1. whether one owes to keep Mosiah's secular and political laws.
2. the law most terrifies the godly.
3. for whom the law and the gospel belong.
4. the office and work of the law.
The custom of the law is twofold.
(6) That the doctrine of the law is not necessary for salvation is annoying to the world and to the saints of works.
7. what the law and the gospel are.
Moses with his law is an executioner.
9. law remains law, it has a name what it wants.
10. the law's own and best work.
11. whereby we get rid of the law.
Why the Scriptures, especially St. Paul, speak so contemptuously of the Law.
(13) To despise the curse and burden of the law is hard in times of trouble.
(14) The law is not to be seen or heard if one wants to act on the righteousness that is before God.
15. Besides the trade of righteousness before God, the law is to be highly praised.
The law and the gospel are two disgusting things that cannot stand each other.
17. from the law.
The most serious challenge from the devil is with the law.
19 To discern the gospel aright is no man's art.
20. law and gospel are the main pieces of Christian teaching.
21) One must always pray against the devil and know and keep the difference between the Law and the Gospel.
The law should always be taught.
23. several questions from the law.
24. what a law holds in itself.
25 The Law and the Gospel are briefly stated at first, but then explained further.
26. 27. Preaching of the Gospel.
28 Why praise the law.
29. st. augustini saying from the law.
30. what the law is.
31. 32. comparison of the law.
(33) God's law also does not make alive, but kills.
34) For what purpose it is useful to know how to distinguish between the law and the gospel.
The righteousness of the Gospel is not understood by reason.
36. the gospel is equal to the b fa b mi in the musica.
The righteousness of the law does not make one blessed.
38. antitype of the law and the gospel, how both go from places.
The gospel does not require us to do any works.
40. works of the law are done with unwillingness.
41. why the law repealed.
(42) One should not argue with the devil out of the law, but out of the gospel.
The law must always be preached.
44. the antinomer pretending not to preach the law.
Why the gospel is preached so clearly now.
46 The Gospel does not distinguish the persons.
47. how to stand against the charge of the law.
48. the gospel will be starved.
The gospel brings poverty, but false teaching brings wealth.
50. blissful time.
51. different effect of the grace and the law.
It is difficult to distinguish between the law and the gospel.
53. from the lie.
54. beware of sophistry.
55. abthuung of the law.
56) How the law will be fulfilled.
57. various laws.
The preaching of the Law and the Gospel is necessary.
59 St. Augustine's Opinion on the Justification of the Law.
To whom the law is given, and to whom the gospel is given.
61) Whether to preach about God's grace and mercy alone.
The gospel does not concern the wicked.
63. the office, use and fruit of the gospel and the law.
The Gospel has delivered us from the Pabst's idolatry, superstition and countless abominations.
This is the beginning of the new gospel.
66 On the Difference between the Law and the Gospel.
67. why believers are not given a law.
(68) To distinguish the gospel from the law, especially in battle, is a great and difficult art.
69. of the gospel art.
70. against the lawbreakers.
For the sake of the law, St. Paul has much to do with the Jews.
The Jews' annoyance because of the law.
The law and the gospel should be diligently distinguished.
All laws are deadly apart from Christ.
75. If the law were kept the same, it would not make anyone righteous before God.
The law casts a curse on all people who are outside the faith.
77. 78. Whether the law is necessary for justification.
What the law does and why it is given.
How to become wise in the sight of God.
How the law is to be fulfilled.
82. the curse of the law.
83. the ten commandments, what they are in the world.
84. some pleas and deferrals from the law, and how to overcome the contestation and terror of the law.
What God's righteousness is, and why the preaching of the law is necessary; against the antinomians.
86. a whimsical story.
1. whether one owes to keep Mosiah's secular and political laws?
Anno 1524, Feria 2. post Judica, D. M. Luther said: Those, who praise Mosis court order, Judicialia, laws and rights in world affairs, so highly, are to be despised; because we have our described imperial and land laws, under which we live and to which we have committed ourselves. Just as neither Naaman the Syrian, nor Job, nor Joseph, nor Daniel, nor other sronim Jews kept Mosi's law nor used it outside their country, but the laws and rights of the Gentiles with whom they were. Mosiah's laws bound and obligated only the Jewish people in the place that God had chosen. Now they are free. Otherwise, since one would have to keep Mosi's judicialia, laws of court and world affairs, we would also have to be circumcised and keep the ceremonialia and Mosaic ceremonies; for there is no difference: whoever considers one as necessary, must also keep the others. Therefore be content with Mosi's laws;
except the morals that God has planted in nature, as the ten commandments, so right worship and respectability concern.
2. the law most terrifies the godly.
God puts the sword into the hand of the emperor, who then puts it into the hand of the judge and lets him punish thieves and murderers, and then takes it out of his hand again if he wants. This is what God does with the law; he lets the devil have his way, so that he can frighten the sinners. But that the godly and pious Christians are most of all tormented, vexed and martyred by it, the game is for the last day; not for the pope alone, but for the whole world. The devil senses the end of his kingdom, therefore he wriggles. Let us therefore be confident, strong and joyful in the Lord. Let us be armed and girded with the sword of the Spirit, pray and call upon God in all troubles and afflictions, and wait either to be delivered from all evil, or to be punished.
may be alleviated for us. Let us cleave unto Christ, and cleave unto him, so that by no violence nor wrong shall we be separated from him; and we shall soon look upon one another with joy in that day.
3. for whom the law and gospel belong.
(Contained in Cap. 12, § 20.)
4. the law's own office and work.
(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, s 442.)
The custom of the law is twofold.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, U 443. 444. 445. 447. 448. 449. 456. 457. 458. 459. 460, with several omissions and one rearrangement).
(6) The doctrine of the law, that it is not necessary for salvation, is vexatious in the world to the saints of works.
(Cordatus No. 7. 8. 9. 10.)
Never has a bolder sermon come into the world than the sermon of Paul, in which he abolishes Moses, that is, abolishes the law of God, which is nothing at all different than abolishing God's regiment and religion. But which sensible person would bear this with equanimity? From this arose the constant quarrel with the Jews. Therefore, Paul was blasphemed by the false prophets and the Galatians fell away from him and all of Asia, and he was still blasphemed long after his death, as one often reads in Chrysostom.
If Moses had not removed himself from his office, 1) Deut. 18: "God will raise up a prophet, him you shall hear", who could or should have ever believed the gospel? Hence the severe accusation against Stephen, Apost. 6. came, which had great power among all the Jews. We have heard (they say) that he spoke blasphemous words against Moses and against God Himself. Also against the holy place and the law.
1) I.e. that he himself would have said that his office would not be an eternal one.
and against the ordinances. How many articles of faith they enumerate, against which, as they testify, Stephen had sinned! And not without cause, for he seemed to speak against God and all the sanctity of the law, the place, the ceremonies, the persons and the like.
Preaching that it is not necessary to keep the law for the sake of obtaining salvation appears to the Jews as it would appear to Christians if someone preached that Christ is not the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world.
Paul could have patiently borne the free fulfillment of the law, but the Jews did not want that, just as little as our papists, who definitely want their ceremonies to be held by the one who wants to be blessed. Therefore, the papists will perish, just like the Jews.
7. what the law and the gospel are.
(Cordatus No. 188.)
Law is what we should do; but the Gospel is about what God wants to give. The first we cannot do; the other we can accept with faith. But see how men are: the first thing they cannot do they want to do, and the second thing they should accept they do not want to believe 2c.
(Here find 14 lines omitted because contained in Cap. 11, § 23.)
8. Moses with his law is an executioner.
(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 291.)
Moses is the master of all executioners, for no one can surpass him, or even equal him, in terror, fear, tyranny, threats and other such things. For he attacks the conscience, frightens and tortures it and does this out of God's power and in God's stead.
9. law remains law, it has a name what it wants.
(Cordatus No. 205.)
Law is law, may it be ceremonial law, or for the judicial process,
or the so-called moral law. So also baptism, although it is a ceremonial law, is necessary for all Christians.
10. the law's own and best work.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §§ 16. 19.)
11. whereby we get rid of the law.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 20.)
12) Why the Scriptures, especially St. Paul, speak so contemptuously of the Law.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 21.)
(13) To despise the burden and curse of the law is hard in times of trouble.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 22.)
14. the law is not to be seen or heard when one is talking about righteousness,
so as to act in the sight of God.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 23.)
15. Besides the trade of righteousness before God, the law is to be highly praised.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §24.)
The law and the gospel are two disgusting things that cannot stand each other.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 25.)
17. law.
Moses with his law, said D. Martinus, I will not have him, for he is the enemy of the Lord Christ: if he comes with me to judgment, I will reject him, not in the name of God; and say, Here stands Christ. And on
At the last day Moses shall look upon me, and say, Thou hast rightly understood me, and hast distinguished me; and shall be favorable unto me.
(From here to the conclusion Cordatus No. 498.)
The law is more easily grasped by reason than grace; Adam does not want to accept it. Therefore, the disputation about the law, which the devil arouses in the godly penitent, must be driven out.
18. with the law the heaviest challenge from the devil.
(Contained in Cap. 26, § 72.)
(19) To distinguish rightly between the law and the gospel is no man's art.
(Cordatus No. 1623.)
I have now spent twenty years in the proper study of theology, and yet I still cannot sufficiently explain the difference between the law and the gospel, indeed, no man understands this exactly, since even Christ was reminded of the gospel in the garden by the angel. Therefore, it is a vain glory of the enthusiasts of their consummate grace consummata gratia.
20. law and gospel are the main articles of Christian teaching.
(Cordatus No. 34.)
There are two, the law and the gospel. [God wants the wicked to be restrained from vices by the law and controls the hypocrites by the same, so that if they do not want to attain salvation other than by works, they will learn it from the law, which describes works abundantly. But through the gospel he comforts the sorrowful, the weak, the afflicted and all those listed by the prophet Isaiah, chapter 6. For they are told: "Be comforted with the comfort, because I forgive your sins. What could God do more than humble the proud through the law and heal them through the gospel?
(21) Against the devil one must always pray, knowing and keeping the difference between the law and the gospel.
(In other redaction Cap. 24, § 15.)
The law should always be taught.
(Contained in Cap. 12, § 43.)
23. from the law quite a few questions.
(Cordatus No. 74 and No. 75.)
Two magistrates came to him [Luther] with the question: "Does the law reveal sin to people without the special effect of the Holy Spirit? One asserted this, the other denied it. The one based himself on the words of Paul to the Romans, that the law reveals sin; the other said that it is the effect of the Holy Spirit through the law, because many hear the law, and yet have no knowledge of sin. To this the doctor replied thus: They used the word law in different meanings; otherwise, if they had the same way of speaking, they would both be right. Namely, the word law has two meanings. First, that it is only written, heard and read. Then it was not the law, which revealed the power, that is, the sting of sin, and this abuse was already punished by all the prophets, saying: And you have not heard me 2c. Secondly, the law is the words of the law together with the action of the Holy Spirit, who gives power to the words or the writing of the law, so that one may say from the heart, "Oh, this concerns me. There I have done wrong against God. When I pressed sCordatus] further and said: The law is something else and that is the law of God, which necessarily has its power, as human words could not have, he added: There are three things to be distinguished: The written law, the oral law and the spiritual law. The written law, if it is only written, is like a log that cannot move unless it is moved. The law is also like that if it is not read. But the oral law also reveals the sin of the wicked. For the adulterers hear that it concerns them when they hear the sixth commandment, but they either despise it, or even pursue it after they have despised it, since the oral law] reveals the same [sixth commandment] to them.
1) Cordatus was one of the two magisters.
Commandment. The spiritual law, however, is not without spiritual movement, which takes place through the Spirit; for he moves the hearts not only so that they do not despise, or persecute after despising, but rather so that sin may be subdued, and one may be restored to righteousness.
But since I [Cordatus] had mentioned (for the sake of dispute) Paul's words to the Thessalonians [1 Thess. 2, 13.]: The word works in the hearers, he answered: This is to be understood from the Gospel, and even this so great word, whether written or verbal, does not work without the Holy Spirit. When I further said that this was true and most pleasing to the enthusiasts who made a mockery of God's word, he answered: This is another question, namely, whether without the oral or written word the knowledge of sin or of grace in Christ could come to men, or whether the written or oral word alone justifies or reveals sin, or brings the hearers to grace.
24. which had a law in it.
Every law or commandment must have two things in it: first, a promise; second, a decree; for every law is good, just and holy, Rom. 7:12. It gives what is good and forbids what is evil; it rewards and protects the pious, but punishes and forbids the wicked, as St. Paul says Rom. 13:3, 4: "The mighty are not to be feared for good works, but for evil. But if thou wilt not fear the authorities, do good, and thou shalt have praise of them: for they are God's servants, too good for thee. But if you do evil, be afraid, for she does not bear the sword in vain; she is God's servant, an avenger of punishment on the one who does evil." And 1 Petr. 2, 14, "for vengeance on the wicked, and for praise to the pious." Which also the imperial secular laws teach: the-
2) unum. It is not necessary to change this to verdum, although verbnm is to be added from the preceding verdo.
Their reward is peace, honor, and good; but their punishment is trouble, shame, poverty, and death.
Since this is so in worldly laws, how much more in God's law is the promise and the prophecy, which demand righteous faith of the heart! The laws of Caesar also require faith, whether righteous or poetic; for those who do not fear or believe that Caesar will punish or protect, do not keep his laws and order, as we see; but those who believe and fear, whether it be from the heart or not.
Where there is a mere and pure promise without law in the holy scripture, only faith is needed; as Abraham was promised that his seed would be multiplied like the stars in heaven, Rom. 4:2 ff. There he is not commanded to do any work, but he hears of God's work in the future, which Abraham was neither able nor able to do. So Christ is also promised to us, and a work is offered to us, which we cannot do; but God alone does it, therefore only faith is necessary for us here, because nothing is done by works.
After this faith, works and laws are laid down for us and commanded, just as Abraham was circumcised, so that faith may be tested and proven. And even though the arch-fathers had other promises and signs, by which they were justified, because they believed in them, they believed in the very God who offered and promised them the same Christ. For it is One Christ who was to come and be sent, in whom they were to believe in all His promises, and the very God who would send Him and has now sent Him.
25 The Law and the Gospel are briefly stated at first, but then explained further.
(Cordatus No. 1781.)
Just as the law was given to the Jews in a short version at the Exodus from Egypt, and was later abundantly interpreted by Moses in the fifth book of Moses, so Christ and then the apostles did with the gospel.
26. preaching of the gospel.
(Cordatus No. 1637.)
In the time of the apostles, and also in our time, the gospel is more widely spread and more effectually preached than in the time of Christ; hence he also said [John 14:12.], "Ye shall do greater works," Matt. 13:31, 32.:] "I am a grain of mustard seed, ye shall be the branches under which the birds shall nest, I [preach] in a corner, in the Jewish land, ye shall preach in all the world upon the housetops."
27. preaching of the gospel.
The gospel of our time is like a man who wants to die, whose soul sits on his tongue, so that he only stirs his tongue a little, and murmurs the words: "Into your hands I commend my spirit" 2c. So now we are also the last movement of the gospel that confesses Christ. We still call Christ a little, and praise him, therefore the last day will soon follow.
28. why to praise the law.
(Cordatus No. 1648.)
All love and praise Moses, the Law and Jesus Sirach, but only as long as they read them; but when it comes to action, they become hostile to them.
29. st. augustini saying from the law.
(Contained in Cap. 9, § 53.)
30. law what it is.
(This § is contained in the first paragraph of the following § and only another relation of it).
31. comparison of the law.
(Cordatus No. 1032 and No. 1649.)
The law is in truth a labyrinth and its righteousness a minotaur, that is, a fable that does not lead to bliss but draws to hell, although history itself is God's word.
The law is a log; roll it where you will, it remains a log, it does not justify. So why do we torture ourselves by
want to bring us and other people to the mathematical point of righteousness, so we hardly come to the physical line? For the world is and remains the world.
32. a different.
The law does not serve righteousness in the sight of God in any way. If it is rightly understood, it makes people despondent and causes despair; but if it is not rightly understood, it makes hypocrites. The gospel, when it is not rightly understood, makes safe and crude people, who need it only for carnal freedom; but when it is rightly understood, it makes righteous, pious, godly people and Christians. Therefore the law is given only for the sake of transgression, that sin and our corrupt nature may be known from it, so that people may be afraid after Christ; outwardly it serves only for police, discipline and respectability.
The law of God also does not make alive, but kills.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 520.)
34) For what purpose it is useful to know how to distinguish between the law and the gospel.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §§ 524. 525. 526. 460. 461.)
The righteousness of the gospel is not understood by reason.
(Cordatus No. 1017, the first paragraph.)
If H[arch] G[eorg] sinned only against the gospel, this would be a futile sin for him; but this sin cannot be forgiven him, that he sins against the known truth and drives people out of his states without cause. He understands only the righteousness of the law; the justification which is in Christ he understands not, not the Spirit; that is, [he understands only] the righteousness of the law, not the justification of faith or of the gospel, which few take hold of, for they want to know of their sins and their righteousness.
Therefore, dear sirs, said D. M. Luther, let us love the article of justification, and of the difference between the law and the gospel, and diligently keep it. If we lose it, we will not be able to stand in the battle, nor will we be able to obtain some victory; and this is what all heretics and agitators have lacked. For if we do not understand the article correctly, we cannot fight against Satan and the priesthood, much less win and prevail. Christ alone sustains us in the truth. He is the right girdle and purpose, as Paul finely points out and reminds us, that all things may be drawn to and into him, that is, that Christ may be the head and summa in all things, upon whom all things are to be judged, that he alone may be and do all things, and remain fac totum.
The gospel is equal to the bfab mi in the musica.
(Cordatus No. 1291.)
In music, b fa b m is the gospel, because it governs all the music, the other claves are the law, and as the law obeys the gospel, so d ka d mi governs the other voices, and mi is the law, ka the gospel. The second tone [secundus tonus] is weak due to sin, because in b ka b mi, wherever it is, it allows this [voice]: Mi or fa. 1)
The righteousness of the law does not make one blessed.
(Cordatus No. 1696.)
Clouds that hasten but give no rain are the righteousness of the law, which promises much but gives nothing but hypocrisy.
38. antitype of the law and the gospel, how both go from places.
What is law does not go out from places, nor does it go out voluntarily from the hand, but is resisted and resisted, and is done unwillingly and with reluctance; but what is gospel goes out from places with pleasure and all will. Thus God has preached the gospel also through music; as one can read in the Josquini 2) Canto
1) A sufficient explanation of the above has not yet been found. (Wrampelmeyer.)
2) Cf. cap. 13, § 62.
Seeing that all composition flows and goes out finely, cheerfully, willingly, mildly, and sweetly, is not forced nor compelled, and is bound to the rules strictly and straightforwardly, like the finch's song.
The gospel does not require us to do any works.
The gospel is a good message that brings a good new tale, that God's Son became man and died for us, and rose again from the dead 2c., is not a sermon about our works. Therefore, whoever says that the gospel requires works for salvation is a liar.
40. works of the law are done with unwillingness.
Doctor Martino brought his little daughter Magdalenichen, who was supposed to sing to her cousin N.: The pope calls emperors and kings 2c., but she would not do it, although her mother urged her to do so. Then the doctor said, "Nothing good comes from the works of the law unless grace is added to them: what one is forced to do does not come from the heart, nor is it pleasant; for under Moses alone one murmurs, and wants to stone him all over, but he is not favored.
41. why the law repealed.
That the law was abolished and taken away was as necessary (so that it could no longer condemn the faithful) as that it was instituted and given; namely, so that one would know that Christ had now come, of whom Moses 5. B. 18, 15. says that one should hear the same, because all the prophets said that then the law would cease.
(42) One should not argue with the devil out of the law, but out of the gospel.
(Contained in Cap. 26, §1.)
The law must always be preached.
Because our flesh is for and all weak, even evil and corrupt, through original sin, therefore the ten commandments of God must always be obeyed.
preach. That the wicked may be kept and forced as in a prison, until they learn to know themselves aright, and feel that they are damned and lost in the wrath of God, with all their works and virtues, and so long for Christ, who alone can and will save from sin, death, the devil and hell, out of pure grace, all who believe in him. 1)
The ungodly are not to be preached the gospel, for they abuse it to the lust of the flesh and become angry with it, but the law, that they may be terrified and humbled.
44. the antinomer pretending not to preach the law.
In 1541, M. Jobst 2) showed D. M. Luther over the table the propositions that one should not preach the law in the church, because it did not make one righteous. Luther was very angry about this and said: "This is what our people want to do while we are still alive. Mr. Eisleben is of this opinion; envy, hatred and ambition drive him to it. Oh, that we could give the honor to M. Philippo, who teaches clearly and differently about the use and custom of the law, and I also teach about it, and I have abundantly dealt with this in the epistle to the Galatians. Count Albrecht of Mansfeld's prophecy will come true, who wrote to me: "There is a coiner behind it; for he who abolishes the teaching of the law politically abolishes the teaching of the police and stewardship. And if the law is cast out of the church, there is no more knowledge of sins in the world; for the gospel does not punish sin, but uses for it the office of the law, which is spiritual and describes and reveals sin done contrary to God's will and commandments. He who pretends that the transgressors do not sin against the law, but rather dishonor the Son of God, is not to be heard; for such speculative theologians are a pestilence to the church, for they have no conscience nor true knowledge of the divine word,
1) Cf. cap. 26, § 16.
2) Justus Menius. Bindseil I, 268.
they also teach without some dialectics, and throw everything into one another. They do the same as those who argue: Plenitudo legis est Dilectio: the fulfillment of the law is love, therefore we have no law. But these poor, unintelligent people do not see the minor point, 1) that this fulfillment, namely love, is quite weak in this flesh, and that through the spirit one must daily fight and contend against this weakness, and this weakness, because we live, must be under the law.
Why the gospel is preached so clearly now.
Now, in our time, the light of the gospel is a sure sign of the glorious future of the Lord Christ, and like the dawn that precedes the eternal day and the going forth of the Sun of Righteousness.
46 The Gospel does not distinguish the persons.
The law says: Every person is either a public person, who is in a public common office, or a private and individual person, who is in no office, who does not command the sword. To the private person it says: You shall not kill. But the gospel abolishes all distinction of persons, speaking badly in general: If you believe, you please God; as Christ says Joh. 3, 16: "So God loved the world, that everyone who believes in him has eternal life" 2c. and Marc. 16, 16: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved."
47. how to stand against the charge of the law.
(This § is from the Hauspostille. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, Col. 2031 f., § 25. 26. 27. 28.
48. the gospel will be starved.
The fact that the pastors, preachers and ministers of the Gospel are so poor at the present time that some of them may pine away with their wives and children is due to the fact that peasants, noblemen, officials, castles, princes, all of them of the
1) d. i. Understudy.
Who forbid that they should not give out; that therefore the gospel should be starved out.
The gospel brings poverty, but false teaching brings wealth.
(Contained in Cap. 1, § 55.)
50. blissful time.
(Contained in Cap. 2, § 138.)
51 Different effects of grace and the law.
(The first paragraph is contained in Cap. 12, § 60, therefore omitted).
(The following at Cordatus No. 340.)
Difference of the law and the gospel. The law is the back of God, wrath, sin, weakness. The Gospel is His face, the grace of the Lord, perfection. Therefore, God says to Moses, "You will see my back, but not my face" [Ex. 33:23].
It is difficult to distinguish the law from the gospel.
When one complained that he could not distinguish the Law from the Gospel, D. M. Luther said. M. Luther said, "Yes, if you could do that, you would be a good doctor. And he stood up, took off his beret, and said, If ye can do this, then will I say unto you, My dear Doctor, ye are learned 2c. Paul and I have never been able to get there. To St. Paul it was said, because he would have liked to be free of his thorn: Sufficit tibi gratia mea: Be content with my grace, 2 Cor. 12:9, that is, you have my word and command, keep it and be content with it. For if our Lord God gave us a strong, unwavering faith, we would become proud, despise Him, and boast about it ourselves. If he then gives us knowledge of the law, we become stupid and despondent, knowing nowhere to stay. Therefore, it is best that God play with us in such a way that we recognize our misery and suffering, and cling to the man called Christ with all our thoughts, who will certainly set right what we have ruined.
53. lies, 1)
A lie is like a snowball, the longer you roll it, the bigger it gets.
54. beware of sophistry.
(Contained in Cap. 40, § 1.)
55. from abthuung of the law.
(Here 7 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 12, § 41.)
D. M. Luther spoke a lot about the abolition of the law through Christ, referring to the saying Rom. 8, 3: "Which was impossible for the law, because it was weakened by the flesh, God sent His Son, who fulfills the law in us" 2c. God has redeemed us from the tyranny and obligation of the law, as Saint Paul says Rom. 10, 4: "Christ is the end of the law" 2c., that is, Christ is the summa and the right pure opinion and the content of the law; whoever has Him has fulfilled the law rightly.
But it is an impossible thing,' yes, completely against God, that one would want to do away with the law and abolish it, since it is in nature and naturally written in the hearts of all men and is innate in us. Although the natural law is somewhat obscure, and speaks only generally of works, Moses and the Holy Spirit expound it more clearly, and point out in particular by name the works that God wants us to do and to leave undone. Therefore Christ also says: "I have not come to abolish the law", Matth. 5, 17. One should give a coat of gold to one, and hold him glorious in the world, who would bring it about that Moses would also be completely abolished by Christ. Oh, then we would see how it would be. Oh what a fine being it should become! But God be forewarned and protect us from such desolate error. He will not let us experience it.
That I have spoken and written so harshly against the law with my teaching in the first is because the Christian church was completely overwhelmed and weighed down with all kinds of superstitions and aberrations.
1) Cf. Cap. 52, § 6.
and Christ was completely darkened and buried. I wanted to redeem and set free devout, God-fearing hearts from this kind of conscientiousness through the word of the Gospel. But I have never rejected the law. It would have been a louder caning and torture of consciences: in praying, there was only a babbling and ranting of many words; no prayer, but only a work of obedience. For the pope commanded three kinds of prayer: The first, materialis, as when one only recites and speaks the words that one does not understand, as the nuns pray the Psalter. The other, formalis, when one pays attention to the understanding of what they have in them. The third is affectualis, namely devotion and spiritual opinion, since it comes from the spirit. They paid little attention to this third, nor did they insist on it, but only that the words be told and spoken without understanding.
56. how the law is fulfilled.
(Cordatus No. 191.)
By a gift (that is, the Holy Spirit) the Law began to be fulfilled in Christians, but by grace it is fulfilled, namely, forgiveness of sins.
57. various nonsense.
(Cordatus No. 1346.)
The divine law is general, the natural is implanted in all men, the civil is secular, the provincial [municipalis] is land law; city law are some excerpts from these all. But the papacy has no foundation.
The preaching of the Law and the Gospel is necessary.
(Contained in Cap. 37, § 50.)
59 St. Augustine's Opinion on the Justification of the Law.
(Cordatus No. 131.)
Augustine's opinion is that the law, fulfilled by the powers of reason, does not justify, just as moral works do not justify the Gentiles. Even if the Holy Spirit had been added, works do not justify the Gentiles.
of the law. 1) Campanus is, as far as this opinion is concerned, his monkey, and adds this: He has not to fear hell, which is only a consequence of death, but not also a punishment of sin, which has fulfilled the law here. But the question here contrasted is not whether the law justifies, or the works of reason, or the so-called moral works. But the argument is whether the law, fulfilled by the Holy Spirit, justifies, and the answer is: No. For we say that the man who fulfills the whole law by the power of the Holy Spirit must nevertheless call upon the saving mercy of God, because he has not decided to be saved by the law, but by Christ, and works never make the mind of man calm and secure, nor the conscience happy and peaceful before God, which can be seen most of all in Christ, since he was afflicted, who truly could never have been afflicted if he had not been urged by the law, under which he placed himself for our sake, and [if he had not] entirely believed that God was angry with him and his enemy. How else could he have been grieved?
To whom the law is given, and to whom the gospel is given.
(Cordatus No. 1406.)
The law does not suffer grace in its turn, nor does grace suffer the law. Thus the law is given to the hopeful, as the Zwickauer are, likewise to the hypocrites, who want and love many laws. But grace belongs to the wretched, the humble, the broken-hearted, such as Hausmann, Cordatus, Philip and myself.
61) Whether to preach about God's grace and mercy alone.
When one of the doctors asked Luther about this, "and told Calixti's opinion that if one always preached the gospel and the grace of God, the people would only become more and more angry about it. To this the doctor answered, and said: "Nevertheless, grace must be preached.
1) In the original, non seems to be missing here.
preach, because it was Christ's name; and if one has been preaching about grace for a long time, people in mortal need often know little about it. It is God's glory to preach grace; though we make people more wicked and angry with it, God's word cannot be left out, but we also practice the ten commandments diligently, in its time and place.
The gospel does not concern the wicked.
(This § is spurious, just another redaction of Cap. 26, § 16, third para. Cordatus No. 815.)
63. the office, use and fruit of the gospel and the law.
The Gospel is like a fresh, gentle, cool breeze in the great heat of summer, that is, a comfort in the anguish of consciences, not in winter, when there is otherwise cold enough, that is, in the time of peace, when people are secure, and think to make themselves righteous and blessed before God by their works: but in the great heat of summer, that is, in those who rightly feel the terror and anguish of consciences, God's wrath widsr sin, and their weakness.
But this heat is made by the sun: so shall the terror of the conscience be done and made perfect by the preaching of the law, that one may remember and consider that he hath transgressed the law of God, and not of man, and hath done contrary thereto. So also is the heavenly breath that restores, refreshes and comforts the conscience, not with the comfort of some human merit and works, but through the preaching of the gospel.
But when our strength has been refreshed and comforted by the breath of the gospel, we should not be idle, lying down and snoring; that is, when our conscience has been satisfied, quieted and comforted by God's Spirit, we should also prove our faith with good works, which God commanded and commanded in the ten commandments. But we are vexed and plagued by gnats, flies and vermin, that is, by the devil, the world and our own flesh, but we must tear through them and not let ourselves be deceived.
The gospel has delivered us from the Pabst's idolatry, superstition and countless abominations.
How we have lived in such great darkness and superstition of human traditions and statutes, and how we have been entangled and entrapped with innumerable various ropes of conscience, is still witnessed by the papists' books and many living people. From all such abominations and snares we are redeemed and freed through Jesus Christ and his gospel, and called to true righteousness of faith, so that we may believe in God the Father with a good and calm conscience, trust in him, and boast that we certainly have forgiveness of sins, earned and acquired through Christ's suffering and death.
Who can sufficiently praise and extol such a treasure of the conscience, which is now everywhere revealed, spread, offered, and given out of pure grace, that we are now victorious over sin, law, death, and the devil, and after that also freed and redeemed from all human statutes? And if we were to consider only the tyranny and caning of the confession of the ears, which is the least freedom, we could never thank the gospel enough for it.
When the papacy was still in full bloom, every king would have gladly given 100,000 florins, a prince 100,000, a nobleman 100, a citizen and peasant 20 or 10 florins, that he might only be delivered from such tyranny and execution. But because such freedom is obtained in vain, by grace, you respect no one, nor do you thank God for it; but we all become worse than before. Thus the Gospel has brought freedom to both the Papists and the Waldensians, to the Hussites in Moravia (as they are called) today; but they abuse it shamefully, and are ungrateful, as we all are.
This is the beginning of the new gospel.
This is our Lord God's way and process in creation, to prescribe from weakness to power. First, he creates heaven and earth, that is, the raw matter,
Then he gradually decorates them and completes them. From a kernel he produces a root and a tree. He creates the fruit in the womb and gradually brings it forth. He could well do one thing and say: Let there be a beautiful tree from the beginning; but he will not do it. It is the same with our gospel. First of all, it began weakly. Johann Huss, who was the kernel or seed, must die and be buried in the earth; then it grows with force. Our Lord God's thing is vain weakness. He reveals his gospel to the poor fishermen who do not know Hebrew, yes, who do not know anything at all, so that they can preach it; and yet this same supreme weakness is far stronger than all human strength; his nothingness is far more than all human multiplicity. And the more confessors of the gospel are put to death, the more come forth again daily. The devil cannot expel Christ, he must let him reign in the whole world. There are Christians in Constantinople and everywhere in Turkey. Also in Rome, where the Germans have their own temple, in which the Gospel is taught in German, although the Christians are not as strong and pure as elsewhere.
66 On the Difference between the Law and the Gospel.
(This § is thrown together from 6 sections: three from Luther's 1523 Preface on the Old Testament and three from his 1545 Preface on the New Testament. Walch, old edition, vol. XIV, Col. 3, § 4; Col. 99, § 2; Col. 2, s 2; Col. 3, § 4; Col. 102, R 10. 11. 12. 13.)
67 Why no law was given to the believers.
(This § is composed of Luther's Preface on the New Testament of 1545. Walch, old edition, vol. XIV, 103, K 14; K 15; and a passage from the great exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 137.)
(68) To distinguish the gospel from the law, especially in battle, is a great and difficult art.
(The first paragraph is omitted because contained in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, U 237 and 239. - The second paragraph is omitted, because contained in Cap. 12, § 19. - The following is omitted, because contained in Cap. 26, § 43.)
69. of the gospel art.
Cassia is like cinnamon bark, has the power to cleanse and purify the eyes, and is good against viper and snake bites. It is an image of the Gospel, which drives away darkness and restores light, and is a common remedy to be used against all bites and stings of poisonous worms, that is, of the devil and his scales and servants.
70. against the lawbreakers.
(Lauterbach, Oct. 13 (XVII x. rrin.) 1538, p. 148.)
On October 13, he preached at home on the Gospel of Luc. 14, since he did not know it in the church. On that day he was very surprised at the insolence of the antinomians, because they so rejected the necessary teaching of the law, since they did not see its effect. Therefore Augustine illustrated the power and the office of the law by a very beautiful simile, namely, that sins are revealed in us and wrath is increased, which, of course, is not the fault of the law, but of our nature, just as lime is still, but when water is poured over it, it becomes hot, not through the fault of the water, but through its nature; but when oil is poured on the lime, it remains still and does not become hot. This is a splendid similitude.
For the sake of the law, St. Paul has much to do with the Jews.
(Lauterbach, Nov. 17, 1538, p. 174.)
(The first 6 lines of this § f Lauterbach, Nov. 17, 1538, p. 172) smd after Cap. 27, § 106 transferirt, where they belong).
Paul kept the law of Moses in Jerusalem, so we must keep the law. To this I answer: It is true that Paul kept the law for a time in order to win the weak, but in our time it is not so. 1) That is why the ancients said, "Distinguish the times and you will bring the scriptures into agreement.
1) We are not dealing with the weak, but with the stubborn, to whom one must not give in. - The following passage is called in Latin: Distingue tempora et concordabis Scripturas.
The Jews' annoyance because of the law.
The Jews were exceedingly vexed by this preaching, that the law was abolished and done away with, because Christ, the promised Messiah, had come; which went through the hearts of the Jews, who were zealous for the glory of God, like a shearing knife, and stung them hard and struck them on the head, Acts 7:54. 7, 54. For, truly, religion, worship, sacrifice, police, government and the temple were a fine and glorious treasure among the people. To reject this, no doubt, will have greatly angered and displeased many people. I truly believe that it penetrated the heart of dear Paul before his conversion, and hurt him very much, as Acts 9 says. 9, and after that to the people of Israel. We see from Romans 9 that even after conversion, St. Paul will still have had a great affliction from it.
The law and the gospel should be diligently distinguished.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle, to the Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 128 and § 152.)
All laws are deadly apart from Christ.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 220.)
The law, if kept equally, makes no one righteous before God.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 2. walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 160. cap. 3, § 532 and § 534.)
The law puts all people under the curse who are outside the faith.
(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §§ 209. 210.)
The law, whether it is necessary for justification?
When someone asked whether the law was also necessary for righteousness in the sight of God, D. M. Luther said, "The law is neither useful nor necessary for justification. M. Luther: The law is neither useful nor necessary for justification, much less for-
Salvation, but in turn, justification, good works and salvation are necessary for the fulfillment of the law. That is, by the law, much less by the work of the law, no one is justified, righteous and blessed before God; but he who has been justified, righteous and blessed (which happens only through faith in Christ, who is the end and fulfillment of the law, as St. Paul says Rom. 10:4), then first does good works; but these are neither useful nor necessary for salvation, which is already given to us out of pure grace for the sake of Christ.
78. a different.
The law is not only not necessary for justification (that is, to become righteous before God through it), but it is completely useless, ineffective, even impossible. And when we speak of justification, we cannot speak enough against the law's inability and against the very poisonous and harmful reliance on the law. For the law is not given for the purpose of making righteous or alive, or of helping righteousness, but only for the purpose of denouncing sin and provoking wrath, that is, accusing and charging the conscience. For as death was not put upon the human race that we might live by it, nor is sin inherent in us that we should be innocent and righteous by it; so also the law was not given that we should thereby become righteous, pious, and blessed before God, since it can give neither righteousness nor life. Summa, as high as heaven is from earth, so far shall the law be separated from justification. And in the business of justification nothing is to be taught, spoken, or thought of, except the word of grace alone, evidenced in Christ. But from this it does not follow that the law is to be put away and cast out of the church from the preaching seat; indeed, for this reason it is all the more necessary that it be taught and practiced, that it is not necessary but impossible for justification; so that the man who is proud and presumptuous,' relying on his powers and abilities, may be instructed and learn that he cannot be justified by the law.
What the law does and why it is given.
(This § contained in Cap. 12, § 32.)
80. How to become wise before God.
He who wants to be wise before God should begin to learn the Ten Commandments and the Word of God, and to know Christ, as it is written in Ps. 111:10: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
How the law is to be fulfilled.
The law is necessary, but not for salvation, for no one can keep it; but the forgiveness of sins accomplishes and fulfills it: namely, if one believes in Christ crucified, he has done enough for the law with his obedience, suffering and death, and gives his payment to all those who recognize and confess their sins, and accept such gifts with faith.
82. the curse of the law.
The curse of the law was borne by Christ alone. There you will find everything. So, those who have the spiritual blessing must bear the bodily curse. "For the righteous must suffer much," says the 34th Psalm, v. 20.
83. the ten commandments, what they are in the world.
(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 1391.)
Those who transgress the first tablet have no punisher in the world; those who transgress the second, even a little. The transgressions of the last two commandments are not considered sin in the world.
Yes, the first table is even of the devil, that is, against which we do and sin, primarily and actually through the devil's drive. The other, however, is to some extent our thoughts without Satan, if one wants to speak a little more freely about it; although the devil is the founder and driver of all sins.
84) The law of some defences and appeals, and how to avoid the challenge and the
Horror of the law should overcome.
(The first two paragraphs at Cordatus No. 1327. 1328.)
Everything that GOD commands is law and law-work; faith commands GOD, so the law or law-work justifies. The upper clause must be separated from the lower clause, for a work of the law is one that is done of a forced will and unwillingly, but faith is a willing work based on the promises. He who can well separate the law and the promises can easily dissolve such and similar conclusions.
Words must be understood according to the thing with which one is dealing [secundum materiam subjectam], as the philosophers speak, or according to the circumstances [statum], as the rhetors teach, or according to the purpose [propositum], as the sophists indicate, or according to the internal nature of the particular case [casum internum], as the jurists express it. For example, the Papists do not use the word according to the purpose in this passage [Revelation 14:13.], "Their works follow them," where they pervert "works" to their masses 2c., since the text says, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." They are in our Lord's bosom, and their works also shall come before him and please him.
Christ wanted to humble Peter by not asking him once, but often: "Peter, do you love me? feed my sheep" 2c. Joh. 21, 15. ff. As if he wanted to say, "Rule my sheep carefully and don't argue with them. But against the rest, if they be not sheep, but goats, and if their hearts be fierce, proud, and presumptuous, be earnest, and be stern. For all that I do and suffer, I do and suffer for the sake of the poor, lost and humiliated sheep, for the law is the highest wisdom of nature and reason. Now if Satan says in your heart: God will not forgive you nor be merciful to you; dear, how will a poor sinner raise himself up and comfort himself here, especially when other signs of wrath strike and come along, such as sickness, poverty 2c., and the heart sighs at
to preach: Behold, thou liest there, and art sick, poor and forsaken of all, 2c. how canst thou know that God is favorable and gracious to thee? Then, truly, a Christian must turn to the other side and say: "Well, let it appear from without as it will, even if my own heart feels much differently; then I know for certain that I have been baptized and incorporated into my Lord Christ through the sacrament and have his word, which testifies to me and assures me that I cannot lack or be deceived, for God is true and keeps what he promises.
Then he comes rolling with another arrow, saying, "Yes, this is nothing, for many are called, but few are chosen," Matt. 20:16. This is a grievous challenge, against which reason is sore displeased. Those who give it place and room lose the fact that they have been baptized, do not accept their baptism, but fall away again, remain with the great multitude, and forget the Lord Christ. As Duke G[eorg], the murderer's son, M[ainz], they are well called, have baptism, sacrament, and the very Christ we have; but when it comes to the meeting, they fall on their caps and works. But a Christian remains steadfast on Christ, and says: "If I am not pious, neither was St. Peter pious. So Christ is pious, whom I put on in baptism: he alone is my righteousness, which will stand before God, even though I am a poor sinner 2c. This I believe, as his dear word beckons me; however weak my faith, I know for certain that God is true.
And those who give glory to God from the heart alone are saved; the others also say: God is gracious to me, because I hope so, I will improve myself and become pious 2c. This is only a gallows faith, but it does not come from the heart, that knows nothing about it. Although, as it is said, sometimes the wicked repent: they pretend that they want to become pious, but they go aside, want to earn it, is only their own, self-invented and invented devotion and intention, which comes from reason and their own forces, not from the Holy Spirit, who alone must bring righteous repentance and faith through the Word.
otherwise, and without that, it is vain hypocrisy.
But a Christian says: I know that I am not able to do anything good by myself out of my own strength and free will; but the Holy Spirit must create and work everything in me alone, as a potter makes a pot out of clay, which works, and [the pot] ever does nothing to it, but only suffers alone, and has the master made and prepared for him according to his pleasure. I want to do what I can by God's effect, but Christ is the archbishop of our souls, and I want to cling to him, even though I am a poor sinner.
What God's righteousness is, and why the preaching of the law is necessary, against the antinomians. 1)
(Lauterbach, Sept. 12, 1538, p. 130.)
This word, justice, has been a thunderclap in my heart. For when I read in the Pabstthum: "Save me through your righteousness" (Ps. 31:2), likewise: "In your truth," I immediately thought that righteousness was the avenging zeal, namely of divine wrath. I was heartily hostile to Paul when I read: "The righteousness of GOD is revealed through the gospel." But later, when I saw what follows, namely, as it is written: "The righteous will live by his faith" (Gal. 3, 11.), and also consulted Augustine, I became joyful. When I got to know justice, the mercy of God, which suns] counts as just, then I had found the right remedy for my illness. But our antinomians incomprehensibly want to flatter safe people and make them better by holding up justice, since it is such a time that even the lightning of the law cannot frighten them. One should now thunder and flash with the law for the sake of great security, because the peasants and
1) Similar thoughts Cap. 13, 823, and Cap. 13, § 76.
Citizens are so godless that they would not even feed a pastor. If princes and lords do not do it, we are not to remain long. That is why Isaiah (49:23) said: "Kings will be their nurses", but peasants will not, as we unfortunately see in the experience of the ungrateful today.
86. a whimsical story.
In 1540 D. Martinus arranged a collation, to which he invited the most distinguished of the university: among them was also M. Eisleben, because of whom such a thing was begun. When they had eaten and everyone was happy, M. Luther had a glass handed to him, which was ripe; he brought it and drank it with wine to the guests. And when they had all said their piece, it came to M. Eisleben: D. Martin showed him the glass and said: "M. E., dear, I give you this glass with wine to the first rime, the ten commandments; to the second, faith; to the third, the Lord's Prayer; the Catechismum altogether. As he said this, he, M. Luther, drank the glass completely and had it filled again, and gave it to M. Eisleben. The latter, when he received the painted glass and began to drink, found it impossible that he could have drunk over the first rime, therefore put down the glass, and then had an abomination to look at it. Then M. Luther said: "I knew before that N. Eisleben would drink the ten commandments. Eisleben could drink the Ten Commandments, but he would leave the faith, Our Father, and the Catechismum alone. For he had also caused the antinomianism that the laws should be taken from the church to the town hall.
Magister Johann Spangenberg, pastor of Nordhausen, was present when this happened in D. Luther's house. M. Luther's house, and also recorded such a story in his Bible.
2) D. i. become.
446 Cap. 13. That faith in Christ alone justifies before God. § I. 447