August 21, 1544.
To the venerable Lord in Christ, Mr. Georg Spalatin, Superintendent of the churches of Meissen, the faithful shepherd of Altenburg, his beloved in the Lord, God's grace and peace in Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
My dearest Spalatin, I have heartfelt sympathy for you and earnestly ask our Lord Christ to strengthen you and give you cheerful courage. I would like to know, and also ask diligently, what your concern is, or how it has an occasion for your weakness: I am told by some that it is nothing other than sadness and melancholy of spirit over a marriage case in which a priest has freed his deceased wife's stepmother and entrusted her to him. If this is so, I beg you with the greatest diligence for the sake of our Lord Christ not to stand on yourselves and your heart's thoughts and feelings, but to hear me, your brother, who speaks to you in Christ's name; if not, sadness will take over and kill you, according to the words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. Pauli, 2 Cor. 7, 10: "The sadness of the world brings about death," as I have often experienced in myself, and in 1540 also in Magister Philipp in Weimar, who had already been put to death by melancholy and sadness in the landgrave's matter; but Christ awakened him again through my mouth.
2 Now, let it also be supposed that you have sinned in this, and let the guilt be partly yours, because you may have approved of such a marriage. Yea, I will say further, though ye have committed more and greater sins in this and other cases, than Manasseh king of Judah, whose offenses and iniquities could not be healed all the days of his posterity unto the destruction of Jerusalem, yet your offenses are light, moreover, temporal, and therefore
But let it be, I say, that you were guilty of it, would you grieve to death over it, and by this murder sin against God even more abominably?
(3) It is enough that you have erred in this; yet let not sin abide in you, but let it be temporary, and let go of sadness, which is a far greater sin. Hear the blessed comfort that the Lord holds out to you through the prophet when he says, Ezek. 33:11: "As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but that he should turn and live." Do you think that the hand of the Lord has become too short with you alone? Isa. 59, 1. Or has he ceased to be gracious and merciful to you alone? Ps. 77, 10. Or are you the first who, through your sin, have made it so bad that we now have no high priest who could have compassion on our weakness? Or does it seem wonderful or new to you that a man who lives in the flesh and is surrounded by so many devils' innumerable fiery arrows is sometimes wounded or cut down to the ground?
4 It seems to me, my dear Spalatin, that you are still little experienced in the fight against sin, evil conscience, law and the terror of death; or Satan has taken from your eyes and memory all the comfort you have ever read in Scripture, so that you are outside the temptation, prepared for the very best. You have known to remember what Christ's office and benefits are; yes, he has also torn from your heart all your beautiful Christian sermons of God's grace and mercy, shown to us in Christ, so that you have taught, admonished and comforted others with a cheerful spirit and great joyful courage.
5. or you have certainly been only a weak sinner up to now, who has only been very
1730 ve IV. 5,680,681. iii. Main st. - 6. of the Our Father esp. 6. petition. W. X, 2025-2028. 1731
I was aware of small and minor faults and weaknesses. Therefore, my faithful request and admonition is that you join us and keep us, who are true, great and hardened sinners, so that you do not make us small or belittle Christ, as He alone could help us from imaginary, bad, childish sins. No, no, that would not be good for us, but he is the Savior and Redeemer from right, great, grave, damnable transgressions and iniquities, yes, from the very greatest and most grievous, and in sum, from all sins together. D. Staupitz once comforted me in this way, since I too once lay ill in this very hospital and in the same affliction as you are now. You want, he said, to be a painted sinner, and therefore have Christ only for a painted Savior.
You must become accustomed to believe that Christ is a true Savior, and that you are a true sinner. For God does not joke, nor does He deal with fictitious things; but He was very serious when He sent His one and only Son into the world and gave Himself for all of us, Rom. 8, 32. Joh. 3, 16. These and similar thoughts (drawn from the comforting sayings of the Scriptures) have been taken from your memory by the wicked Satan, so that you cannot remember them now in your great anguish and melancholy. Therefore, for God's sake, hand over your ears and hear, brother, how I, your brother, sing joyfully, who stand outside your sadness and melancholy and am strong, and indeed strong for that reason, so that you, who are weak and chased and frightened by the devil. May you lean on me and rise up, until you too, having risen again, can defy the devil and confidently sing: "They push me to fall, but the Lord helps me", Ps. 118, 13. Remember now that I am Peter, who reaches out his hand to you and says to you: "In the name of Jesus rise up and walk", Apost. 3, 6.
7 Oh, my dear Spalatin, listen and believe the words that Christ speaks to you through me; for I am not wrong, I know that, much less do I speak something diabolical, but Christ speaks through me (because I have given you'...).
and commands you to obey and believe your brother in common faith. He himself absolves you from this and all sins, so we share in your sins and help you bear them.
8 Therefore see that you also partake with us of our consolation, which is true, certain and lasting; commanded by the Lord himself that we should impart it to you, and also commanded you that you should accept it from us. For as it is to our hearts that you are so miserably afflicted with heavy sorrow, so he is much more displeased with it (for he is gracious, merciful, patient, and of great kindness, and soon repents of punishment, Joel 2:15).
(9) Therefore, do not reject him who comforts you and proclaims the will of God, and hates and condemns your sadness and gloom as the plague of Satan. Do not allow the devil to portray Christ to you in a different way than he really is; but believe the scripture that testifies of him that he appeared "to destroy the works of the devil", 1 John 3:8. Your sadness is a work of the devil that Christ wants to destroy, if only you would allow it otherwise. You have had enough fear, you have been sad enough, you have atoned enough, yes, more than enough (therefore do not reject comfort, let yourself be helped etc.).
Behold, my dear Spalatin, how faithfully I act and speak with you. I will accept it as the highest favor that can come to me from you, if you give this comfort of mine, that is, the Lord Christ's own absolution, forgiveness, resurrection, instead of you; which, if you do, you yourself will have to say and confess, when things improve with you, that you have made the dearest, most pleasing sacrifice to the Lord with such obedience; as it is written, Ps. 147, 11: "The Lord is pleased with those who fear him, who hope in his goodness." (Item, Ps. 34, 19.: "The Lord is near to them that are of a broken heart, and helpeth them that are of a bruised spirit"; and Ps. 51, 19.: "The sacrifices that please God are a troubled spirit.
a troubled and bruised heart you, God, will not despise."]
(11) Therefore, let the wretched devil with his sorrow, who has grieved us greatly in your days, go on and on, wanting also to destroy our joy which we have in the Lord, even to devour us all at once, if he could; but Christ our Lord,
punish him and will punish him, who will strengthen, comfort and sustain you through his spirit, amen. Comfort your wife with these and better words; unfortunately I do not have the time to write a second letter. Zeitz, August 21, Anno 1544.
Your
Martin Luther.