Christ gave himself for our sins 2c.*)
Preached Anno 1538.
Gal. 1, 4. 5. Christ gave Himself for our sins.
There is not a single word in the entire epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, especially in the first three chapters, in which the apostle does not deal with the main point of Christian doctrine, namely, how we are to be redeemed from sin and death and come to grace, eternal life and salvation before God. He freely says that it is not by the works of the law, much less by works or worship services devised and chosen by men, but that Christ alone must and can accomplish this. Therefore nothing else comes out of his mouth, except always for and for: Christ, Christ; that all his words are full of the spirit, everything burns and lives especially when he speaks.
2 But notice, dear one, and pay attention to how clearly and precisely he uses all the words. He does not say: Christ was pleased with our righteousness and good works. No, no! Nor does he say, "He has accepted from Iins the sacrifices commanded in the law of Moses, much less our chosen services, masses, vows, pilgrimages," but rather, "He himself has given. Dear, what has he given? No gold nor silver, no ox nor paschal lamb, no kingdom, empire or world, yes, not even an angel. What then! Something much higher and more precious than anything created in heaven and earth. Dear, what is it? "Himself." For what?
Certainly not for a crown or a kingdom, certainly not for our righteousness or holiness, but "for our sin".
(3) Are not all these words like mighty thunderbolts from heaven, against all men's righteousness, hardness, and holiness, that it may have appearance and name, as great and glorious as it may be? As then such mighty thunderbolts, against all men's holiness and wisdom, are also in all the words of this saying Joh. 1, 29: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God, which bareth the sin of the world." Therefore, all the words in this and similar sayings, each one in particular, should be considered most diligently, and not be fluttered over so carelessly and badly 1). For it is exceedingly rich comfort to the poor, frightened and stupid consciences, when they grasp them by faith.
(4) If then thou art grieved for thy sin, and wouldest be rid of it, and have a gracious God in heaven, take not this or any other thing to gain such treasure by it, for it is in vain; but hear what St. Paul saith unto thee concerning God. He says that there is a man called Jesus Christ who gave himself for all our sins. These are rich, important, glorious and comforting words.
1) Thus the Wittenbergers and the Jenaers; Erlanger: carelessly badly and overhin fladdern.
*This sermon was first published in a single edition by Hans Weiß in Wittenberg in 1538 under the title: "The saying of St. Paul Gal. 1. 'Christ gave himself for our sin, that he might save us from this present evil world' 2c. Salvific and comforting to all afflicted and anxious consciences. By D. Mart. Luther." After that, together with the sermon, which is found in the St. Louis edition vol. X, 1088 ff., it was published in 1551 by D. Bernhard Ziegler in Leipzig, provided with a preface, and printed in Leipzig by Georg Hantzsch. The latter edition had D. Rambach had the latter edition reprinted in 1721 under the title: "Des Mannes Gottes M. Lutheri lauteres und apostolisches Zeugniß von Christo für uns. In the collective editions: in the Wittenberg (1553), vol. IV, p. 328d; in the Jena (1568), vol. VII, p. 22; in the Altenburg, vol. VII, p. 23; in the Leipzig, vol -XI, p. 404, and in the Erlangen, I. ed., vol. 19, p. 210; 2nd ed, We give the text after the second edition of the Erlanger, which brings the first pressure, under comparison of the Wittenberger and the Jenaer edition, however without noting each time, where we do not follow the Erlanger.
(5) Both Moses in the Law and the prophets in their writings prophesied of such redemption and atonement for our sins; and all who were godly before the future of Christ 1) had the understanding and faith that they could not be saved by circumcision, nor by the works commanded in the Law, but by Christ, who was promised to Abraham.
Therefore, this is one of the most noble and comforting sayings in St. Paul, and a true carthorse, emergency snake and main piece, so that the unholy papacy with all its supposed religion, holiness, self-chosen ecclesiastical statuses and services, may be turned to ruin and ground. For where our sins could be redeemed by our own works, merits, satisfaction: Dear, what would have been necessary for God's Son to give Himself for this? But because He gave Himself for this purpose, we will certainly leave them unredeemed by our works.
(7) Furthermore, we should learn from these words, "Who gave Himself for our sins," that our sins are so great, inordinate, and insurmountable that it is impossible that even the whole world, gathered into one heap, could do enough for them. For since it cost God such a precious, unspeakable treasure, namely His only Son, who had to give Himself for it, it is good to assume that we cannot atone for it nor overcome it with all our piety and righteousness, even if we had the merit of all the saints. Therefore, with these words: "He who gave Himself for our sins", truly the power and authority of sins is made very great.
(8) Most of the people on earth are good fellows, they go along in the safest way, and they put sin to the wind as a bad, little thing that has little meaning; indeed, when it comes to the point that sin begins to bite the conscience, one does not consider it great, but thinks: "There is no need, I will counsel the matter well, I will do this or that to atone for the sin, and thus please God. We should
1) Erlanger: godly.
But if we consider the magnitude of the great, inordinate treasure that is given for it, we would realize that the burden of sins is so exceedingly great and heavy that it is inestimable to all the world: how then could they pay for it with their strength and works and be able to do enough for it? Dear one, take these words: "He Himself" 2c. to heart, and consider them with seriousness and diligence, then you will learn to understand that the word "sin" contains the eternal wrath of God, together with all the power and might of the sorrowful infernal Satan. For the fact that he causes so much misery and heartache on earth, that 2) we are not safe from him for a single moment of our lives, and have to be constantly aware of all misfortune, is all the fault of sins. Therefore it is not such an easy and small thing, as the blind, sure reason lets it dream and think.
(9) Therefore, this saying is most powerful: that all men are prisoners of sin, even (as St. Paul says elsewhere) sold under sin as bond servants, Rom. 7:14, and further: that sin is a mighty, cruel lord and tyrant over all men on the whole face of the earth, whom no one can resist, no matter how high, wise, learned, powerful he may be. Even if all people under the wide sky were united, they would still not be able to overcome this tyrant with all their power, but all would have to hold out and let themselves be strangled and devoured by him. Jesus Christ alone is the hero who can control the cruel, insurmountable enemy. But it costs him a lot, the dear Lord, because he has to give his life for it.
(10) Again, this saying gives a very great, rich comfort to all those who have a stupid, despondent conscience because of their sin. For although sin, as I said, is a cruel and insurmountable tyrant, but because Christ takes our place, takes all our sin upon Himself, sacrifices Himself for it on the cross, and lets the judgment pass over Him as if He were accursed before God, and the greatest sinner that ever came on earth, sin loses all its right, strength and power to
2) Erlanger: "and that".
and must now lie under his feet. But all these things he has done for us, for he would not have been able to do them for himself, because he has not committed any sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth, Isa. 53, 9. 1 Petr. 2, 22. Therefore, whoever believes these things and accepts them with joy and thanksgiving, sin cannot harm him, much less condemn him. For Christ paid a high enough price, gave himself for it, and in its place gave him his innocence and righteousness. It is true that sin does much harm to the pious, because they still live in the flesh; it frightens and grieves them heartily, but it can do no more. For when they regain their composure and grasp with faith this sentence: "Christ gave himself for our sins," sin is no longer terrible to them, for it is now bound and imprisoned, and indeed already condemned. What can it do? The wild, raw, great crowd knows nothing of this; Christians know something of it, if sin presses, and yet resist it with faith and comfort of such sayings.
(11) When you thus learn Christ from this and similar sayings in St. Paul, that he alone is the subjugator of sin, you can freely judge and pass sentence on all kinds of doctrine and life, and say: If sin is such an abominable tyrant that it is superior to the whole world with its power, then the teaching of the pope and of all works saints must be false and forged, who pretends that we can overcome sin by our ability and powers. Item, you can also pass judgment on the life of all works saints, and say: If one cannot get rid of sin in any other way, Christ gives himself for it, then it is all in vain and for nothing what all papists and religious boast of their spiritual state, service, hard and sour life, as if they should thereby atone for sin, acquire grace and blessedness. Yes, it is an abominable blasphemy, so that they obscure and cover up Christ's highest love and good deeds towards us, and preach, honor and worship their filth and filthiness, that is, humanity and doctrines of the devil, instead of them.
12. whoever now wants to be a Christian in earnest, and remembers this saying of St. Paul, will benefit from it.
Let him see to it that he makes it right in his mind, and that he moves every word with all diligence, and that he pays special attention to the little word "for ours. For in this all power lies, that we may well perceive everything that is said of us in the holy Scriptures by such words, for me, for us, for our sin, and the like, and that we may actually know how to interpret it to ourselves, and to hold fast to it with faith, and to live and die on it. For there is never a lack of something great and excellent hidden underneath, to which one should pay special attention and take good note. You have easily and quickly put it into your heart that you say yes to the fact that Christ, the Son of God, was given for the sins of St. Peter, St. Paul and other saints who were worthy of such grace. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult for you, as a poor, unworthy, condemned sinner, to believe with all your heart, to hold, and to say without any doubt: Christ, the Son of God, was given for your sins, many of which are also great and grave, and yet you have never been worthy of such grace. This, I say, is certainly difficult, and great toil and labor 2c.
(13) Therefore it is a bad thing to praise and extol the kindness and good deeds of Christ in general, as if he had given himself for sin, but for those who were worthy of it, and deserved it by their holy lives. But if one should direct the tongue and say that he died for all our sins, for mine and yours and for the sins of the whole wager, then the human being recoils and recoils and is not allowed to come face to face with God. For he cannot bring himself to believe that such a treasure is given to him out of pure grace, through Christ, without his own merit and worthiness. That is why he does not want to have anything to do or to send with God, unless he is completely pure and sinless beforehand. And even if he reads or hears this saying: "Christ, the Son of God, gave Himself for our sins," or other such things, he still does not understand and interpret the word "our" to mean his own person, but thinks that it is said of others who are holy and worthy of such graces: for this reason, he thinks that he can have such graces.
He cannot be granted mercy until he has 1) first earned it through his good works and made himself worthy of it. This is a foolish and harmful attitude, and stems from the fact that man neither understands nor recognizes the greatness and power of both sin and God's mercy. Therefore, he would like sin not to be as great and terrible as the Scriptures make it out to be and speak of it, but rather a badly minor harm that could easily be dealt with without Christ's help; just as in truth people do not have different thoughts about sin. This is evident from the fact that they sin so grievously without any fear or hesitation, and live and persist in sins so surely. And if at times their conscience is stirred, they turn a deaf ear to it, thinking it will have no need. Because they neither know nor feel what and how great, heavy, even unmistakable a burden it is for sin, it is impossible that they should understand what is said: "Christ gave himself for our sins"; and if they repeat it at once, it is no real earnestness to them, but an outright joke, or, if it comes to the top, a hypocrisy and false humility, so that they let themselves be heard outwardly with words, as if they were sinners in need of Christ's help. But basically our blind reason is so minded that it would like to present such a sinner to our Lord God, who would say with his mouth: I am a sinner; and yet in his heart he would think that he was pious and righteous; who also felt no sin, nor the terror of death, but who was healthy, pure and fresh in all things, and had no need of a physician. And if such were to be the case, then it would gladly be believed that Christ, the Son of God, was given for our sins.
(14) All men are like this, especially those who want to be the best and holiest in the world. For all monks and saints of works confess with their mouths that they are sinners and commit sin every day, but not so great and so much that they cannot redeem and pay for it with their holy lives and good works. 2) They do not confess that they have sinned so much.
1) Thus the Wittenbergers; the other editions: themselves. 2) Erlangers: shall.
Indeed, they still intend to bring the other merits of their hard order before the judgment seat of Christ, and to expect a special reward from him before other common Christians. But lest they whiten and purify themselves of all things, they speak with their mouths, but with unequal hearts, with the publican Luc. 18:13: "God be merciful to me a poor sinner!" All this comes from this ignorance and error, that they think that sin is such a bad and small thing that it can be atoned for and reconciled by human laws and works, or, if it comes to it, by works of God's commandments. Therefore, it is impossible for such hypocrites to understand these or similar words of St. Paul or Christ, much less that they should console themselves with them when they feel their sin rightly in mortal distress or otherwise in terrible temptations, but must despair terribly.
(15) For this reason, of course, it is the highest art and right wisdom of Christians that these and similar words of St. Paul, or of the Scriptures, should be taken seriously and believed to be true, namely, that Christ was given into death, not for our righteousness or holiness, but rather for our sins, which are real, great, great, many, even innumerable and insurmountable sins. Therefore let no man dream, as the hypocrites do, that our sins are so small and trifling, that we can blot them out with our own works. And again, let no one despair whether, as has been said, they are so great and grievous, but let every one understand here from St. Paul, and only firmly believe that Christ gave himself, not for sins dreamed of or painted, but for sins that are true, not for sins that are small and little, but for sins that are exceedingly great and gross, not for one or two, but for all, not for sins that have been overcome and blotted out, but for sins that are unconquered, great and mighty. For indeed no man, yea, no angel, can overcome a few, even the very least sin. And where thou art not found in the number that say, "For our sin," that is, among those who follow the doctrine of the
If you have faith, hear, learn, do, love and believe, you may well freely consider that your salvation is over and all things are finished.
16. Remember therefore, and prepare thyself diligently, that thou mayest be skillful, not only when thou art well satisfied with thy conscience out of temptation, but when thou hast to fight with sin and death in the highest distresses and perils, when thy conscience is mindful of the sins thou hast committed 1), and is frightened, and Satan comes under your eyes with real earnestness, and with all his power subdues you with the great burden of your sins, as with a flood of sin, to assail you, to frighten you away from Christ and to chase you away, and finally to bring you to despair. Then think (I say) that with a courageous heart and strong faith you may say, "Christ, God's Son, is given," not for the saints' righteousness, nor for the angels' innocence, but for the poor sinners' unrighteousness. If I were righteous and had no sin, I should have nothing of Christ, the Mediator, who reconciled me to God. Why then do you want to make me a saint in such a wrong way, you unholy Satan, and demand vain righteousness from me, who have nothing but vain sin. Not imaginary sins, but real, true ones; not bad and small ones, but great, gross and exceedingly grave ones, such as not fearing God, not believing in him, doubting his goodness, not praising and glorifying him for all his unspeakable goods and benefits, which he has shown me both in soul and body; not calling on his name in times of need, even though he has commanded such, and promised that he would hear and help; but I do just the opposite: I grumble against him, become impatient, even angry and curse when things do not go my way; I do not hear, read and study his holy, precious word with earnestness and diligence, but neglect it without need, soon become weary and tired of it, and despise it 2c. Which of course are great, gross, grave sins against the first tablet.
017 Wherefore also I sin daily against the other table, namely, that I do not honor
1) In the old editions: "to think in".
my dear parents, do not raise my children to godliness and respectability, am not obedient to the authorities, covet my neighbor's goods and wife 2c. And let it be so, that I have not murdered, have not broken marriage, have not stolen, and have not done such other gross things against the other table by deed, nevertheless I have done it with the heart and thought. I am therefore a transgressor of all God's commandments, and my sins, alas, are so many that they could not all be written on a large cowhide; indeed, it is impossible that they should be counted, for they are more than the sand of the sea. Therefore cease, thou wicked false spirit, and tell me not much of my piety and good works, as if thereby I could and should obtain forgiveness of sins; there is nothing gained: For to obtain forgiveness of sins is not man's work, nor angel's; but thou art such an excellent artist and master, that thou canst make even my very best works and righteousness the very greatest sins.
(18) Therefore, because my sins are so serious, namely, that they are real, true, great, horrible, innumerable and insurmountable sins, and my own righteousness is of no use to me at all, but rather can be harmful, I follow the words of St. Paul, the dear and faithful apostle of Christ, who teaches me: Christ gave himself for this according to the will of God the Father, so that he might do enough for it, and thus save me and all who believe it from it 2) and make them blessed. To Him be praise and glory for such His unspeakable love, amen.
(19) Therefore, all the power and might of blessedness is involved in these words being considered serious and true. I do not say this in vain, for I have experienced it many times, and still experience it every day, the longer the more it becomes difficult, especially when the conscience feels the burden of sins, the terror of death and God's wrath, that he should then certainly believe that Christ was given, not for those who are holy, righteous, worthy and worthy of God.
2) Erlanger: save.
but for those who are ungodly, sinners, unworthy and enemies of God, who rightly deserve God's wrath, eternal death and damnation. Therefore we should prepare our hearts with these and similar sayings, of which the Scriptures are full, so that when the devil comes and accuses us (as he is wont to do to all the godly) and says, "You are a sinner, therefore you are my own and a child of eternal damnation," we may then, I say, be able to meet him and answer him: Yes, dear devil, for this very reason that you accuse me of being a sinner and therefore want to condemn me, I will believe all the more confidently that I am holy and righteous and will certainly be saved.
20 And whether he will stop yet, as indeed he is wont to do; for he walketh about as a roaring lion, 1 Peter 5:8, saying, In short, thou art lost; that thou knowest how to stop thyself, and to stand fast, and to say, Not so; for I cleave unto Christ, who gave himself for my sin. Therefore you, wretched Satan, will not succeed at all in reproaching me with the greatness of my sins, and thus frighten me, distress me and lead me into despair, and make me forget God's unspeakable grace and mercy, shown to me and all sinners through Christ, and look upon him as a severe, wrathful judge who wants to condemn me eternally, and thus not only be like him, but also blaspheme and disgrace him. But just by telling me that I am a poor, great sinner, you give me sword and weapons in my hand, so that I can overcome you mightily, yes, strangle you with your own weapons and put you down. For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I can tell you again that Christ died for sinners and is their advocate. Then you yourself proclaim to me God's glory and honor by reminding me of God's fatherly love and faithfulness toward me, namely, that he so loved me, a poor, great and condemned sinner, that he did not spare his only begotten Son, but gave him for my sin and for the sin of all the world. Further, so exhort
You, too, can thank me for the overwhelmingly great faithfulness and benevolence of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who willingly took upon his shoulder the burden of my sins and all the sorrow and misery that should have pressed upon me forever, and for this suffered the bitter death on the cross. To this I direct you; you may therefore accuse and condemn him. But me you shall leave satisfied; for on his shoulders, not on mine, are all my sins and the sins of the whole world. For God the Father has laid on him all our sins and iniquities, says Isaiah, Cap. 53, 6. Item v. 8: "For the iniquity of his people he hath smitten him." Therefore you do not frighten me by calling me a sinner, but rather comfort me.
(21) Dear God, whoever could do this art, it would be easy for him to show the devil the cowards, with all his terrors and fears, with all his wiles and wiles, who otherwise, by holding up their sin to people, makes them grieve to death and go to hell in despair, unless they are well equipped with this divine art and wisdom, which is to hold fast through faith in Christ, and resist him. For with this alone sin, death and the devil are overcome. But he who cannot put sin out of his mind, but keeps it in his memory, torments and afflicts himself with it, and thinks how he may counsel and help himself with his own powers and works, or wants to wait so long that his conscience may be satisfied for itself and have rest: he first of all comes right into the devil's snares, torments himself miserably, and in time, when the temptation becomes greater, falls into despair. For the devil does not cease to accuse and terrify the conscience until he has accomplished his work, that is, brought man to despair.
(22) Therefore, there is nothing better than for a man, to whom the devil puts such sad and poisonous thoughts into his heart, to imagine this or such sayings of St. Paul, in which Christ is rightly and actually depicted as who and what he is, namely, the Son of God and of the Virgin Mary, for our sake.
Sin given and died. If then the devil puts it into your heart that Christ is a different man than St. Paul paints him here, just say freely alfo: he did not hit it right, but lied in all his words and letters, therefore you would not accept them either.
(23) I do not speak so many words in vain and without cause, for I know very well what cause I have for urging so strongly that Christ be rightly and truly recognized from St. Paul's words. For Christ is not such a man who demands or wants something from us, but is rather a reconciler who has reconciled all people in the whole world to God. Therefore, if you are a sinner (as we all are in truth, and greater than we think and understand), do not make of him, in body and in life, a severe judge, sitting on the rainbow, angry with sinners and wanting to condemn them, as Christ was not viewed and recognized in any other way in the papacy, otherwise you will have to be frightened and despair before him, but grasp him in his right and own image, namely, that you view and recognize him as the Son of God and of the Virgin Mary, who gave himself for the sins of all the world: Not to frighten the sorrowful and despairing consciences, much less to cast them out and condemn them, but to save them from sin and death, to strengthen and comfort them in all anguish and distress, and to make them righteous and blessed,
(24) In this way, learn to know who and what Christ is. And especially take heed that you make good use of this little word: ours, and be most certain that Christ has borne and atoned not only for the sins of some, but for all of us, that is, for the whole world. For he certainly and truly gave himself up to die for the sins of the whole world, even though the whole world does not believe it. Therefore you must not only consider your sins to be real, grave, great 2c. sins. sins, but also that they are your own and no one else's sins; that is, you must know and believe that Christ is not only responsible for other people's sins, but also for yours.
be given. Hold fast to this, and do not let yourself be turned away from this most lovely image of comfort, in which even the dear angels in heaven delight, 1 Pet. 1, 12, namely, that Christ, according to his right counterfeit and image, is ever no Moses, no cane-master nor executioner, but such a mediator, who gave himself, not for our merits, holiness, righteousness, honor and good life 2c., but for our sin, and thereby reconciled us poor sinners to God, earning grace, righteousness, eternal life and blessedness. Although Christ sometimes interprets the law, it is not his own and proper office to do so, for which the Father sent him 2c.
(25) These words, "Christ gave himself for our sins," are soon grasped and learned, so that we can repeat them, and some people are serious enough to hold fast to them; but when it comes to the point where the devil, in his temptation, hides Christ from us and takes him away from our eyes, and tears the word of grace from our hearts, then we find out that we are still far short of it, and have not yet learned it properly, or even know anything about it. But whoever could then know Christ rightly and truly, make Him great, and not regard Him as a severe judge, but as our most kind and loving Savior and High Priest, would have already overcome all fear, distress and death, and would already be in eternal life, John 17:24. But there is nothing more difficult on earth than to be able to do this in the midst of temptation.
26. What I say, I have experienced in part, for I know very well the devil's cunning and nimble tricks, that he not only holds the law against us and inflates it to frighten us, and from small splinters makes many large beams, that is, from what is probably no sin at all, or even a small minor sin, a real hell, so that the wide world becomes too narrow; But he also uses the person of Christ, our most faithful high priest and savior, as if he were angry with sinners and wanted to push them into the abyss of hell. For he takes hold of
A saying from the holy scriptures, or a preaching word of Christ, does such a hard blow to our hearts in a flash, before we are aware of it, that not only do we lose all faith and confidence in Christ, but we are also heartily frightened of him, and think that it is the right Christ who gives us such thoughts, when in fact it is the wretched devil himself. And with such a disguise he can endure us for a long time, frighten us with it, and make us stay in our minds and delusions, so that our conscience may swear on it a thousand oaths that it is the right Christ himself, whose words he says.
27. Finally, this is also one of the right handles of this evil-doer's cunning and trickery, that he holds up to us only a piece of Christ, not the whole of Christ, namely, that he admits that he is the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, but that he gave himself for our sin, so that he does not let one come to him, breaks it off, and tears it out of one's heart, mends and adds something strange that does not rhyme with the matter at all, namely: Holds up for us some threatening word of Christ, that he may terrify the wicked; as dangerous this, Luc. 13:3: "Except ye repent, ye shall all perish and perish." So this poisoning of the pure and certain knowledge of Christ makes us believe that Christ is our mediator and savior, but he still remains in our hearts a terrible and cruel tyrant and master of the rod. We are thus deceived by the evil one, so that we lose and abandon the most friendly and lovely comforting image of our high priest and sin-bearer, Jesus Christ, of all things, and become as fearful and timid before him as before the wretched devil himself.
(28) This alone would be cause enough for diligent and earnest exhortation and urging, that from these words of St. Paul, "Who gave himself for our sin," Christ should be rightly and truly learned. For since He gave Himself to be put to death for our sins (as is certainly true), He is never a tyrant or a judge who condemns us for sins, and those who do so are never condemned.
1) but who rather helps those who have fallen, comforts those who are frightened and takes them into grace, reconciles them to God 2c.; otherwise St. Paul would have to lie when he says that he gave himself for our sin. If I thus imagine Christ, I paint him rightly and actually, grasp and have the real Christ as he paints himself, and then leave all thoughts and speculations of the divine majesty and glory of all things, cling and cling to the humanity of Christ; since there is no terror at all, but only friendliness and joy, and thus learn to know the Father through him. Thus such light and knowledge dawns upon me that I know for certain what God is and how he is minded, what I myself am, what all creatures are, what wickedness and malice there is in the devil's kingdom.
(29) What I teach here is nothing new, but just what the dear apostles and their successors, the holy fathers, taught before us. But we are so diligent in our perseverance that we would like to see people take it seriously and always practice learning such Christian art and wisdom, for it can never be learned sufficiently. For this purpose, the devil is exceedingly hostile to it; therefore, he hinders as much as he can that it should not remain pure for long, or that it should snatch us away from it through weariness and laziness. Therefore, God wanted us to be able to present the doctrine of faith to the people, so that they would not only be able to wash their mouths of it, but would also hold on to it firmly in their hearts, especially in times of death.
That he saved us from this present evil world.
30 St. Paul also acts in these words the main part of this epistle, calling this whole world, which has been, still is, and hereafter will be, a "present world". First he calls it "present", against the world that is to come and will be eternal. Then he also calls it "bad," because everything that is in this present world is of the evil one.
1) In the old editions: "jarnerig."
It is called the devil's kingdom because it does not recognize God, even despises him, hates him, blasphemes him and disobeys his words and works. Therefore it is also called the devil's kingdom, because it does not recognize God, even despises, hates, blasphemes and disgraces him, and acts disobediently against all his words and works 2c. In such a kingdom all Adam's children are subject to his lord and king, that is, the devil.
(31) Here you see once again that no one can erase sin by his own work or powers. For "this present world", says St. Paul, "is in trouble". And 1 John 5:19, 1) it is written: "it is in trouble. Now as many as are in the world, they are all of the sins and members of the devil, yes, bond servants; because as he speaks 2 Tim. 2, 26. he has captured all men under his tyranny and power, according to all his will. What good has it been, then, that so many orders have been established and founded, so many great and difficult works have been invented, to destroy sin with them, and to escape the devil's power? Such as: wearing hard shirts, flogging the body with scourges so that the blood is gone afterwards, walking in full armor to St. Jacob 2c. For, let it be that you do all these things and more, nevertheless it remains true that you are still in this present evil world and not in Christ's kingdom. But if you are not in Christ's kingdom, it is certain that you are still in the devil's kingdom, which St. Paul here calls "the evil world. As long as you are not saved from it through faith in Christ, "who gave himself for your sin," you must always remain in it, and in short no one can save you from it. Moreover, all the gifts you have, whether spiritual or bodily, such as wisdom, outward righteousness and holiness, skill of speech, power, beauty, riches, and the like, are nothing else but a proper instrument of diabolical and infernal tyranny, so that you must serve Satan and promote and increase his kingdom.
1) Here the Erlangen edition, first and second edition, reprinted from Walch: 1 John 5:20.
2) Thus the Wittenbergers. In the other editions: hypocritical.
32. For the first: The wiser and more pious you are, without the knowledge and faith of Christ, the more vehemently you persecute the right doctrine, blaspheme and condemn it for heresy and lies of the devil; on the other hand, you accept error and lies for God's word, and defend them for truth, hate and will be heartily against all those who teach, hear and confess God's word purely, yes, condemn them as deceivers and heretics, and think you are doing right and well. After that, you dare to darken and obscure divine truth and knowledge with your lies and deceitfulness, seduce people with false teachings so that they cannot come to the knowledge of Christ. Item, you praise and extol your own holiness and righteousness, but the holiness of Christ, by which alone we become holy and righteous, you curse and condemn 3) in the worst way, as if it were a completely ungodly and devilish thing. Finally, by thy power thou destroyest the kingdom of Christ, abusing it to cut off and destroy the gospel with it, to persecute and murder Christ's servants with it, together with all those who hear and love it 2c. Therefore thy wisdom, if thou be apart from Christ, is twofold foolishness; thy holiness and righteousness twofold sin and blasphemy. Not only do you know nothing about God's wisdom and righteousness, but you also obscure, hinder, blaspheme, and persecute them in a most glorious way.
For this reason St. Paul may well call the world a bad world, for where it wants to be most pious and best, there it is most evil. In the saints of works, sensible and learned people it wants to be most pious and best, and yet there it is doubly evil. I will not now think of the gross carnal vices that go against the other table, in which the world is completely drowned, such as these: Disobedience to parents and authorities, all kinds of fornication, whoredom, adultery, avarice, robbery, stealing, misappropriating, scratching, envying, hating, lying, deceiving, murdering, running high, indulging, oppressing others 2c. Which probably great and cruel
3) "du", which is missing in the other editions, we have taken from Walch.
These are vices and sins, but they are still small sins when they are held against the ones mentioned above, namely, against the righteousness and wisdom of hypocrites and saints of works, so that they sin against the first table. The white devil, who drives people to spiritual sins, which are not considered to be sins, but righteousness, is the one who does the most harm, much more than the black devil, who only drives people to gross carnal sins, which are so recognizable that even Turks and pagans may recognize them as sins.
34 By these words, "That he might save us from this present evil world," St. Paul finely indicates what the whole content and main point of this epistle is, namely, that if we are to be saved from sin, death, and the power of the devil, it must be through faith in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who gave himself for our sin, so that he might save us from the devil's kingdom, which he here calls "the present evil world. Otherwise no creature, no man, be he ever holy and righteous as he can, no angel 2c. is able to accomplish this. For the eradication of sin and salvation from the devil's tyranny and kingdom is, of course, not the work of some creatures, human or angelic, but of the high divine Majesty alone. Therefore this title alone is due to Christ, reconciling sin, saving from the devil's power 2c. For his own person he did not do this, nor did he need it. Therefore pay attention to this little word: "for our sin he saved us"; whoever believes it has it, and will praise and glorify God eternally in Christ Jesus.
(35) He calls, as partly said above, "this present world" an evil evil world, because it is a dear, faithful, willing and obedient servant and servant of its god, the devil. Everything that this death-beater and father of lies does and says, his pious child and dear obedient little son, the world, imitates him in the most masterly way, and only executes it in the best way. She hears and loves nothing more highly of a kind, 1) than
1) In the editions: höhers.
Lies, error, false worship, hypocrisy 2c. To this she is mild and devout. Again, she is opposed to the truth, persecuting and strangling those who teach it as heretics, evildoers; not to mention that she should give them something 2c. Therefore, she is full of sin and unrighteousness, knows nothing of God, is opposed to Him, blasphemes and despises Him and His word 2c. Above this she is also drowned in carnal sins, in murder, adultery 2c. For she is after her father, the devil, who is a liar and a murderer from the beginning 2c., Joh. 8, 44. Therefore, the wiser, righteous and holier people are, apart from Christ, the more hostile they are to the gospel and only do more harm. In sum, the bet is a double mischief, since it is the very best and most pious. Such twofold and godless scoundrels we were under the papacy, especially we religious, before the dear gospel was revealed to us by the grace of God, and yet we had the title and name as if we were holy and spiritual persons, much higher in rank and merit than the common man.
Let these words of St. Paul be spoken in earnest and be true, and do not think that they are a fictitious dream, when he says that this world is bad, regardless of whether many people in it have many beautiful, glorious virtues; even if, according to the outward appearance and appearance, there is much holiness and glittering being in it. Do not be misled by all this, but listen and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit says through St. Paul, from which words you can freely and truly recognize and judge the whole world: namely, that it, with all its wisdom, righteousness and power, is the evil devil's own kingdom, from which no one but our Lord God alone, through His only begotten Son, can save us.
Therefore we should praise and thank God, our dear Father, for this unspeakable mercy of His, that He has redeemed us from the devil's kingdom, in which we were all imprisoned and could not be delivered from it by our own strength, through His dear Son. And let us freely confess with St. Paul [Phil. 3:8], without any hesitation, that all our works and righteousness, which we have done in the past, are worthy of our gratitude.
The first thing is that all the sins that we want to atone for and escape from the devil's power are nothing but filth and dung, so that even if we melt them all together in one pile, we still won't be able to bend a single hair on the devil's head. Let all such powers of free will, all hypocritical righteousness, all monasticism, masses, services, vows, hard shirts 2c. and other abominations of the antichristian empire, by which the pure doctrine is suppressed, should only be freely trampled underfoot and spat upon as the most poisonous pestilence of the devil, but on the other hand exalt and magnify the glory and unspeakable good deed of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, who saved us by his death, not from a silly, bad and good, but from the wicked and damned world.
38 By this title St. Paul indicates that the world is a kingdom of unrighteousness, blindness, error, sin, death, blasphemy, despair, and eternal damnation; in sum, that it is the kingdom of the devil. And on the other hand, that the kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of righteousness, light, grace, forgiveness of sins, peace, comfort, eternal life and blessedness, into which we have been translated from this evil world through our dear Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever, amen.
According to the will of God and our Father.
(39) St. Paul sets forth and arranges all his words with great and special diligence, so that he may defend the doctrine of his gospel, and especially the main part of justification, against the false, deceiving teachers. Christ, he says, has saved us from the wicked kingdom of the devil and this world; and that he has done this has pleased the Father, who has so willed and ordained it. From this it must ever follow that we are not saved by our own will or running, not by our own counsel, will or ability, work or merit, but by God's mercy and gracious will 2c. There you can see how powerfully and abundantly St. Paul explains the teaching of the
He knows how to sharpen all his words finely and to direct them at the false apostles, that he would like to keep the Galatians and all Christians in the truth and pure doctrine, and to beat the lies of his opponents to the ground. But it did not help, and still does not help, because the world is and remains the world.
40 We should take this teaching and comfort from these words: "According to the will of God" 2c. that God's gracious will is that no one should be lost, but that everyone should be saved, as He also teaches in 1 Timothy 2:4, and Christ Himself says, John 6:39: "This is the will of the Father who sent me, that I should not lose anything" 2c. But because our misery and sorrow could not be helped by our works, merits, sacrifices, law-keeping, as the Scriptures testify from time to time, as Psalm 40, 7: "Sacrifice and meal offering are not pleasing to thee"; Psalm 51, 18: "Thou hast no pleasure in sacrifice"; Psalm 143, 2: "Before thee no living man is righteous"; Gal. 2, 16: "By the work of the law no flesh is justified": God, who is rich in mercy, so loved this present, evil and damned world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that He might take their sin upon Himself, die on the cross, and thus do enough for it. Whoever then believes in him shall not only be saved from sin and death, but also have grace, righteousness and eternal life.
41. If the devil now creeps in unawares, and puts these words out of your sight, and tells you that you should worry whether you have been provided by God for eternal blessedness or not; holds before you the terrible examples of God's wrath and judgment, and that the number of the elect is small, the number of the damned is great: Be wise then, and by all means do not let yourself be led into such perilous thoughts and disputations, or you will surely get lost and break your neck; but resist, and say: I am not commanded to be concerned about such things, which are too high and incomprehensible for me to investigate; I stick to the words of St. Paul, who says: Christ is the only one who knows the truth. Pauli, who says: that Christ gave himself for our sin, that he might save us 2c., and has done this according to the will of God, and
of our Father. From this I can certainly conclude that before God would allow us to be lost, Christ, His only Son, our Lord, must become the servant of us all, take upon Himself and bear all our sin and shame, suffer the temptation of the devil, be forsaken by God for a little while, Ps. 8:6, wrestle with death, sweat blood over it, and finally die the most humiliating death on the cross. I can neither see nor recognize anything else in God, but only grace, mercy, patience, compassion 2c. with us miserable, afflicted sinners. The Scriptures testify to this, that God does not respect the reputation of man, but that all, no one excluded, who call upon His name shall be saved. If many are lost, it is the fault of the devil and our evil will, for God the Father's will, says St. Paul, is a good, gracious will; and John 6:40, Christ Himself says: "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life.
God and our Father.
The little word "Our" should be interpreted to both words "God" and "Father", so that this is the opinion: By the will of our God and our Father. For it is He who is our Father, who is Christ's Father, as Christ says John 20:17 to Magdalene: "Go to my brothers and tell them: I ascend to my Father, and to your Father, to my GOD, and to your GOD." Of it further in the Easter sermon.
To whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.
(43) The Jews, according to their peculiar custom, commonly include much praise and thanksgiving in their writings; which custom and manner the apostles, being Jews themselves, also observe, as may be seen in many instances in St. Paul's writings. For one should ever honor the name of the Lord, and never mention it without praise and thanksgiving. And this way is a fine reverence and service to our Lord God. Just as in the regiment of the world, when great kings or princes are called by their names, it is customary to show reverence to them by bowing the head and bending the knees 2c. Now rather, when we speak of God, we should bow our hearts to him with reverence, and call his name with gratitude and all reverence; especially because we hear here that he is our God and Father through Christ, who not only will not be angry with us from now on, nor punish and condemn us eternally because of our sin, as he might justly do: But also counts us righteous and just, because of faith in Christ, who is our adornment, whom we put on in baptism, and also wants to give us the heavenly inheritance, namely eternal life, joy and blessedness. He does all this out of pure grace and mercy: therefore we can do or give him nothing in return, but sing an alleluia or Te Deum laudamus, and say with St. Paul: To him be praise, honor and glory, from everlasting to everlasting, Amen.