In his small work on the last words of David,* Dr. Luther, a little before his death, wrote thus: “According to the other, the temporal, human birth, the eternal power of God was also given unto him, but in time, and not from eternity. For the humanity of Christ has not been from eternity, like the divinity, but, according to our computation, Jesus the Son of Mary is now 1543 years of age. But from that moment, in which the divinity and humanity were united in one person, the man, the Son of Mary, truly is, and is called the omnipotent, eternal God; who has eternal power, who created and preserves all things, per communicationem idiomatum, because with the divinity, he is one person, and is also true God. Concerning this, he says: ‘All things are delivered unto me of my Father,’ Matt. 11:27. And in another place: ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,’ Matt. 28:18. Who is he that says: ‘Unto me?’ Unto me, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, and born as man. From eternity I have this power of the Father, before I became man. But when I became man, I received it in time according to the humanity, and held it concealed until my resurrection and ascension, when it was to be manifested and declared;—as Paul, Rom. 1:4, writes: ‘He was declared to be the Son of God with power;’” John uses the term glorified, John 17:10. (Henkel Translation, p. 702).

But we beg every Christian reader to consider for God’s sake: If we can be justified before God and become Christians through such works, I would like to hear, (and we pray all of you to make every effort to reply,) what the difference would be between the doctrines of the philosophers and of Christ; if we can obtain the remission of sins through such works of ours, what benefit, then, is Christ to us? If we can become holy and pious in the sight of God, by natural reason and our own good works, what need have we then of the blood and death of Christ, or to be born anew through him? as Peter says in his first Epistle 1:3. This dangerous error (taught publicly in the schools and from the pulpit) has, alas, led even eminent theologians at Lyons, Paris, and other places, to recognise no Christian piety or righteousness, but that taught in philosophy; although every letter and syllable of Paul teaches differently; yet, while this ought reasonably to surprise us, and we could justly deride their views, they laugh at us, yea, ridicule Paul himself.

So greatly has this shameful, abominable error prevailed! I myself heard a reputable minister, who did not mention Christ and the Gospel, but preached the ethics of Aristotle, (Aristotelis ethicos). Is not such preaching puerile and foolish among Christians? If, however, the doctrine of our adversaries be true, then are these ethics (ethici,) an invaluable collection of sermons, and a fine new bible. For it is not easy for any one to write better than Aristotle, with regard to an external, honorable life.

We see, that some learned men have written books, in which they endeavour to show, that the words of Christ and the sayings of Socrates and Zeno harmonize beautifully, as if Christ had come to give us good laws and commandments, through which to merit the remission of our sins; instead of proclaiming to us the grace and peace of God and imparting the Holy Spirit, through his own merits and blood.

Hence, if we receive the doctrine of our adversaries, that we can merit the forgiveness of our sins, by the powers of natural reason and our own works, we are Aristotelians and not Christians, and there is no difference between an honorable Heathen, a Pharisaic, and a Christian life, between philosophy and the Gospel. (Henkel Translation, p. 158-159).

Here the scholastics have followed the philosophers; and when they attempt to define, how man is justified before God, they teach only the righteousness and piety, of a correct external deportment before the world, and of good works, and in addition devise the dream, that human reason is able without the aid of the Holy Ghost, to love God above all things. For it is true, undoubtedly, that when the human heart is at ease and free from trouble and temptation, and does not feel the wrath and judgement of God, it may imagine that it loves God above all things and does much good and many works for God’s sake; but this is mere hypocrisy. Yet in this manner our adversaries have taught, that men merit the remission of sins, if they do as much as lies in their power; that is, if reason regrets sin, and elicits also a willingness to love God.

Since men are naturally inclined to the idea, that their merits and works are of some value in the sight of God, this false principle has bought forth innumerable, perverted methods of worship in the church: for example, monastic vows, the abuse of masses, and the like, without number; new modes of worship being constantly devised out of this error. And in order that such confidence in our merits and works might be still farther disseminated, they impudently maintained, that the Lord God must of necessity give grace unto those who do such good works; not indeed, that he is compelled, but because this is the order, which God will not transgress or alter.

In these opinions, in this very doctrine, many other gross, pernicious errors, and horrid blasphemies against God are embraced and hidden; to state all of which now, would require too much time. (Henkel Translation, p. 158).

All the Scriptures, both of the Old and New testaments, are divided into, and teach, these two parts, namely, the law and the divine promises. In some places they present to us the law, and in others they offer us grace through the glorious promises of Christ; for example, the Old Testament, when it promises the coming Christ, and through him offers eternal blessings, eternal salvation, righteousness, and eternal life; or the New, when Christ, after his advent, promises in the Gospel, the remission of sins, eternal righteousness and life.

In this place, however, we call the law the Ten Commandments of God, wherever they appear in the Scriptures. It is not our purpose here to speak of the ceremonies and judicial laws.

Now, of these two parts our adversaries choose the law. For since the natural law, which agrees with the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments, is inborn and written in the hearts of all men, and human reason is therefore able, in some measure, to comprehend and understand the Ten Commandments, it imagines that the law is sufficient, and that remission of sin can be obtained through it.

But the Ten Commandments require not only an honorable life, or good works, externally, which reason can to some extent produce; they demand much higher things, beyond all human power and the reach of reason: namely, the law requires us to fear and love God with all sincerity, and from the bottom of our hearts; to call upon him in every time of need, and place our trust in nothing else.

Again, the law demands, that we neither doubt nor waver, but conclude with the utmost certainty in our hearts, that God is with us, hears our prayers, and grants our petitions; it demands, that in the midst of death we expect life and all manner of consolation from God; that in all our troubles we conform entirely to his will; that we shall not flee from him in death and affliction, but be obedient to him, and bear and suffer willingly, whatever may befall us. (This text is from The Henkel Translation of the Book of Concord, which is the only English translation based on the authoritative German Dresden Edition of 1580, p. 157-158).

The adversaries condemn the doctrine taught in the forth, fifth, sixth, and twentieth articles of our Confession, that believers obtain the remission of their sins through Christ, by faith alone, without any merit of their own; and insolently reject these two tenets; first, that we deny that man can obtain remission of his sins through his own merit; and secondly, that we hold, teach, and confess that no one is reconciled to God, or obtains remission of his sins, but through faith in Christ alone.

Now, since this controversy concerns the principal and most important article of the whole Christian doctrine, and as much indeed depends upon this article, which contributes especially to a clear, correct apprehension of all the holy Scriptures, and which alone shows the way to the unspeakable treasure and the true knowledge of Christ; yea, which is the only key to the whole Bible, and without which the poor conscience can have no true, invariable, fixed hope, nor conceive the riches of the grace of Christ;—we therefore pray your Imperial Majesty, graciously to hear us concerning these great, momentous, and all-important subjects, as the nature of the case demands. For, as our adversaries do not understand or know, what is meant in the Scriptures by remission of sin, by faith, grace and righteousness, they have miserably defiled this noble, indispensable, and leading article, without which no one can know Christ; they have entirely suppressed the invaluable treasure of the knowledge of Christ, of his kingdom, and of his grace; and robbed our poor consciences of this noble and great treasure and of this eternal comfort, so valuable and important to them.

But in order to confirm our Confession, and to refute what our adversaries have adducted, we shall, in the first place, show the foundation and reasons upon which both doctrines rest, so that each may be more clearly understood.  (This text is from The Henkel Translation of the Book of Concord, which is the only English translation based on the authoritative German Dresden Edition of 1580, p. 156-157).

From this, we now see what our greatest joy should be and for what, above all, we ought to give thanks to God, namely, that He has enlightened us inwardly through His Word and Spirit and has brought us to a saving knowledge of Christ. The Lord Christ, as “Wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:24), understood best what an inexpressible blessing that was, which is why He rejoiced over it so earnestly and gave thanks to His heavenly Father for it so intensely. We do not understand or ponder it with such seriousness, which is why our spiritual joy and thanksgiving are also so much colder. But this is certain: The more the light of the saving knowledge of God increases, the more the spiritual joy and praise of God also grows within you. Indeed, if the natural light causes us to rejoice when it rises after the dark night, or when we are brought out of the dark dungeon to the very light of day, should not the heavenly, spiritual light of divine knowledge that the Lord God has kindled in our hearts, darkened by nature, cause us to rejoice much more, yes, immeasurably more? The natural light illumines us for a short time in this fleeting life and causes us to participate “with the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12).

As high as heaven is above the earth, so much more precious and noble should we also esteem the heavenly light of divine knowledge than the natural light. The one for whom that heavenly light has not yet appeared and arisen still sits in darkness and will be cast out into the outermost darkness, and the natural light of the sun or of his own understanding will not be able to prevent it; only the heavenly light will do. If we want to come to this light, then we must not place too much trust in the natural light of our understanding, which is deceptive and misleading. We must not consider ourselves wise, but we should recognize that the natural light is darkness before God, and the world’s wisdom is foolishness. Many people fool themselves in this regard; they think that the true, heavenly light of the saving knowledge of God has arisen in their heart, but it is only a slender ray of the natural light which does not go or lead beyond nature. O heavenly Light, shine on us and drive out the darkness from our hearts! O bright Morning Star, arise in our heart! Teach us, O divine Wisdom! We will gladly be infants and willingly yield to Your enlightening!

(Sermon for St Matthias-February 24, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 51-52)

From this, third, springs forth a genuine love for God, as Christ says here, “Her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much.” For if anyone rightly considers and believes with the whole heart that the Lord God has removed his great debt of sin by grace, he cannot help but love this faithful Father from the heart. On the other hand, when we still think of God in our hearts as a harsh debt collector, we cannot yet truly love Him. He is love itself (1 John 4:16,19). Therefore, He expects us to love Him in return; He cannot preserve this love among us without first forgiving us all our sins by grace, nor is there a better way for Him to preserve it. With this removal of debt, it is intended only that we should love Him. When that happens, then we finally begin again to experience that blessed fellowship that man had with the Lord God before the fall, a fellowship that consisted in love and love requited. Therefore Christ says in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.”

From this love springs the praise of God, and also willing obedience toward God and His commandments. As it says, “His commandments are not difficult” (1 John 5:3), that is, not difficult for the one who has received the forgiveness of sins through faith and has been renewed by the Holy Spirit, so that he serves the Lord God with willing obedience, from genuine love. This is why it says about such a man who loves God that “his works are done in God” (John 3:21), for they flow from faith in Christ and from love for God. May the faithful God also work this in us by the power of His Spirit. Amen.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 113-114)

For this is, second, the fruit of true, sincere repentance, that by it we obtain forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience. This is why it is called “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18), and “repentance and the forgiveness of sins” are placed together as pointing to one another (Luke 24:47, Acts 2:38). For true faith in Christ is also a part, and, to be sure, the chief part, of repentance, by which we are justified before God and our conscience is placed at ease. Romans 5:1, “Now that we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When the heart, distressed by sin, grasps with true faith the promise of the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Christ, then peace and tranquility of conscience follow. Then a person tastes how friendly the Lord is (Psa. 34:9). Yes, a beginning of eternal life is made, since this is nothing other than the fullness of joy in God.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 113)

Therefore, the Lord Christ commands all men, in every place, to repent. But when Christ here compares all sins with debts, as He also does in Matthew 6:12 in the Lord’s Prayer, where He calls them debts, He points us to the tablets of the divine Law, where it is written with eternal, indelible letters how much we have received from God and how great is the debt we have incurred. These tablets are made of stone; therefore, the debt is engraved deeply and permanently. Nor is the lender to whom we are indebted to be taken lightly. He has great power and gives close attention to the accounting. He places our “unknown sins in the light before His divine sight” (Psa. 90:8) and will hold a strict reckoning in due time (Mat. 18:34). Therefore, it is highly recommended that we come forth during the time of grace and humbly seek from Him the removal of our debts through Christ, take refuge in Christ, who has repaid them for us (Psa. 69:5) and has given His precious blood for us as the redemption price. With our own repayment, all is lost. We are indebted to the Lord God with all that we have. How, then, could we repay Him with it? Let us run to Christ with true faith, lay hold of His feet and not leave Him until He blesses us and absolves us from our debt of sin. And since there are so many things that would drive us away from Christ or keep us from Him, let us cling to Him all the more tightly. He will speak to us kindly in the end.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 112-113)

“But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” If a person does not recognize that he is loaded down with a great debt of sin and does not realize that he is in dire need of forgiveness for it, he also loves little. At this, Christ turns to the woman and says to her, “Your sins are forgiven,” and with this comforting absolution He assures her heart and conscience of the gracious forgiveness of sins. But the other table guests who were present said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Does not that belong to the Lord God alone? Therefore, He says further to the woman, “Your faith has saved you,” by which you have grasped the evangelical promise about the forgiveness of sins. “Go in peace.”

From this, we learn first, that repentance is necessary, not only for those who fall into gross outward sins, but for all men in common. For Christ sets His heavenly Father before us in this parable as a rich Lord who has granted us all kinds of possessions and has summoned us to make an accounting. But we have incurred a debt which we are far too poor to pay off, as the parable expressly shows that even the one who owed only fifty denarii could not repay it. This is as much as to say: Not only those are debtors before God’s judgment who have committed outward sins, but also those who have sinned in their hearts have incurred a debt. In this situation, one person can boast as little as the next that he is debt-free, or that he has paid off his debt. This is why it says universally, “They are all sinners; there is no difference here” (Rom. 3:23).

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 112)