Complete Luther Library

The fourth sermon, from the saying of the prophet Hosea Cap. 13, 14., about 1 Cor. 15, 54-57.

Volume 8 from the one-column St. Louis Edition English DOCX texts, reformatted for mobile reading on Last Christian Ministries.

Source text used with permission from Back to Luther.

Volume 8

The fourth sermon, from the saying of the prophet Hosea Cap. 13, 14., about 1 Cor. 15, 54-57.

Return to Volume 8

Held on the Sunday of Trinity, May 31, 1545. *)

1 Cor. 15, 54-57. But when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be fulfilled the word that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory? But the sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) This is probably a little too sharp, and an unusual speech; but we Christians must nevertheless speak of it, because we are to be the people who are to have a special wisdom and knowledge before other peoples on earth. The pope, the Turk, the Jew, the Gentile know nothing of this; we Christians alone have to do with such things. To the pope, the Turk, the Jew, and the Gentile, such speeches are mere riddles and dark words. For who has told reason that it could know that God's Son became man for the purpose of redeeming sin and saving from death? No book teaches this without the Bible and holy scripture alone; just as no book teaches what sin, law, death, and victory against sin and death are without the Bible and holy scripture alone.

2 So far St. Paul has preached of the resurrection of the dead, and has powerfully demonstrated that all men will rise from the dead, some to the judgment of eternal death, and some to the resurrection of eternal life. And this resurrection from the dead will take place in the power and authority of the resurrection of Christ. For Christ's resurrection and ours live in one another from the beginning of the world to the end. From Christ's resurrection Adam, Eve and all the saints, from the beginning of the world until now, take power and authority to rise again. That is why he sums it up.

and speaks as if it were a resurrection. "If Christ is not risen," he says, v. 17, 18, "we are still in our sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. But if we believe that Christ is risen, we will surely follow him, and also rise from the dead.

3 Christ's resurrection and our resurrection are connected; indeed, they are one resurrection. He therefore that admits that Christ is risen from the dead, cannot in any wise deny that we should not also be risen, Posito antecedente bonae consequentiae, necesse est poni consequens, If the first is true, then the other must also be true, which follows from the first; if the other is not true, then the first is also not true. Therefore Christ also sits at the right hand of God, and pours out his Holy Spirit upon us, that he may draw us after him, and that we may follow him, and rise with him. Therefore, if we believe that he sits at the right hand of God and sends us the Holy Spirit, we should also believe that we will rise from the dead just as he rose from the dead. But that he sends us the Holy Spirit is proved by baptism, the Word and the Gospel.

(4) Such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit does not take place in Turkey and in the true papacy, except for those who are imprisoned among them and have previously received baptism and heard the Word. In the Turk's Alkoran, Pabst's decree and the Jews' Talmud nothing of this is found. Since they do not know about the antecedens, it is no wonder that they do not believe the consequens. But in the Christian book, which is the Bible, it is written; we Christians preach it, sing it, paint it. Because we have the word and have been baptized into it, we also die happily to it, and are sure that we

*The original print has no date, but the Wolfenbüttel manuscript has the inscription: Concio D. M. L. die Sanctae Trinitatis. Absoluturus Epistolam Pauli. 1. Cor. 15.

1338 Erl.!s.)sob,sg6-ss8. Interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VIII, I4SI-I4S8. 1339

have already been resurrected with Christ according to the soul, and on the last day will also be resurrected with him according to the body.

(5) St. Paul says: "If Christ is risen for his sake alone, our salvation is lost, and the joyful Easter we are waiting for is not ours, nor is the last day, which will be a day of salvation for all Christians. But if Christ has risen from the dead for our sake, and has become "the firstfruits of them that sleep" [1 Cor. 15:20], our salvation is certain, and we also shall rise from the dead, and keep the happy Easter day with him at the last day. Interweave Christ's resurrection and ours, and make them one resurrection.

6 Our dear Lord Christ also says, John 3:13: "No one goes up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. Where are we then? Where then do we go up, who have not come down from heaven, even as the Son of man? Listen to what he, Christ, says further, v. 14, 15: "And as Moses heard a serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be heard, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." There he also connects Christ with his ascension, and those who belong to him, that is, who believe in him, and says clearly: "We who believe in Christ will also go to heaven. For this reason Christ was lifted up on the cross, rose from death, and ascended into heaven, that he might give eternal life to those who believe in him.

(7) But if those who believe in Christ are to be undecayed and have eternal life, they must not remain in death, but be raised from the dead, as the apostle says here, "That which is corruptible must put on that which is incorruptible, and that which is mortal must put on immortality. Our body must decay, snakes and toads must eat it, as experience shows daily that man's body becomes such a disgraceful carrion that no one can suffer the stench. That is why it is buried so deeply in the earth that it is set aside and we cannot stand it. But how shamefully he decays,

he must come forth again and put on incorruption; and however deeply he sinks into death, he must rise again from death and put on immortality. This we must believe, for to this we are called through the gospel; to this we were baptized, to this we received absolution and the holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. Whoever does not want to believe it, let him renounce his Christianity. The pope with his bunch does not believe it; for our sake he may well read it, we let him go.

Now St. Paul continues and preaches from the prophets: "Then shall be fulfilled the word that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. In Christ all things are fulfilled, as he himself speaks on the cross [John 19:30], "All things are finished." But we also belong to it. For all that was done through Christ was done for our sake. Therefore Christ is not alone concerned, but we also belong to it. Death must be overcome for our sake, that it may be devoured and swallowed up not only in Christ's person, but also in us. The last day must come for our sake, so that we too may have a joyful Easter with Christ, because we believe in him.

9 First, he uses a saying from the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 25, 8: Absorpta est mors in victoriam, "death is swallowed up in victory." That this is spoken of the resurrection of the dead can be seen from the fact that the prophet speaks shortly before, v. 7: "He (Christ, true God) will take away the covering on this mountain, so that all nations will be covered, and the covering, so that all Gentiles will be covered." When one buries the dead, one covers them in a burial cloth; such covering goes through the whole world, for death spares no man, but takes them all away. But our Lord God will cover the same and take away the covering of death, that is, He will make the dead alive in the resurrection from the dead. "For he will swallow up death forever, so that there will be no more death, but only life. This is what the Lord of hosts will do, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary, the true God, blessed forever and ever.

10 Sanct Hieronymus interprets it thus:

1340 Eri. (s.) sov, SSS-S40. Sermon on 1 Cor. 15, 54-57. w. vm, i4ss-i4W. 13H

Praecipitavit mortem in sempiternum. The Seventy (Septuagint) interpret's: Devoravit mors praevalens. Some interpret: Absorbuit mortem in finem. But St. Paul interprets it best: Absorpta est mors in victoriam: "death is swallowed up in victory", that is, death is swallowed up completely. On that day, when this mortal will put on immortality, then also this word will be fulfilled, so that we, who believe in Christ, will sing with all the saints and elect of God: "Death is swallowed up 1) in victory", death now lies down completely and has no more power. Now this word is fulfilled forever and ever. For death is swallowed up, and departs after the soul, through the gospel, and through faith in Christ; but in that day it shall be fulfilled, for death also shall be swallowed up, and depart after the body, through the resurrection of the flesh. It was fulfilled and accomplished in Christ fifteen hundred years ago, but in that day it will also be fulfilled and accomplished in us.

11 They interpret the word Lanäzach in many ways, but it comes down to one. Some interpret it: in finem; others: in sempiternum. St. Paul interprets it: in victoriam. The interpretation is various, but the opinion is one. I will leave it as St. Paul interpreted it: "Death is swallowed up in victory," that is, death is swallowed up so completely that life triumphs over death and has the upper hand. The Lord of hosts, Christ, raised from the dead, "because it was impossible that he should be delivered from death," Acts 2:24. 2:24, has swallowed up death whole, so that life reigns and triumphs over death, and the tyranny and kingdom of death have an end in Christ. Death lies below, is swallowed up in life, has lost, and never rises again; life lies above, keeps the victory, throws up its hand, and says, "Won! Won!

For St. Paul gives two kinds of victory. The first victory is that of death, which reigns and triumphs over all the children of men, from the first man Adam to the end of the world.

1) Erlanger: until in.

He speaks of the victory in Rom. 5:12: "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death has come to all men, because they are all sinners. This is death's victory and triumph, that death reigns through sin, has power and right over all men, so that no man, be he emperor, king, prince or lord, be he as rich, great, strong as he ever will, he must endure, death becomes his lord.

The other victory is that of life, which reigns in and through Christ and triumphs over death. He also speaks of this victory in Rom. 5, 17: "If for the sake of one man's sin death reigned through one man, much more shall those who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ. And 1 Cor. 15:21: "Through One Man cometh death, and through One Man the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam they all die, so in Christ they shall all be made alive." This is the victory and triumph of life, that life in Christ reigns and triumphs over death, and that death cannot hold not only Christ, but also all men who have been baptized into Christ and believe in Him.

14 This is what the apostle is talking about when he says: "Death is swallowed up in victory. So he wants to say: Death lies under, has lost its kingdom, power and victory. He had the upper hand, and for sin's sake all the world was subject to him, and all men had to die; but now he has lost the victory. For against the kingdom and victory of death, our Lord God of hosts has given another victory, the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Death has long sung: Io Triumph! I, death, am king and lord over all men, I have the victory, and lie on high. But our Lord God lets him sing a little song again, which reads thus: Io Triumph! life is king and lord over death, death has lost and lies under. Death has probably sung until now: Victoria, Victoria! Io! won! here is vain death, and no life. But God now lets him sing again: Victoria, victoria! Jo! won! here is vain

1342 Erl. (2.) 20d, 340-342. interpretations on the -1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VIII, 1498-1499. 1343

Life, and no death; death has overcome and died in Christ, life retains the victory and has won.

Such a song shall be sung by us in the resurrection of the dead, "when this mortal shall put on immortality. Now death strangles us men miserably and in many ways: one by sword, another by pestilence; this by water, another by fire; and who can tell all the ways that death strangles us men? Death lives, rules, reigns, conquers and sings: Won, won! I, Death, am king and victor over all the world! I have power and right over all that lives on earth; I strike dead and strangle all men, young, old, rich, poor, high, low, noble, ignoble. Defy me! But death shall soon hiss and sing itself to death, the cantate shall soon be laid to him. For on Easter Day another little song has risen, which reads thus: "Christ is risen from the torment, we shall all be glad, Christ will be our consolation. Death, where is your victory? Where is he who lay in the grave and whom you killed on the cross?

16 We now sing this hymn in the person of Christ and of those who have risen with Christ from the dead, as we believe, and St. Matthew reports this in clear words. For they are through and retain the victory over death. But in the resurrection we will also sing this little song in our own person; then we will also laugh at death for ourselves, mock it, and say: "Death, where are you now? Here is vain life, I am lord and victor over you. Earlier you ate me and ruled over me, now you leave me uneaten, I rule over you. Before I was afraid of you, but now you can no longer do anything to me; before you put me in the grave among the worms, and painted a hideous form on me, now I have risen from the dead, and shine more beautifully than the sun. Behold, how do I please thee now? Before you frightened me, now I offer you defiance: bend me a little hair.

17 The prophet Isaiah proclaimed these things long before, that the LORD of hosts, our

Lord Jesus Christ shall reign over death, and have such victory as shall endure forever. He will, he says Cap. 25:8, swallow up death unto victory, that is, he will devour death so purely that death will never again have power or authority, but life will have the victory and the upper hand forever. In chapter 26, v. 19, he also proclaims the resurrection of the dead, saying, "Thy dead shall live, and rise with the body. Awake, and glorify them that lie under the earth: for thy dew is the dew of the green field. But the land of the dead thou shalt overthrow." He speaks to the dead as if they were already alive, indicating that the resurrection of the dead is certain. Be fearless, he says, you who are in the grave and dead, you shall come forth and grow like the green seed in the spring. He speaks of it very gloriously, and uses the simile of the seed and the field, as St. Paul also does; and the prophet and the apostle use almost the same words. When we die, we are God's grain; it must rot in the earth, but in the spring it comes forth again gloriously and grows green. The prophet does the same in other chapters.

18 But St. Paul did not want to introduce more sayings from the prophet Isaiah this time, but leaves it at the one: Absorpta est mors in finem, in sempiternum, in victoriam, death is swallowed up to the end, death is swallowed up eternally; or, which is still better, as St. Paul gives it: "Death is swallowed up in victory." Such things begin in this life, but in that life they will be completed and purely fulfilled. Now we sing this little song in the person of Christ; there let us also sing it in our own person, rejoicing joyfully, and striking death a cliff.

(19) We Christians have this wholesome teaching and rich consolation from the holy Scriptures. Pagans and unbelievers do not have this comfort, for they find nothing of it in their books. Therefore, when we Christians read such things in the Bible and Holy Scriptures, we should also thank our dear God for this treasure from the bottom of our hearts, accept such promise with joy, firmly base ourselves on it, and sing this song.

We should sing with a joyful heart against the victory of death, and look forward with gladness to the last day as our final redemption. Here in this life this victory begins in us through faith in the Word, but there, in that life, it will be fulfilled purely. In the meantime, death triumphs over our body, from Adam to the end of the world. But in that day we shall have the victory also after the body, from everlasting to everlasting, so that life shall reign and rule against death forever.

But where did we get this victory? God has given us this victory, says St. Paul. Praise and thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory is ours, we lie on high, we shall surely rise from the dead; then we shall sing, "Death is swallowed up in victory." But we have the victory because God's Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has overcome death, and the Father has given us the victory against the victory of death through His Son. And this is now the saying that St. Paul introduces from the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 25, 7. 8. which prophesies that the LORD of hosts will remove the covering on this mountain, so that all nations will be covered, and will swallow up death forever.

(21) On top of this saying of the prophet Isaiah, he adds another saying from the prophet Hosea, Cap. 13, 14: "I will deliver them from hell and save them from death. Death, I will be a poison to you. Hell, I will be a pestilence unto thee." But the apostle puts the two sayings together, makes a saying out of it, and interprets it thus: "Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory?" But how the apostle's interpretation agrees with the prophet's words, I do not want to say now, but will save this for the school, where one is used to deal with it for the scholars.

22 So St. Paul speaks from the prophet Hosea: "The sting or spear of death shall be gone, death shall be defenceless through Christ's resurrection, so that it no longer has a sting or a spear. And what the sting of death is, he interprets himself, when he says: "The sting of death is sin." What a strange German is this? Death's spear, sword,

sharp edge, pestilence, misfortune, and what may be there, so that death strangles, he summarizes all this and calls it the sting or point of death, so that death cuts, stings, strangles and strikes death, and says: the sting of death is sin, but the power of sin is the law. This is a true Pauline and evangelical theologia, of Christ's victory over sin, death and hell. He makes law, death, and sin into vain persons, as if they were three men of war, and as if Christ had to fight against three heads of armies. And this is a very comforting painting, that he paints sin, death, law like this.

23. Rom. 5. 6. 7 he has finely exposed and interpreted this painting. Rom. 5, 13: "Where there is no law, there is no respect for sin. Item, v. 20: "The law came in next to it, so that sin might become more powerful." Item, Rom. 6, 23: "Death is the wages of sin." Item, Rom. 7, 8. ff: "Without the law sin was dead; but I lived without the law. But when the commandment came, sin revived; but I died." If sin were not, death would have no right nor power over us, would have no sword nor spear to strangle us. What would death do to a holy and righteous man who was without sin? Even if death would like to strangle such a man, he would have no poison, sword or spear. Therefore sin is the sting of death. Through sin death strangles us. If I have no more sin, I will soon strike death a cliff.

(24) St. Paul speaks here of sin, which is called sin, that is, which is alive and terrifies the heart and conscience. For even though all men are sinners, yet they do not all understand what sin is; the great, rude multitude in the world go safely along, having good courage, until suddenly they lie in hell. Such people do not feel what sin and death are and what power they have until sin and death have swallowed them whole. For this is the nature of sin, that it first sleeps and rests, as the Lord 1) says to Cain Gen. 4:7: "Is it not so? If you are righteous, you are

1) Erlanger: "Adam" instead of: the HErr.

1346 Erl. (p.) 20d, "14- Z47. Interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VIII, IS02-isat. 1347

pleasant; but if thou be not godly, sin resteth at the door."

(25) When a sinner commits wickedness and mischievousness, he does not feel the sin so soon, nor is he frightened by it, but he continues to commit wickedness and mischievousness more and more; this is a sleeping sin. But when sin awakens in his heart and conscience, gnaws and bites him, he does not know how to stay awake, that is a living sin. Like a snake, when it lies in the grass and sleeps, it is as if it were dead; but if it wakes up, it will strike and sting. So sin also lies and rests, letting the sinner walk safely for a while, as if it were dead. But when it is revealed and comes alive in the conscience, it terrifies and kills. St. Paul calls it the sting of death; but it is nothing else than the damned groaning of the heart, 1) when man cries out, "Oh, I am lost. When the sting stings, the person cannot remain alive, but must die, even if he is otherwise healthy, if he is not healed by the comfort of the gospel.

(26) I knew a bullfinch in Erfurt, who had good courage, went safely, and heaped many sins upon himself in his life. When he fell ill and was about to die, he cried out in woe, saying, "O Lord God, who would have been a sowherd for this? Similarly, it is said of a bullfinch in Naumburg, who cried out on his last journey: "O Lord God, I have had enough, money, goods, and whatever my heart desired; if I now also had one who would lead to hell for me. This is the sting when sin awakens in the conscience, and makes man afraid that he does not know where to stay. In German, we call it the Reuel; when a death-slayer and murderer comes to the knowledge of his sin, the sin kills him from that moment on, if he is not helped by right consolation.

27. crude, insolent people know nothing of this sting, go safely, and do not feel before what sin and death is, until death has even devoured and swallowed them up, like

1) "the damned groaning of the heart" stands for: "the groaning of a heart that feels that it is damned." Similar is the expression in § 29 of this sermon: "the infernal groaning".

happened to these two bullfinches. But Christians must experience and feel daily in themselves what power sin and death have. For this sting comes not only to the gross sinners, as adulterers, fornicators, death-row thugs and murderers, at the time of judgment, but also to pious people before the world, who must bite themselves in the heart with their sins, that they did not fear God, did not believe and trust in Him, did not serve Him. As I have seen under the papacy in the monastery some monks who went there in constant mourning and sighing: Oh God! oh God! I would have kept my order. Especially the tender and fearful hearts often feel the sting of death. I have very often had to feel and taste such a sting, spit and poison, that is, the rebuke in my conscience, that I broke out in a cold sweat.

(28) The same groaning in the heart and conscience, whether from gross, outward sins or from subtle, inward sins, such as unbelief and blindness, is called the sting of death by St. Paul, because death strangles a man through such groaning, even if he is healthy. Elsewhere he calls it a living sin, as Rom. 7, 9. where he says: "But when the commandment came, sin came to life again; but I died." Where death does not find such a sting in us, it must leave us satisfied and unchoked, for it has no victory against us where this sting and poison is gone. Yes, death would have no power nor right against us if it were not for sin.

(29) But from where does sin get such power that it becomes so alive and strong to strangle and kill us? Listen, he says, I will tell you, "the power of sin is the law. But what he says of death, that will he also say of hell. Therefore, what has been said about death, "The sting of death is sin, but the power of sin is the law," should also be understood about hell, namely, "The sting of hell is sin, but the power of sin is the law. Sin is the sting of death; that is, the evil rebuke in the heart, as said, is the right poison that kills man. When sin awakens, and the remorse comes,

and says: You are a child of death, you are lost and damned, so man goes over it, if he is not helped. Death strangles all men through sin, when it awakens in the heart and comes to life, yes, takes away body and soul. For if it lasts long, man must not only die, but also despair. So does hell. Death and hell would have no power over us if it were not for the sting, that is, the newcomer, the evil little dog, the hellish groaning in the heart; the same sting makes death and hell so powerful against us.

(30) But how, saith he, is sin made manifest? Through what does the rebuke come into the heart? Answer: "The power of sin is the law. The remorse comes through the law, as he says elsewhere, Rom. 3, 20: "Through the law comes knowledge of sin." Death could not harm us if sin did not come alive, biting and stinging in the conscience. Sin, however, would not come to life, but would sleep, if it were not for the law, which accuses us and says: "You do not believe and trust in God, you do not fear God, you are sure and ungodly; item, this and that you have done. Thus the law awakens sin in us, that man looks at the law and finds that he has not kept it. When he then confesses and must confess that he has done and sinned against the law, then follows the newcomer, the evil conscience, which finally works death.

The law awakens the evil dog in the heart, namely sin; but sin and evil conscience work death. Initially, sin rests and sleeps as if it were dead. When a man has sinned, he goes safely, thinking that he has no sin; but the law awakens sin so that it comes to life, and gives death power and authority against us. So we go to death and hell. But this is not the fault of the law. "For the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good," Rom. 7:12. But this is the guilt and cause that sin first rests and sleeps. The little snake lies in the sun and sleeps, as if it were dead; but beware of it, it is awake.

and it will drive you into hell. Therefore it is sin's fault that it works death through the law; as St. Paul also says Rom. 7:13: "Sin, that it might appear to be sin, it has worked death for me through goodness, that sin might become exceedingly sinful through the commandment."

How do we get rid of all this? Who will take away the law, "the handwriting that was against us," Col. 2:14, the evil conscience from our hearts? No human being is able to do this; indeed, no creature, neither in heaven nor on earth, can take away the evil conscience or the sin that the conscience feels. But it does, he says, "Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through JESUS Christ we have the victory, for he came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation and became man, suffered death for us on the cross, descended into hell, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, put away sin, death and hell in his body, fulfilled the law completely, and shut its mouth so that it must stop accusing and condemning us.

This is the victory, that death has lost its sting, that the law can no longer awaken sin, nor sin strengthen death. For Christ has atoned for our sin, and the handwriting, the law, has been erased, taken out of the remedy, and pinned to the cross, Col. 2:14. But God gives us such victory through the Word, through the preaching of the Gospel, and through the ministry of the holy sacraments; we are to believe the same Word.

(34) If therefore the law setteth upon us, saying, Thou hast done this, and thou hast done that, and wilt bring us to death through sin; then shall we cleave unto Christ, saying, Yea, I am a sinner; but I believe in Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for me, and for my sake was raised from the dead, and sitteth on the right hand of God, representing me. When death hears this, it must depart. For Christ, the Son of God, shed his blood for the cause that death, sin and the law should be dead, so that the law should no longer be binding on us.

1350 Erl. (2.) 20b, p49 f. Interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VIII, ISV7-IS0S. 1351

nor sin awaken, and death can no longer terrify us.

(35) So Christians, out of a joyful spirit and firm faith, defy the law, sin and death, saying: I know of no sin; but if I have sinned, I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is in heaven, and feels neither death, nor the sting of death, sin, nor the power of sin, the law, but has overcome all these things for my good. Whether my body already dies, there is nothing in it; the soul does not die, and the body will also rise again from the grave in its time; I dare to be happy and confident, and sing with dear Simeon [Luc. 2, 29]: "With peace and joy I go" 2c.

In this life we have victory in word and faith, and began to sing this little song in the spirit. But in that day we shall have the victory in revelation, also bodily and visibly: then shall we perform this little song in body and soul, and sing joyfully with all God's elect: Where is now the sting of death? Where is the evil dog, the evil conscience? Where is now the power of sin, the

Law, so would have gladly driven me to despair on earth? "Death is swallowed up in victory, sin is completely dead and done away with, hell is purely extinguished and extinguished. To God be eternal praise and thanksgiving.

(37) This is St. Paul's Theology, which to understand we must take the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters to the Romans, where the apostle expounds it further and more extensively. Here he has summarized it briefly and woven two sayings from the prophets Isaiah and Hosea together and brought them into one; but there he expounds it more extensively. May our dear Lord God grant us His grace, that we may keep these things in our hearts with firm faith, strengthen ourselves in them, joyfully ride on this victory in Christ when our hour comes, and thank Him here and there from the bottom of our hearts for all the abundant grace and good deeds shown to us in Christ, amen." 1)

1) Here follow in the original edition the passages: Ezk. 37, 1-14; 2 Petr. 1, 16-18; Rom. 14, 10-12 and 2 Cor. 5, 10, which Walch also printed. We leave them here because they do not differ from the version in our Bible.

VI Interpretations on the Epistle to the Galatians.