Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
When God's righteousness is mentioned in the gospel, it is God's action of declaring righteous the unrighteous sinner who has faith in Jesus Christ. The righteousness by which a person is justified (declared righteous) is not his own but that of another, Christ.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that true righteousness comes from faith in Jesus Christ, not from one's own actions.
Martin Luther's quote underscores the central tenet of Christian theology that righteousness is a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ. It suggests that individuals cannot attain righteousness through their own efforts but must rely on the grace of Christ, who justifies the sinner. This idea shifts the focus from human deeds to divine action, highlighting the transformative power of faith.
Themes
RighteousnessFaithJustificationGraceChristianity
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon on grace, the pastor quoted Luther to exemplify the gift of salvation.
More from Martin Luther
All quotes →Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. ...God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
Martin LutherRead
It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and wellbeing, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfiling the law of Christ.
Martin LutherRead
Reason is 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.
Martin LutherRead
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Martin LutherRead
In a mouse we admire God's creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies.
Martin LutherRead
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I'm one of those people that you have to keep your eye on or I'll wander off into the woods and forget to come back.
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The greatest gift that God in His bounty made in creation, and the most conformable to His goodness, and that which He prizes the most, was the freedom of will, with which the creatures with intelligence, they all and they alone, were and are endowed.
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Given a choice between a folly and a sacrament, one should always choose the folly—because we know a sacrament will not bring us closer to god and there’s always the chance that a folly will.
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There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
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The moment this House undertakes to legislate upon this subject slavery, it dissolves the Union. Should it be my fortune to have a seat upon this floor, I will abandon it the instant the first decisive step is taken looking towards legislation of this subject. I will go home to preach, and if I can, practice, disunion, and civil war, if needs be. A revolution must ensue, and this republic sink in blood.
James Henry HammondRead