Translated from Latin.
1 In the Gospel of St. John, one must focus on something quite different than in the other Gospels. For the purpose of this Gospel is only this, that we may know from it that man is not able or has nothing at all of himself, but only through divine mercy. But he treats this mercy in such a way that he attributes it in every way to the Father alone, and decides that one must pay honor, glory and thanks to the Father alone. And, what is even more astonishing, at the same time in one and the same text he attributes everything to the Father alone in such a way that he nevertheless claims that everything is common to the Son with the Father, since, because he is the Son of the Father, everything that the Father has in the Son therefore belongs to the Father alone, whose Son is also the one who has everything that the Father has. And he describes with a quite inexpressible mastery of the Father and the Son equality and origin. Hence comes the contradiction, "My doctrine is not mine" [John 7:16]. How is his [teaching] not his? And again, "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father which dwelleth in me, the same doeth the works" [John 14:10.]. So also here.
V. 37. All that my Father gives me comes to me.
2 That is, no one comes to me, no one recognizes me, no one believes in me, unless it is given to him by the Father. Accordingly, everything that comes to me comes, not through his own effort, but through the mercy of the Father. As he says below v. 44 in the same way: "No one can come to me unless the Father draws him;
Similarly, v. 45: "They will all be taught by God," that is, they will not be taught by human masters, but by the Spirit of God. Thus also Isaiah speaks in the 54th chapter, v. 13, from which Christ took this speech: "I will give that all thy children shall be taught of the Lord," which the apostle Paul does well in 1 Cor. 3, 7, and thus declares: "Neither he therefore that planteth, nor he that watereth, is any thing, but God that giveth prosperity." As if to say, We teach all by the outward word; but if they are not taught inwardly by GOD alone, they do not come to Christ.
(3) Therefore, with this word Christ casts down the hopeful, and those who think much of themselves, so that they may salutarily despair of themselves, and come to understand from where it must be obtained that we come to Christ, and that therefore God alone may be glorified because of His mercy, which He shows to the unworthy. Therefore Christ says: "All that my Father gives me", this alone, and no other, "comes to me"; therefore all imagination (praesumptio) on our strength is in vain.
V. 37. 38. And whosoever cometh to me, him will I not cast out. For I am come from heaven, not to do my will, but of him that sent me (the Father).
(4) That is, not only is this entirely due to the Father, that someone comes to me when he gives it, but also that he who comes is received by me and not cast out. For we do not come by our own strength, so we are much less received by our own strength.
*) Luther wrote this "short explanation" in Latin for Spalatin. It is published under the title: Brevis explicatio dicti ex VI Gap. Johan: Omne, quod dat mihi pater. Autore D. Marti. Luthe. in the Latin Jena edition (1579), Dorn. I, toi. 2O7I>. In German translation it is found in the Leipzig edition, vol. X, p. 1, which Walch has printed. We have improved it according to the Latin.
or persevere. But that this is to be attributed to the Father, he proves with this: Because I receive him who comes, not according to my will, but according to the Father's will. And so he most lovingly praises the Father of mercy to us, and in all that we see happening in Christ, he leads us to love, honor, and glorify the Father, so that we may not stand still at the humanity of Christ, through which mercy is shown to us, but through it be carried away to the invisible Father and admire him, since we hear from him that he is doing such great things for us through this humanity of Christ.
(5) And this is the only way to know God, from which the teachers of the doctrines (Doctores sententiarum) have departed far, who have placed themselves on absolute speculations of the Godhead, and have left the humanity of Christ behind; and therefore [without the right knowledge of God in Christ] no soul can stand before the greatness of His power, His majesty, His wisdom. I, along with many others, have miserably toiled over this, and have fallen into the greatest danger. Therefore, I repeat it and want to remind you again and again: Whoever wants to think or speculate about God in a salutary way, must set aside everything except the humanity of Christ. Let him imagine it either sucking at his breasts or suffering until his goodness becomes sweet. Then he does not stop there, but goes on and thinks: "Behold, he does not do this and that according to his own will, but according to God's will of his Father; then the most loving will of the Father, which he shows in the humanity of Christ, will begin to please you. Through this will, God the Father can be grasped safely and confidently. But if one leaves this path, there is nothing left but to plunge into the eternal depths. For he wills that by no other way shall one come to him, know him, and love him, than by this; as he saith [John 14:6], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Here you hear the unqualified saying: never
no one comes to the Father without Christ. Practice this way, and you will soon gain a deeper insight into theology than all scholastics, who not only do not know this door and this way, but also block it for themselves through their unfortunate imaginings, as it were through great scaffolding (machinis) of speculations.
(6) But this word, "I will not cast him out," according to the manner of speaking of Scripture, which affirms most strongly by the negation, must be so understood: I will not cast him out, but will very gladly embrace him, so that Christ's cheerful and willing obedience to his Father is thereby expressed, and at the same time his most sweet love is praised, with which he most lovingly embraces us, who have been given to him by the Father (only that this is not ascribed to his love or power, but entirely to the fatherly will), which he wants to be glorified and known through himself and in himself. As if he said: Although I have a fervent desire for you and embrace you, I do not want you to boast about it or to stop there, but I want you to recognize and love him, according to whose exceedingly good will and by whose command I embrace you like this. For in this way he loves not himself, nor his own honor, but he seeks our blessedness, and in this nothing but the praise and honor and love of the Father, who wants our best and cares for us in the best way. So that he may praise us and make us accept this very best will of the Father, which has been entrusted to him, with the very strongest praise, he declares it and says:
V. 39. Now this is the will of the Father who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but that I should raise it up at the last day.
7 Here you see why he does not expel anyone who comes to him. For, he says, it pleases God, so that the glory may not be given to me and people may stop at me, but that the will of the Father may be loved, who wills that I should not cast out anyone who comes to me, yes, that I should not only not cast him out, but that I should not cast him out.
nor lose them. Therefore, behold how much the Father loves the world, that he imposes all things upon the Son, whereby ye shall not be cast out, nor perish, but be preserved. But that he adds, "But that I should raise them up at the last day," he speaks to refute the foolish mind of the flesh, for when he said this, the Jews took it as if he spoke of losing by temporal death. Therefore he says: "The Father does not want me to lose one person, but to preserve them all, so that even if they are lost in the flesh, they will not be lost, but will be preserved in such a way that they will be raised again on the last day. As he also saith in like manner in the 11th chapter of John, v. 25: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live." Therefore, those who come to Christ cannot be lost. Yes, in this very text he clearly shows what he wants to be understood by "perishing"; because he promises that he will raise them from death; consequently he tells them beforehand that they will die, and yet not perish. For no one is raised from death unless he has died. Therefore, those who die are not lost to him, but all things live to him. If then you ask, What is this will of the Father? What does he prescribe? By what work shall we merit to come to you, to be given to you, not to be cast out, not to be lost, but to be preserved and raised again? Now this he sets here, saying:
V. 40. Now this is the will of the Father who sent me, that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
(8) Now here you have what is meant by "coming to Christ. Hereby he explained the will of the Father, what he wants, namely, that one comes to Christ, that is, that one sees him and believes in him, that one is not cast out, not lost, according to the will of the Father, that is, that one has eternal life. Accordingly, the will of the Father is this, that all who are given to Christ may be saved through Christ forever. These are important
These are just words, which have been sufficiently dealt with in another time, that faith in Christ is enough for the attainment of eternal blessedness. He does not say, "Fast like this, pray like this, do this and that; but believe in the Son, and you will be saved; this is the Father's will. But lest the carnal mind should think again, as if eternal life were given without bodily death, he says beforehand, that though they die, yet they shall not lose eternal life, for they shall be raised again at the last day. Thus you see how the words of the Gospel explain themselves, and have their glosses with them, that it is not necessary to mix in strange things and humanity.
(9) Hitherto he hath taught men how they ought spiritually to remember life and death, and to confess with thanksgiving of all things that we have received them of the Father, and that we have nothing of ourselves. But now see, and pay close attention, how he claims that he has the Godhead and everything in common with the Father. He has said that he does everything according to the will of the Father; therefore, there is no doubt that all the works Christ has done are the Father's works. But he also publicly testifies that he himself does the very works that his Father does, saying, "And I will raise him up" from the dead. Certainly, to give life and to raise again belongs to God alone. But since it is one and the same work, it is evident that Christ is true God and one with the Father, because there are not two Gods; and yet, since he differs from the Father as one who speaks of another, and calls himself the Son, he nicely concludes that he is true God from the Father, the true God, and that both are not two, but One God, of equal power, equally mighty in everything, of equal action and equal will.
(10) The same is proved by the words in which he says, "He will not cast out any man, neither will he lose any. For it belongs to the same power to preserve life that it belongs to give life. The Father gives it, and the Son does not lose it, but receives it. So he is indeed another, but
not a different God; he has and can do the same with the Father.
11. Furthermore, this is the strongest proof of all, that he says: "He who believes in the Son" 2c. It is ungodliness to believe in anyone other than the one true God; and the Father, who is true God, wants one to believe in the Son. But what does he want other than that one should believe in the true God? For he does not want to give his glory to anyone else; but his glory is this, that one believes in him. For no creature has enough strength to support or help someone who believes in him. For to God alone one owes faith, hope, and love, which is why they are also called the theological virtues (theologicae
virtutes). But he adds: "that whoever believes in the Son has eternal life". The faith in the Son could not grant eternal life at all, if he would not be eternal and true God himself.
12 Accept this, my dear Spalatin, as a reason to think about the words further. I, too, see many other things, but I do not have the leisure to devote myself entirely to them. For I am burdened with much business. However, I am loathe to deal with the Gospel of John only casually, for there is so much invaluable theology in it; I have experienced it many times. Meanwhile, accept this, which I have only touched upon briefly, and commend me to the most noble prince. Farewell.