The Post-1514 Theology of the Reformer, Martin Luther

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1 Learning For Life: Reformation 500 The Post-1514 Theology of the Reformer, Martin Luther Romans 1: I am not ashamed of the Gospel: It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written [Habakkuk 2:4], The righteous shall live by faith.

2 Luther s Reformation Theology? A Man With a Sense of Humour, a Bold Personality and a Faithful Prayer Life. Beer is made by men, wine by God. Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer! I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.

3 Review of Some of the 95 Theses 1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Repent ye, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. 36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon. 40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties 43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons. 53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others. 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. 94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell. 95. And thus, be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace. (as taken from: _Volume_1/Disputation_on_Indulgences# Ninety-five_Theses)

4 The Luther Rose: Luther Summarizes His Theology A signet ring bearing the symbol was designed by Lazarus Spengler at the request of Martin Luther; John Frederick of Saxony (Frederick the Wise s son) encouraged Luther to formalize the seal after it started appearing on his title pages in the 1520 s; Frederick presented Luther with a signet ring version of the seal in 1530; It has become an unofficial symbol of the Reformation.

5 The Luther Rose: Luther Summarizes His Theology Luther refers to the icon--in a letter to Spengler--as his compendium theologiae [summary of theology]. The black cross in a heart is a reminder that faith in the Crucified saves us. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10). And, "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17) but by faith in the crucified. Although a black cross will mortify and should cause pain, it leaves the heart in its natural color. The heart is set against a white rose to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace. Faith places the believer into a white, joyous rose, for this faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). The rose should be white for it is the color of the spirits and the angels. The rose then stands in a sky-blue field symbolizing that such joy in spirit and faith is a beginning of the heavenly future joy, but is grasped in hope not yet revealed. And around this field is a golden ring symbolizing that such blessedness in Heaven lasts forever and has no end. Such blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and goods, just as gold is the most valuable, most precious and best metal. Christ, our dear Lord, He will give us grace unto eternal life.

6 Luther s Theology: The Roots Luther was born into Roman Catholic theology that placed considerable emphasis on the punishment of a guilty sinner and thus also on the corresponding need for continual good works. God was a stern judge whose wrath and judgement were to be feared. Luther then joined the Augustinian Order of the Eremites, which in reality was more Pelagian than Augustinian in its theology. Pelagius was a British monk who maintained that man has complete freedom of the will to do good or evil. He denied original sin, rather stressing the necessity for humans to work out their own salvation. He believed humans can become good, independent of divine grace in that good works merit divine grace and thus earn salvation (Grimm, p. 81). In essence, this theology minimized Christ s suffering and death. The Order also emphasized faith over medieval scholasticism (reason) and called for unequivocal obedience to the organized church as the ultimate authority. (Not surprisingly, they were very strong Papal supporters.) As a result, before the tower experience and subsequent revisiting of scripture, Luther was inordinately focused on the enormity of his sins and the little he could do to satisfy a righteous God (Grimm). No matter how meticulously he observed the rigorous rule of his order and studied scholastic theology, he could find neither a gracious God nor absolute certainty with respect to his personal salvation by means of his martyrdom as he later called his experiences at the monastery (Grimm).

7 The Cores 1. Justification by Faith Alone (Sola Fide): After the tower experience, Luther came to reject elements of monastic theology, but did retain a strong leaning toward the primacy of faith over reason: He states, Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God. God promises righteousness to us in and through Jesus Christ, if only we would believe and trust in the promise (i.e. have faith). Nothing else is required. Luther had faith that God accepts Christ s righteousness, which is foreign to our nature, as our own. Our sins continue to exist even after baptism, but God does not count them against us. Therefore, we are at the same time righteous and sinful (simul justus et peccator).

8 The Cores 2. Repentance: Those with abiding faith lead lives of continual repentance. True repentance is both an inward spiritual contrition and change of heart, but also an external expression of actions that bear harmonious witness to the inward change. Luther maintained that, The assurance that God would save the sinner could be obtained by any Christian who in humility and resignation recognized that [he/she] was a sinner and believed in the unequivocal promise of the gospel. Thesis #1: Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Repent ye, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

9 The Cores 3. The Primacy of Scripture (Sola Scriptura): Luther firmly held that Scriptures were the divinely inspired word of God, making them transcendent over any theological or church writings, teachings or doctrines. In The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther states: What is asserted without the Scriptures or proven revelation may be held as an opinion, but need not be believed. The institutional church does not take priority over scripture; rather, it is a creation of scripture, one of its living arms. Scripture is not merely prescriptive dogma or a convenient set of ethical guidelines, but inspired by a living God where he confronts his people.

10 The Cores 4. The Primacy of Christ (Solus Christus): Christ is the center of Luther s doctrine of justification by faith. Because Christ went to death on the cross on our behalf, God has acted to redeem fallen humanity. In his Large Catechism, Luther writes, We could never come to recognize the Father s favor and grace were it not for the Lord Christ, who is a mirror of the Father s heart. In addition to Romans I: that was central to his tower experience, Luther also referenced Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus supplies what God demands. As Luther once prayed, Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness and I am thy sin. Thou hast taken on thyself what thou wast not, and hast given to me what I am not. Contrary to Catholic teachings that the believers are made righteous through God s grace infused into the soul, Luther came to argue that Christians receive that righteousness entirely from Christ (outside themselves) as it actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed through faith.

11 The Cores 5. The Primacy of Grace (Sola Gratia): The gospel of forgiveness in Jesus Christ is all. Luther developed a new conception of grace that, he believed, did not operate magically and mechanically through the sacraments, but directly, as a constant, dynamic, ethical force in the individual, enabling him to combat sin which is always present until death and to fulfill the law, which requires righteousness. God had made this possible by sacrificing Christ on the cross (Grimm).

12 The Cores 6. The Priesthood of All Believers: Luther strenuously attacked the teaching that only the Pope could explain the Bible correctly and that clergy must intercede between God and the believer. He confidently stated that we re all popes. The believer can come to God through Christ without a religious leader s mediation. The Holy Spirit, Luther argued, gives each Christian the power to understand the Bible for himself/herself. Luther insisted, however, this was a sober obligation requiring of each Christian careful study of the scriptures and diligence in prayer. This view is especially outlined in The Address to the Christian Nobility, which also suggests Christian political leaders had a responsibility to further the reformation.

13 The Cores 7. Christian Freedom: In On the Freedom of a Christian, Luther states, Christians are the most free of all, and subject to none; Christians are the most dutiful servants of all, and subject to everyone. Although these statements appear contradictory, yet, when they are found to agree together, they will make excellently for my purpose. They are both the statements of Paul himself, who says, Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all (1 Cor. ix. 19). He goes on to state that Christians are free from the law (especially church laws) but bound in love to their neighbors. God draws humans into fellowship freely, even giving them the power to believe.

14 Other Considerations The omnipotent, sovereignty of God. The urgent call to evangelization. The doctrine of the two kingdoms--god rules over his creation entire, but He rules in two ways: by the law and by the gospel. The law encompasses the secular government and all its faculties. At the same time, God rules his kingdom through the gospel, according to which we are justified by God's grace alone.

15 In His Own Words Our theology is certain because, it snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside ourselves, so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, person, or works but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God, which cannot deceive.

16 In His Own Words From a Letter to Melancthon (1521 From Wartburg): Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

17 In His Own Words From the Smalcald Articles or Schmalkald Articles written in 1537 The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us...nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).