- I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so in order that MEN SHOULD FEAR BEFORE HIM.
That is: “I have seen that everything God does lasts forever, but our works are unsure and vain.” And one must note the antithesis. He says that only God can carry out His counsels and set a definite time for them. To whom He has given this gift of finding enjoyment in the present, he has it. He is faithful and sure; whatever He gives, no one takes away. If He grants life, no one snatches it away, even though the world and Satan should rage; for He is sure and eternal. If He gives me good eyes, I shall keep them, even though Satan should sprinkle all the dust of the earth into them. If He gives me healthy and robust arms or legs, no one will deprive me of them. All our works have their appointed time, which we do not set. Who sets it, then? God Himself determines this time—not fortune or fate, as the philosophers suppose. When He who made the time permits it to come, then it comes.
Why, therefore, does He afflict men with this vain supposition when He has reserved the appointed time for things to Himself? For this reason, he says, in order that men should fear, that we should not be rash in our works or attempt things proudly and presumptuously as though they came from us. Thus also Paul teaches (Rom. 9:16; Phil. 2:12–13): “Walking in fear, so that you know that it does not depend upon man’s will or exertion, because He Himself is at work both to will and to work.” Anyone who believes this, that matters have not been placed into our hands, will not do anything rashly, but will attribute everything to God in His working and will expect everything from Him. If He grants it, he enjoys it; if He does not, he does without it; and if He takes it away, he bears it. Thus there abide the glory of God and our humiliation and the true worship of God among us. This is what it means to fear God: to have God in view, to know that He looks at all our works, and to acknowledge Him as the Author of all things, both good and evil. (Luther’s Works, v.15 p.54-55)