To the Saalfeld City Council.
Luther advises them to address their concerns to the visitators of Thuringia.
From Schlegel's "Life of Caspar Aquila". Leipzig and Frankfurt 1737. 4th, p.275, in De Wette, vol. V, p. 166 and in the Erlangen edition, vol. 55, p. 220.
To the honorable, prudent gentlemen, mayor and council of Salfeld, my favorable gentlemen and friends.
Grace and peace with Christ 2c. Honorable, prudent, dear sirs! I understand from your writing that Satan also wants to come among the children of God, as happens in more places, where it is evident that God is threatening the devil with our great ingratitude, which we so miserably despise His blessed Word. But because the districts of this principality are divided, it is my advice that you ask and request Friedrich Mecum in Gotha; if you also want to ask Just Menius in Eisenach, it is all the better, since they have been ordered to visit the Thuringian lands. I write this
so that any further trouble is prevented, but rather that the order of the circles is not mixed up or torn apart. These two will know how to advise the matter (whether God wills it); may you send him my letter along with it. Hereby commanded by God, Domin. Invocavit [23 Feb] 1539.
Martinus Luther.
To Andreas Hügel, pastor in Amberg.
Luther gives him guidance on how to answer an opponent who claims the merit of good works.
The original is at Gotha in Cod. chart. 1048. Manuscript in Aurifaber, vol. III, p. 267. Printed in Schütze, vol. III, p. 95 and in De Wette, vol. V, p. 167.
Grace and peace in Christ! What you write, my dear Andrew, about the Eckscheu disputator, that he wants works to merit eternal life after justification, is too extensive a matter to be settled in one letter. But I answer in short words thus: First, that you urge the disputant to the restitution of all things which they possess by this their doctrine, that works shall merit grace before justification. When this restitution has been made, you will answer about the works that are done after justification. For you must be a little bolder and more argumentative against these unrighteous and unlearned sophists, since you know that they are asses in this doctrine. Then to the matter (which these "asses" do not need to indicate): those who are justified in Christ are heirs of the kingdom through faith (as Paul teaches in the letter to the Galatians). Therefore it must be admitted that they do not earn the kingdom of heaven by works alone, but also 1) by omission of works, yes, even by sleep. For what should the children of GOD not earn? What should an heir, the son, not earn with the father, since he is heir without merit from birth alone? The Father entices the Son, who is an heir by nature, to become an heir through obedience.
1) The preceding words, which are missing in Dr Wette, are inserted "ach Burkhardt, p. 3i8.
Letters from the year 1539. No. 2513 to 2516.