Delivered on the epistle on Palm Sunday, Phil. 2, 5. 6.
Translated by Georg Spalatin, together with a letter from him to the knight Hans von Sternberg.
To the Honorable, Strict Sir Hannsen von Sternberg, Knight, his favorable Lord, Mag. G. Spalatinus wishes salvation and bliss. Honorable, austere, especially favorable lord. After I recently changed the sermon of the venerable, highly esteemed father, D. M. Luther, Augustine, on two kinds of justice for the common benefit of all Christianity, and before that for the good and comfort of the unlearned laity, from Latin into German, I have considered attributing such a translated sermon to you, as a special lover of divine truth, the holy gospel and all Christian and noble respectability, piety and honesty. Which I hereby do with good will, asking with diligence to accept such sermon and to use it on your occasion.
and to perceive their contents; and as up to now named D. Martin, because and insofar as he adheres to the holy gospel, as he is then praised by many nations, also in foreign kingdoms, by the most pious, most learned and most knowledgeable, be inclined with friendly will, as truly he and every faithful handler of the divine word is worthy of this and all, also of the highest honor, advancement and promotion. You will undoubtedly be richly rewarded by God Almighty, Comparer of all good works. Thus, I am willing to deserve your severity, which I hereby command the eternal merciful God into His divine protection. Date on Monday, the twenty-first day of May, Anno Domini 1520.
Epistle: Phil. 2, 5. 6.
Dear brethren, be ye thus minded one toward another, as ye see in Christ; who, though he might have dealt with us as a god, yet did he not, as some do, who, as it were, desiring to be other men's gods, usurp and rob that which is not theirs, nor their due.
(1) The righteousness of Christians is twofold, as the sin of men is twofold. The first righteousness is a foreign one, and is infused by heart, that is, by which the Lord Christ is righteous and justifies by faith; as St. Paul says in the first epistle to the Corinthians in chapter 1, v. 30: "Who is made unto us of God unto wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." For the Lord Christ Himself also, as it is written in St. John's Gospel in the 2nd chapter, v. 25, said: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me shall never die." And again in St. John's Gospel in the 14th chapter, v. 6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
(2) Therefore the same righteousness is given to men in baptism and at all times in true repentance, so that a man may confidently boast and rejoice in the Lord Christ, and say: This is mine, which the Lord Christ lived, acted, did, spoke, and suffered, and consequently died, not otherwise than if I had lived and suffered the same life, action, being, speaking, suffering, and death, even as the bridegroom hath all that is the bride's; and the bride hath all that is the bridegroom's. For all that they have is common to them both, for they are one flesh; so the Lord Christ and the church or Christian assembly are one Spirit; Eph. 5:29 ff. Gal. 3, 28.
3 Thus, as St. Peter says, 2 Epist. 1:4, the most blessed God and Father of mercy, grace and compassion has given us the greatest and most precious things in the Lord Christ; and as St. Paul writes in the other epistle to the Corinthians, Cap. 1:3, and to the Ephesians, Cap. 1:3:
"Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord JEsu Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comforts, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly goods through Christ."
4 This grace and unspeakable blessing was promised before times to Abraham, Genesis 12:3, 22:18: "In thy seed, that is, in Christ, shall all the families of the earth be blessed"; and Isaiah 9:6: "A child is born unto us, and a son is given unto us." He speaks "to us"; for he is ours wholly with all his goods, if we believe in him; as St. Paul says to the Romans on the 8th, v. 32. "He spared not his own Son, but gave him for us all; how then should he not with him give us all things?" Therefore all that is ours, which the Lord Christ has, is given to us, who are unworthy and undeserving, out of pure mercy, graciously and freely, because we deserve no more than wrath, condemnation and hell; for this reason also the Lord Christ, who says that He came to do the most gracious will of His Father, John 6:38, Hebrews 10:10. 6, 38. Hebr. 10, 9. became obedient to Him, and all things that He did, He did to us, and willed to be ours, saying, Luc. 22, 27.: "I am in the midst of you as a servant." And further, Luc. 22, 19: "This is my body, which is given for you", or betrayed. So Isaiah also says in the 43rd chapter, v. 24: "Thou hast made me a servant with thy sins, and hast troubled me in thine iniquities."
5 Therefore, through faith in Christ, the righteousness of Christ becomes our righteousness, and all that is his; indeed, he himself becomes ours. Accordingly, in the epistle to the Romans, St. Paul calls it first, v. 17, "the righteousness of God". The righteousness is revealed and discovered in the gospel, as it is written: "The righteous lives by his faith"; Habac. 2, 4. Hebr. 10, 38. So also such faith is called the righteousness of God, as St. Paul reports in the epistle to the Romans on the 3rd, v. 28: "So then we hold that a man is justified by faith alone."
6^ This is the infinite righteousness that consumes all sins in an instant; for it is impossible for any sin to cleave and cleave in or to Christ. But he that believeth on Christ cleaveth to him, and is one thing with Christ; having also one righteousness with him. Therefore it is impossible for sin to remain in him.
(7) And this is the first righteousness, the ground, cause, and origin of all righteousness proper or real. For it is truly given for the first and original righteousness, which is lost in Adam and works just that, even more, than this original righteousness has worked.
8 Thus this saying in the 31st Psalm v. 2 is understood: "Lord, in you I trust; let me never be put to shame; save me through your righteousness" He does not speak "in mine", but "in yours", that is, in the righteousness of Christ, my God, which has become ours through faith, through grace, through the mercy of God. And this is called in many places in the Psalter "the work of the Lord," "confession," "the power or strength of God," "mercy," "truth," "righteousness. For these are all names of faith and trust in the Lord Christ, yes, of the righteousness that is in Christ. Therefore St. Paul in the epistle to the Galatians (2, 20.) may say: "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me"; and to the Ephesians in the 3rd chapter, v. 17.: "That he may give you Christ to dwell in your hearts through faith."
(9) Therefore this is an alien righteousness, and without our works, poured into us by grace alone, so that the heavenly Father draws us inwardly to the Son of Christ; and is contrasted with original sin, which is also alien, having grown, flowed, and come into us by birth alone, without our doing. And so the Lord Christ casts out more and more from day to day, after which the same faith and knowledge of Christ increases. For this alien righteousness is not immediately poured in completely; but increases, increases, and at last is perfected by death.
10. the other righteousness is ours and
not that we work them alone, but that we work them together with the first and with others; this is good practice in good works, first, in killing and consuming the flesh and crucifying the desires against Himself; as St. Paul writes to the Galatians (5:24): "But those who belong to Christ crucify their flesh together with lusts and desires"; and second, in love toward the neighbor. Paul writes to the Galatians (5, 24.): "But those who belong to Christ crucify their flesh together with lusts and desires"; secondly, in love toward one's neighbor; thirdly, in humility and fear toward God. Of which the holy apostle St. Paul and all the holy Scriptures are full. But St. Paul understands all this recently in the epistle to Titus on the 2nd, v. 12, and says: "Chastened", that is, against oneself in the crucifixion of the flesh, and "righteous", as against man, "and godly", as against God, we should live in this world.
This righteousness is a work, fruit and consequence of the first righteousness, as St. Paul writes to the Galatians (5:22): "But the fruits of the Spirit - that is, of the spiritual man who becomes in Christ through faith - are: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. "etc. For the spiritual man is called the Spirit in the same place: which is evident from this, that the same fruits are works of men. And John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." This righteousness accomplishes or makes perfect the first righteousness; for it labors and strives always, that Adam may be corrupted, and the body of sin destroyed. Therefore it hates itself and loves its neighbor; it does not seek its own, but what is useful, good and beneficial for another. And in this is all her nature and practice; for in that she hates herself and does not seek her own, she makes her a crucifixion of the flesh; but in that she seeks another's piety and advancement, she works love. And so she does the will of God in both, that she lives chastely toward herself, justly toward her neighbor, and godly toward God.
(12) And in this it follows the model and example of Christ, 1 Pet 2:21, and is conformed to His image. For Christ also requires this, that, just as he has made all things
He has done for us, not seeking His own, but ours alone, and in which He has been most obedient to God, so He wants us to show this example also to our neighbor. This righteousness is contrasted with the sin that is manifest and our own, as to the Romans in 6, v. 19: "As ye have committed your members to the service of uncleanness, and from one unrighteousness to another; even so now also commit your members to the service of righteousness, that they may be sanctified".
13 Therefore by the first righteousness arises the voice of the bridegroom, saying to the soul: I thine; but by the other righteousness the voice of the bride, saying, I thine. Then is made the solid, perfect and consummated marriage, as it is written in Canticis or the Song of Songs, Cap. 2, 16: "My friend is mine and I am his"; as if she said: My beloved is mine and I am his. So then the soul does not seek to be righteous in itself, but has its own righteousness, Christ; for this reason it seeks only the salvation of others. Accordingly, the Lord threatens the Jews through the prophet, Bar. 2:23, that the voice of joy and gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, shall be taken away from them.
14 This is what our text says: "This is what you feel in yourselves, this also is in Christ Jesus"; that is, so you should feel and act toward others, as you see that Christ was toward you. How? "Who, though he was in the form of God, yet thought it not robbery to be like God; but emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant."
15 The form or shape of God is not called here the substance or independent being of God, for Christ never got rid of it and emptied himself of it; just as the form of the servant cannot be called the human substance and independence; but "the form of God" is wisdom, power, righteousness, godliness and freedom, so that Christ was man, free, powerful, wise, subject to no one, neither subject to sins nor to vices, as all men are. For he
has been excellent with the forms that please God the most; yet he has not been hopeful in the same form, nor has he boasted or stood against us with it, nor despised and scorned others who have been servants and subjected to various evils; as the Pharisee or gleaner who says, Luc. 18:11, "I thank thee that I am not as other men"; who was well pleased that others were wretched, and never desired that they should be like him. And this is the robbery, so that man arrogates to himself, even reserves for himself, what he has, and does not ascribe it purely to God, whose it is, and thus does not serve others, so that he may make himself equal to them. And so, like God, they want to be sufficient for themselves, pleasing to themselves, desirous of rest in them, and beholden to no one.
But the Lord Christ did not have this opinion, did not have this wisdom, but ascribed and handed over this form to God the Father, and emptied himself of it, did not want to use the same titles against us, did not want to be unlike us and dissimilar to us. Rather, he became like one of us and took on the form of a servant, that is, he subjected himself to all evils, even though he was free, as St. Paul also says, 1 Cor. 9:19: "He became a servant of all men," and did not put himself in any other position than as if the same evils and burdens were all his own that were ours. Therefore he took care of our sin and suffering and acted in such a way that he overcame them as if they were his own; yet he overcame them for our good and salvation, so that, even though for our sake he had acted in such a way that he could have been our God and our Lord, yet he did not want to do so, but rather wanted to be our servant; as it says to the Romans in 15, v. 3: We are not to please ourselves; for the Lord Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written Ps. 69:10: "The reproach of them that reproach thee is fallen upon me"; which is a like opinion with that touched.
It follows that this saying is to be understood negatively, that is, negatively,
which many people have understood affirmatively, that is, assertively: that is, that the Lord Christ did not consider himself equal to God, that is, he did not want to be equal to God; as do those who refrain from it with hope, who say to God: If you will not give me your honor, as St. Bernard says, I will take it myself. And not affirmatively, that is, assertively, that is, he did not consider himself equal to God; that is, that he is equal to God, he did not consider that a robbery. For this opinion has not a comfortable mind, when he says of Christ the man.
(18) This is the apostle's opinion, that every Christian man, according to the example of Christ, should become the servant of another Christian man. And if any man have wisdom, or righteousness, or power, that he may excel others, and be exalted above them, as in the forms of God; he shall not keep them, but shall present, ascribe and hand them over to God again, and become everywhere as if he did not have them at all, and shall become like those who do not have them, so that each one forgets himself and, having been deprived of God's gifts, treats and acts with his neighbor in opinion and form, as if his neighbor's weakness, sin and foolishness were his own. He shall not boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, nor boast, as if he were his God, and as if he were like God; which, because one should leave it to God alone, is robbed by such a man and by arrogant iniquity.
19 For this reason the form of the servant is taken, and this saying of St. Paul to the Galatians on the 5th, v. 13, is fulfilled: "You shall serve one another through love"; and to the Romans on the 12th, v. 4. 5, and in the first epistle to the Corinthians on the 12th, v. 12. ff, By the likeness of the limbs of the body he teaches how the strong, healthy, honorable limbs do not take pride in the inferior ones, as if they weighed them down and were their gods; but rather they serve them, forgetting their own glory, health, and power. For so no member of the body serves him.
himself, neither seek his own pleasure, but another's; and so much more, so much weaker, sicker and more dishonorable. And to use St. Paul, 1 Cor. 12:5, "the members care for one another in like manner," so that there may be no indignation and strife in the body. From which it is clear how one should behave and act toward one's neighbor in all things.
*(20) For the doctrine is to be practiced, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." E.G.: When you have been offended by your neighbor, the thought immediately comes to you to seek revenge and retaliation, for this is similar to the nature of Adam. Here both forms are shown, namely justice in the offended and injustice in the offended. If nature were to gain the upper hand here, what would happen? Since it pleases itself, it will burn against the offender, reject him as an unjust man, and judge and condemn him; so he acts presumptuously against him, which is the business of God, who is set over him; for God is the honor, the vengeance and the judgment, according to Rom. 12, 19: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord"; and Joh. 8, 50: "There is one who seeks and judges.
21 Here, then, man becomes a man of blood, angry, envious, impatient, and in the meantime completely forgets that he, too, offended God and man in so many and very different things. And yet he would not have acted with himself in a single one of them as he acts with his neighbor in this single matter; he would not have been avenged, judged and disgraced.
22 Secondly, he does not look at the example of Christ, who, because he was offended in so many ways, not only did not retaliate against him, but also had pity on him as a poor man without understanding and thus submitted to his form. He did with the sin with which he was offended, violating his own form.
*The following ยงยง 20-23 are not in the original edition, nor in Spalatin's translation, but have been taken from the Latin Jena edition in this revised edition. D. Red.
The same applies to the other two, as if he had done them himself.
23 Thirdly, he does not see that the offending party is his neighbor, as it were, his own sick, dishonorable member in need of healing, with whom he, being in need of compassion and healing, ought to have more mercy than to embitter and disgrace it by the sharpness of justice. For thus also we are borne and not embittered by Christ, whom we nevertheless offend with five hundred pounds, that is, with far greater infirmities and insults, where our neighbor offends and irritates us scarcely with fifty pennies, that is, with far lesser insults. The Lord's Prayer also compels us to do this: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
(24) And if we will not willingly and willingly take off these forms of God, and put on the forms of the servant, we shall be forced to do so, and shall be taken off against our will, and shall be stripped of them; whereof the history and story of Luke 7:39 and following is known, wherein Simon the leper, sitting in the form of God, and in his righteousness, haughtily condemned and despised Mary Magdalene, in whom was the form of the servant. But behold the judge: the Lord Christ soon stripped him of the form of righteousness, and put on him the form of sin, saying, "Thou gavest me not the kiss, thou wast not my head." Behold, how great sin he did not see; neither did he consider it that he was unformed with an ugly form; his good works are in no memory, the HER Christ does not know the form of God, in which Simon the leper, pleasing himself, boasted and exalted himself. The Lord Christ does not tell or report that he was invited, fed and honored by Him. The leper, Simon, is now nothing but a sinner, who thought himself such a righteous man, the honor of the form of God has been taken from him, he sits disgraced and disgraced in the form of the servant, he will or will not. But again, Mary Magdalene was honored by the Lord with the glory of God, and her sins were taken away from her, and she was
lifted up over Simon, saying, "This one has anointed my feet, kissed them, wetted them with spikes, and dried them with her hair." Behold, how great merit neither she nor Simon saw; her sins are in no remembrance, the Lord Christ knows not the form of servanthood in her, which He magnified with the form of dominion. And Mary Magdalene is nothing else but a righteous and exalted one in the honor and glory of the form of God.
025 So shall he do unto us all, as often as we rise up in righteousness, or in wisdom, or in violence, and rage against the unrighteous, and against fools, and against them that are more unrighteous than we: then, which is the greatest peril, righteousness worketh against righteousness, wisdom against wisdom, and violence against violence. For thou art therefore mighty and powerful, that thou shouldest not make the unruly more unruly with oppression, but shouldest make them more powerful with exaltation and salvation; and therefore thou art wise, not that thou shouldest mock the unwise, and so make them more foolish, but that thou shouldest accept and instruct them as thou wouldest thyself. So you are righteous, that you may justify and excuse the unrighteous, not that you alone may condemn or condemn him, speak after him, judge him and avenge him. For this is the example of the Lord Christ against us, when he said, "The Son of man is not come to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved," John 3:17; and again, Luke 9:55: "Ye know not of what manner of spirit ye are the children; the Son of man is not come to destroy men's souls, but to preserve them."
(26) But the impetuous nature resists this, for it has great desire and will for vengeance and for the glory of its own righteousness and the shame of its neighbor's unrighteousness. Therefore it pursues and handles its own affairs and rejoices that its cause is better than its neighbor's, and pursues its neighbor's cause and desires that it be evil and wicked, which is pure unrighteousness, contrary and repugnant to love, "which seeks not its own," 1 Cor. 13:5, but the other's advantage, piety and honor. For man should
1274 n. 337-339. B. Of the Christian Faith in Particular - Third Article. W. X. 1531-1534. 1275
To grieve that his neighbor's cause is not better than his own, and to wish that another's cause were better than his own, not with less joy than when he rejoices that his own cause is better than his neighbor's: for this is the law and the prophets.
027 But thou sayest, Doth it not behoove to punish evil? Is it not proper to atone for sin? Who is not guilty of administering justice? That would be a cause of sin and evil.
(28) I answer, then, that there cannot be a simple answer here; therefore, a distinction must be made among people, for people are either public, or common, or special (private). The public or common people, that is, those who are in God's office, are not concerned with what has been said. For it is their duty and necessity to punish and judge the wicked, and to administer to the oppressed and wronged; for they do not do this, but God, whose servants and slaves they are in this, as St. Paul indicates to the Romans in the 13th chapter, v. 4, and says: "For the power or authority does not bear the sword in vain." But this is to be understood in other people's things and not in his own things. For no one is God's governor on account of himself and his own, but for the sake of others. But if the power or authority has a matter of its own, it should seek a governor of God other than itself. For in such a case it is not a judge, but a party. But others speak of it also otherwise and other opinion, because this thing is more extensive, as it may be told now.
(29) But special and proper men are of three kinds. The first, who seek vengeance, judgment and sentence from the governors of God: and there is now a considerable number of them: St. Paul tolerates them; but he does not praise them, to the Corinthians, 1 Epist. 6, 12: "I have all power, but not all"; yes, he speaks in the same place, v. 7, 8: "It is already a fault among you, that you are not living with one another.
rights." But still, for the sake of a greater evil, this lesser evil will be endured, lest people take revenge on themselves, and one show violence to the other, proving evil against evil, or else claiming back what is his. But the same shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but shall be turned to correction, and shall leave the things that are due, or that are abated, and follow after the things that serve; for the inclination of his own use must be cut off.
(30) There are other people who do not desire vengeance, indeed, they are ready and willing, according to the instruction of the Gospel, Matt. 5:40, "to let him who takes their coat have his skirt", and do not resist some evil; they are children of God, brothers of Christ and heirs of the goods to come. Therefore they are called in the Scriptures orphans, widows, the poor, whose father and judge God has willed to be called, because they do not avenge themselves, Ps. 68:6. Yes, if the authorities want to avenge them, they either do not desire it, nor seek it, or permit it alone; or, if they are quite perfect, they resist and hinder it, and are willing rather and more readily to lose other things also. If you say: Such people are exceedingly few, and who could remain in this world if he did this? Then I answer, It is not new that few people are saved, and that the gate that leads to life is narrow, and few people find it, Matt. 7:14. And if no one did, how would the Scripture stand, which calls the poor, widows and orphans the people of Christ? For this reason they take off the form of their righteousness, put on the form of their enemies and persecutors, and pray for those who persecute them, say good things to those who speak evil of them, do good to evildoers, and are ready and willing to suffer the punishment of their own enemies and to do enough, so that they may be saved. And this is the gospel, example and model of the Lord Christ, Matth. 5, 43.
31. the third people are those who are connected with the
They are those who are of the same opinion and will as the second and just mentioned, but are differently skilled in deeds. These are those who do not demand their own in turn, or do not seek or desire revenge because they seek their own; but that through this revenge they seek the restitution or correction or vindication of the robber, alienator, or insulter. For they see that they cannot be corrected and justified without punishment. These are called Zelosi, that is, the avid seekers of justice, who would like to see injustice and wickedness go unpunished, and are praised in the holy Scriptures. But no one should be subject to this, unless he is fully in the second degree just shown.
He is not to be found to have done more out of wrath and impatience than out of wrath, for wrath is the same as impatience, and impatience is the same as the love of righteousness. For wrath is equal to just indignation, and impatience to the love of righteousness; so that one thing may be known differently from another by none but the most spiritual men. Such a work was done by the Lord Christ, as John says in the 2nd chapter, v. 15, 16, when he made scourges, driving the sellers and buyers out of the temple; and St. Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 4, 21: "I will come to you with a rod."