To the Mayor and Judges of Frauenstein. March 17, 1531.
To the honorable and wise, mayor and judge on Frauenstein, my special good friends, grace and peace in Christ.
Honorable, wise, dear gentlemen! I have heard your request, if you are urged by your authorities to receive the One Form of the Sacrament; and at your question, it is my best discretion:
Because you have received it before in both forms and have confessed it, and even if you have not confessed it, you have nevertheless done it with the work and thus confessed it to the devil, it is not necessary to publicly revoke or deny it with a clear conscience. Although it would be fine, if it could ever be, and you were not forced to confess, that you still kept it secretly and stayed away from it.
For since you consider it right and God's order in your conscience, there is no way to advise you to do otherwise against such a conscience. For I am moved hard and often by the example of Dr. Krause in Halle. And since God is before you, if you should act against your conscience in this, although no sin is too great, if it happens, God will forgive it, you would be too severely challenged and have great remorse, and then there would be no comfort, because you would be deprived of the Word. Therefore, I ask the merciful God, for the sake of which you will be comforted in this way.
may your gracious God be to you in your distress. Send help and means, so that you may remain in good conscience.
But that ye may further ask, Whether ye may confess or deny it before the authorities, if ye were asked whether ye should abstain from receiving of one form? Answer briefly Christ, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my heavenly Father." And is not excused whether someone is in an office, has a wife or child. For it is said, "Love God above all things"; and, "He that loveth wife and child more than me is not worthy of me." It would have been fine if you had felt weak in faith, if you had remained in both forms at the very beginning, as well as in one form. But now that you have come into it, and now you are also being forced into one form, you will need a strong faith, or you will have to go against your conscience. Then you should rather risk everything you are and have. For he who gave you the simple things is able to give them back to you a hundredfold, as he says in the gospel Marc. 10, 30.
There is more need for prayer here than for revenge. There is no counsel against violence, but only prayer. May the merciful God grant you to accomplish this with all your heart and strength, Amen. Wittenberg, March 17, 1531.