Martin Luther – Gralefrit Theology

Thoughts of unworthiness can come and go. Sometimes they stay and hover in our mind as though they are the things that matter most, that they are the truth to us being us, or me being me. We lie to ourselves, thinking that this must be what God really thinks about us!

Well, I for one am not immune to such thoughts. I know, as a Christian that I deserve death and hell. I know I do. My own sinful nature tells me, my sins acted out tell me, my sins in thought, word and deed.

But.

I am a Christian. I follow a saving and risen Jesus. He has defeated sin and death and He is Lord. I walk by faith and I live in grace. Not arrogantly, but utterly dependently. Not slothfully, but watchfully. Not as if I have achieved anything for myself, but because Jesus has achieved everything for me that I could never achieve.

It’s all grace. It’s all Christ Jesus.

The following was said by that tortured soul, the Reformer Martin Luther. He had depressive tendencies, he had dark thoughts, and he knew he was a sinner, yet he said this…..

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, then tell him this: I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf, his name is Jesus, the Son of God, and where he is, there I shall also be!”

So of course we deserve death and hell. That’s why Jesus came to rescue the world, to save it. Full of sinners as it is, people like you and me. Jesus ensures we always get what we don’t deserve. This is the bold confidence we have.

Because of Jesus. Where He is, there I shall also be!

“The Reformation set free the question and nature of the church from the question of who belongs to it. This was a decisive stage. Roman Catholicism and the pre-Reformation church had thought that the question of the nature of the church would be answered by a definition of its extent. The Reformation, and particularly the Lutheran concept, first says what the church is and leaves the question of its boundaries open.

It’s first concern is not the unveiling of the divine mystery of who belongs to the church, and who does not, the question of election and rejection, it is not aimed first and foremost at judging and distinguishing people; the most important thing is that the manifest saving act of God, the present Christ, his Word and sacrament, should be seen and adored. There are no theoretical statements about the saved and the lost, there is no verdict “This person belongs to the church, this person does not,” but simply the joyful cry of those who have been granted a share in a great, astonishing gift, “Here is the gospel!” “Here are the pure sacraments!” “Here is the church!” “Come here!” Continue reading “Halloween has nothing on Reformation Day” →