in the Christian church, and that this could not be prevented and the simple folk protected unless the New Testament were set down with certainty in written language. Hence, it is inevitable that unless the languages remain, the gospel must finally perish.
Experience too has proved this and still gives evidence of it. For as soon as the languages declined to the vanishing point, after the apostolic age, the gospel and faith and Christianity itself declined more and more until under the pope they disappeared entirely. After the decline of the languages Christianity witnessed little that was worth anything; instead, a great many dreadful abominations arose because of ignorance of the languages. On the other hand, now that the languages have been revived, they are bringing with them so bright a light and accomplishing such great things that the whole world stands amazed and has to acknowledge that we have the gospel just as pure and undefiled as the apostles had it, that it has been wholly restored to its original purity, far beyond what it was in the days of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. In short, the Holy Spirit is no fool. He does not busy himself with inconsequential or useless matters. He regarded the languages as so useful and necessary to Christianity that he ofttimes brought them down with him from heaven. This alone should be a sufficient motive for us to pursue them with diligence and reverence and not to despise them, for he himself has now revived them again upon the earth.
~Martin Luther~
Martin Luther – The Law Needs The Gospel
29 Mar
Ancient teachers said that there are four things a preacher should keep in mind in all his sermons; he should give consideration to vices and virtues, to punishments and rewards. And they did well to give this advice, provided that they retained Christ. For the Law concerns itself with these four things: vices contrary to the Law, virtues in accordance with the Law, punishments in accordance with the Law, and rewards in accordance with the Law. But this doctrine does not produce Christians. It is the doctrine of the Law, which does not bring about perfection. The Gospel of grace must be joined to this doctrine of the Law! Then at last the Christian is made complete.
~Martin Luther~
Luther’s Works, Vol. 3: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 15-20, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 3 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 132–133.
Martin Luther – God’s Love Creates, Not Finds
5 Mar
The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it.
The second part is clear and is accepted by all philosophers and theologians, for the object of love is its cause, assuming, according to Aristotle, that all power of the soul is passive and material and active only in receiving something. Thus it is also demonstrated that Aristotle’s philosophy is contrary to theology since in all things it seeks those things which are its own and receives rather than gives something good. The first part is clear because the love of God which lives in man loves sinners, evil persons, fools, and weaklings in order to make them righteous, good, wise, and strong. Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive. For this reason the love of man avoids sinners and evil persons. Thus Christ says: “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” [Matt. 9:13]. This is the love of the cross, born of the cross, which turns in the direction where it does not find good which it may enjoy, but where it may confer good upon the bad and needy person. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” [Acts 20:35], says the Apostle. Hence Ps. 41[:1] states, “Blessed is he who considers the poor,” for the intellect cannot by nature comprehend an object which does not exist, that is the poor and needy person, but only a thing which does exist, that is the true and good. Therefore it judges according to appearances, is a respecter of persons, and judges according to that which can be seen, etc.
~Martin Luther~
Luther’s Works – Vol. 31: Career of the Reformer (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 57–58.
Martin Luther – The Book of Romans
23 Jan
This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. We can never read it or ponder over it too much; for the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.
~Martin Luther~
Luther’s Works – Vol. 35: Word and Sacrament I (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 365.
Martin Luther – The Very Heel Of The Serpent-Opposing Seed
18 Nov
But the gift of God that I particularly love and revere in you above all the rest is that you emphasize the righteousness of faith so faithfully and purely in all your writings. For this article is the head and cornerstone that alone begets, nurtures, builds, preserves, and defends the Church of God. Without it, the Church cannot remain standing for a single hour, as you know and perceive. That is why you insist upon it as you do. For no one can teach correctly in the church or resist any adversary successfully, unless he has grasped this article or, as Paul calls it, “the sound doctrine” [Titus 2:1], one who, as the same Paul says, “holds fast to the doctrine” [cf. Titus 1:9 Vg]…
We see how those who do not do this are carried about by so many winds of uncertain doctrine [Eph. 4:14], driven up and down by opinions that are endlessly multiplied, always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth [2 Tim. 3:7]. And we not only see this but have also experienced it ourselves, when we were being spun about in the same whirlwinds of doctrines until the grace of God brought us to port and built us upon this solid rock [Matt. 7:24], so that we are certain of what we teach, learn, and hold, and we no longer vacillate as we did. Therefore, I beg you, most excellent Brenz, continue vigorously to press this article concerning righteousness by all means, wherever you are able, even until they are sick of it, just as you are doing. For otherwise the whole world is full enough of writers, shouters, and printers who very boldly neglect this article. Then, too, there are many who persecute it; most (since they are unable to do any other harm) obscure and corrupt it. But I am not surprised, for this article is the very heel of the Seed who opposes the ancient serpent, the heel that crushes its head. Therefore, Satan on his part can do nothing but lie in wait for it. But whatever harm he may do with his endless and tenacious snares, nevertheless he cannot conquer and crush it. As it is written: “He will crush your head.”
~Martin Luther~
Luther’s Works – Vol. 59 (St. Louis, MI; Concordia Publishing House, 2012) p. 288-289. Preface to Johann Brenz, Exposition of the Prophet Amos.
Martin Luther – The Old Interpreted with the Help of the New
12 Aug
If the Old Testament can be interpreted by human wisdom without the New Testament, I should say that the New Testament has been given to no purpose. So Paul concluded that ‘Christ died to no purpose’ if the Law were sufficient (Gal. 2:21).
~Martin Luther~
Luther’s Works – Vol. 10 (St. Louis, MI; Concordia Publishing House, 1974) p. 6
The Old Guys 