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Martin Luther was a "theologian of the cross", whereas medieval scholastics were in his view, "theologians of glory."  That is, many theologians considered God in himself in ways that did not begin with the "alien" (his incomprehensible) work of Christ in his humanity and upon the cross.  There is a cradle and a cross to be understood before we can see the glory of God.   Carl Trueman explains this further...   "The theology of the cross is more than just a way of looking at God, however. For Luther, it brings to the fore both the depth of God’s love for sinful humanity, that God himself was willing to undergo such suffering, weakness and humiliation on behalf of helpless sinners, and also underlines that suffering and weakness is a central part of the Christian’s strength experience here on earth. In Christ, God has so identified himself with humanity as to become one with fellow humans. He has endured not only the mundane inconveniences...

"...we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."  (Galatians 2:16 ESV) Because of the fundamental nature of faith... it is natural to find that in the New Testament faith, as the reception of a free gift, is placed in sharpest contrast with any intrusion of human merit; it is natural to find that faith is sharply contrasted with works.  The contrast is really implied by the New Testament throughout, and in one book, the Epistle to the Galatians, it forms the express subject of the argument.  That book from beginning to end is a mighty polemic in defense of the doctrine of justification by faith alone; and as such it has rightly been called the Magna Charta of Christian liberty. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the world was lying in darkness...

"But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be  merciful to me, a sinner!'"  (Luke 18:13 ESV)  "Prayer must not be based on or depend on your personal worthiness or the quality of the prayer itself; rather, it must be  based on the unchanging truth of God’s promise. If the prayer is based on itself or on anything else besides God’s promise,  then it’s a false prayer that deceives you—even if your heart is breaking with intense devotion and you are weeping drops of  blood.  "We pray because we are unworthy to pray. Our prayers are heard precisely because we believe that we are unworthy. We  become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God’s faithfulness alone. So go ahead and feel unworthy. But know in your  heart that it’s a thousand times more important to honor God’s truthfulness. Yes, everything depends on this alone. Don’t turn  his faithful promise i...

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works , so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship , created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them ." (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV) "You have often heard me say that the Christian life has two dimensions: the first is faith, and the second is good works. A believer should live a devout life and always do what is right. But the first dimension of the Christian life — faith — is more essential. The second dimension — good works — is never as valuable as faith. People of the world, however, adore good works. They regard them to be far higher than faith.  "Good works have always been valued more highly than faith. Of course, it’s true that we should do good works and respect the importance of them. But we should be careful that we don’t elevate good works to such an extent that faith and Ch...

The photo above is of the Luther Monument in Worms, Germany.  Learn more about it here .  In celebration of Reformation Day, here are a few quotes from Martin Luther (apologies for some lacking source citation):  "Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust in and knowledge of God's grace makes a person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as burning and shining from fire." (Introduction to the Commentary on Romans ) "We find no rest for our weary bones unless we cling to the word of grace." ( Commentary on Galatians ) “He who believes God...

We've been studying the federal headship of Christ, and our corporate solidarity with him through faith.   I love this portion f rom On the Freedom of a Christian , by Martin Luther, published in 1520.   The third incomparable grace of faith is this, that it unites the soul to Christ, as the wife to the husband; by which mystery, as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul are made one flesh. Now if they are one flesh, and if a true marriage-- nay, by far the most perfect of all marriages--is accomplished between them (for human marriages are but feeble types of this one great marriage), then it follows that all they have becomes theirs in common, as well good things as evil things; so that whatsoever Christ possesses, that the believing soul may take to itself and boast of as its own, and whatever belongs to the soul, that Christ claims as his. If we compare these possessions, we shall see how inestimable is the gain. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvatio...

"The world bears the Gospel a grudge because the Gospel condemns  the religious wisdom of the world. Jealous for its own religious  views, the world in turn charges the Gospel with being a  subversive and licentious doctrine, offensive to God and man, a  doctrine to be persecuted as the worst plague on earth. As a  result we have this paradoxical situation: The Gospel supplies  the world with the salvation of Jesus Christ, peace of  conscience, and every blessing. Just for that the world abhors  the Gospel."  --Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians  

This passage answers these three questions: “ Who is Jesus? Why  should I believe him? And what does he want from me? ”   1) The unique relationship of the Son to God the Father is described in 5:16-30:  • He does whatever the Father does (19) • He knows all that the Father is doing (20) • He gives life like the Father gives (21, 24-26) • He is the Judge of all (22, 27-30) • He is to be honored in the same way as the Father (23) • His word believed gives eternal life and rescues from j udgment (24) “The Son’s will is to please his Father,  not just to save us; and the Father’s will is to have all men  honor the Son, not just to forgives us. To grasp the divine  relationships in the drama of redemption is to humble our pride  and heighten our sense of speechless privilege. To be saved and  renewed, to be recipients of new life, to be forgiven, all  because we are caught up in the perfection of love among the  Person...

Here are some highlights from my reading of Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians , translate by Theodore Graebner. "The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart."   "We must learn that forgiveness of sins, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, are freely granted unto us at the preaching of faith, in spite of our sinfulness. We are not to waste time thinking how unworthy we are of the blessings of God. We are to know that it pleased God freely to give us His unspeakable gifts. If He offers His gifts free of charge, why not take them? Why worry about our lack of worthiness? Why not accept gifts with joy and thanksgiving?" "A person becomes a Christian not by working, but by hearing. The first step to being a Christian is to hear the Gospel. When a person has accepted the Gospel, let him first give thanks unto God with...

The First Commandment is, "You must not have other gods." That is, "I must be your only God." Question: What does this saying mean? How should we understand it? What does it mean to have a god? What is God? Answer: To have a god means this: You expect to receive all good things from it and turn to it in every time of trouble. Yes, to have a god means to trust and to believe in Him with your whole heart. I have often said that only the trust and faith of the heart can make God or an idol. If your faith and trust are true, you have the true God, too. On the other hand, where trust is false, is evil, there you will not have the true God either. Faith and God live together. I tell you, whatever you set your heart on and rely on is really your god. (Martin Luther)