Martin Luther (34)
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The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine...Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually Death by Love (91)
I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.
This doctrine is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour. What Luther Says: An Anthology Vol 2 (704)
If anyone would feel the greatness of sin he would not be able to go on living another moment; so great is the power of sin.
In a word, if the Scripture be obscure or ambiguous, what need was there for its being sent down from heaven? Are we not obscure and ambiguous enough in ourselves, without an increase of it by obscurity, ambiguity, and darkness being sent down unto us from heaven?Bondage of the Will, Section 36
Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.
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 its true function and use, namely, that it is a most useful servant impelling us to Christ; for its function and use is not only to disclose the sin and wrath of God but also to drive us to Christ. Therefore the principal purpose of the Law in theology is to make men not better but worse; that is, it shows them their sin, so that by the recognition of sin they may be humbled, frightened, and worn down, and so may long for grace and for the Blessed Offspring.
the most exalted minds have so fallen, as to deny that there is any God at all; and to fable, that fortune disposes of all things at random; such were Epicurus and Pliny.Bondage of the Will, Section 166
But now, since God has put my salvation out of the way of my will, and has taken it under His own, and has promised to save me, not according to my working or manner of life, but according to His own grace and mercy, I rest fully assured and persuaded that He is faithful, and will not lie, and moreover great and powerful, so that no devils, no adversities can destroy Him, or pluck me out of His Hand.Bondage of the Will, Section 164
As to myself, I openly confess, that I should not wish free will to be granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my own hands, whereby I might endeavor something toward my own salvation.Bondage of the Will, Section 164
free will cannot be applied to anyone but to God only. You may, perhaps, rightly assign to man some kind of will, but to assign unto him free will in divine things, is going too far.Bondage of the Will, Section 41
The only thing you contribute to your salvation is your sin!
Unless I am convinced by scripture or by clear reason - for I do not trust the Pope or Church councils, since everyone knows that they can make mistakes and contradict themselves - I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is held captive by the Word of God. I cannot and will not take back anything, because it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen. Diet of Worms, Defense against Catholic accusations
the Article of justification is the Master and the prince, the lord, the ruler, and judge, over all the kinds of doctrine, which preserves and governs the entire church doctrine and sets up our conscience in the sight of God.
For by their free will, they have made Christ to be unto them no longer a sweet Mediator, but a dreaded Judge, whom they strive to please by the intercessions of the Virgin Mother, and of the Saints; and also, by variously invented works, by rites, ordinances, and vows; by all which, they aim at appeasing Christ, in order that He might give them graceBondage of the Will, Section 157
For if the righteousness of God exist without the law, and without the works of the law, how shall it not much rather exist without free will!Bondage of the Will, Section 147
We know well enough, that God does not love or hate as we do; because, we love and hate mutably, but He loves and hates from an eternal and immutable nature; and hence it is, that accidents and passions do not pertain unto Him.Bondage of the Will, Section 101
If, therefore, free will be of one and the same nature and impotency in all men, no reason can be given why it should attain unto grace in one, and not in another; if nothing else be preached to all, but the goodness of a long-suffering and the punishment of a mercy-showing God.Bondage of the Will, Section 81
man, by the words of the law, is admonished and taught what he ought to do, not what he can do, that is, that he is brought to know his sin, but not to believe that he has any strength in himself.Bondage of the Will, Section 56
In short, I will preach it [the Word], teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.
God foreknows nothing by contingency, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His immutable, eternal, and infallible will. By this thunderbolt, free will is thrown prostrate, and utterly dashed to pieces. Those, therefore, who would assert free will, must either deny this thunderbolt, or pretend not to see it, or push it from them.The Bondage of the Will (33)
If we know nothing of these things, we shall know nothing whatever of Christian matters, and shall be far behind all people upon the earth.The Bondage of the Will (31)
it is not irreligious, curious, or superfluous, but essentially wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know, whether or not the will does anything in those things which pertain unto salvation.The Bondage of the Will (31)
The Word comes first, and with the Word the Spirit breathes upon my heart so that I believe.Luther's Works, Vol. 54 : Table Talk (Augsburg Fortress, 1999, [c] 1967)
My dear pope, I will kiss your feet and acknowledge you as supreme bishop if you will worship my Christ and grant that through His death and resurrection, not through keeping your traditions, we have forgiveness of sins and life eternal. If you will yield on this point, I shall not take away your crown and power; if not, I shall constantly cry out that you are the Antichrist, and I shall testify that your whole cult and religion are only a denial of God, but also the height of blasphemy against God and idolatry.
It is true that faith alone justifies, without works; but I am speaking about genuine faith, which after it has justified, will not go to sleep but is active through love.
works are done on the basis of faith through love, not that a man is justified through love.Commentary on Galatians
Therefore this is the first point concerning the law, that it must be used to deter the ungodly from their wicked and mischievous intentions. For the devil, who is an abbot and prince of this world, allures people to work all manner of sin and wickedness; wherefore God has ordained magistrates, elders, schoolmasters, laws and statutes, to the end, if they can do no more, that at least they may bind the claws of the devil, and hinder them from raging and swelling so powerfully in those who are his, according to his will and pleasure.Table Talk, 218
Very well, by God's decree, the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore, I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely.Luthers Works; Vol. 43, pg. 132
the advocates for free will will be admonished in this place, that when they assert free will, they are deniers of Christ. For if I obtain grace by my own endeavors, what need have I of the grace of Christ for the receiving of my grace?Bondage of the Will, Section 157
seeing that, the effect, the work, and the office of the law, is to be a light to the ignorant and the blind; such a light, as discovers to them disease, sin, evil, death, hell, and the wrath of God, though it does not deliver from these, but shows them only.Bondage of the Will, Section 145
I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; for when I am angry, I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart.
So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremist we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Letter from Birmingham Jail (8-9)
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