Martin Luther Tells the Story of My Life

Justin Taylor has given us a remarkable gift in calling our attention to a quote from Martin Luther on believing the gospel.  Justin, please forgive me for quoting this in full, but when I read it I said  "YES!!!"  This is it!  This is the story of the Christian life, it is the story of my Christian life, it is the story of almost everyone I counsel.  I have spent a lot of my life feeling unaccepted by God and I speak with people frequently who are sure that God is disappointed in them for the same reason that I did - after an initial salvation experience we switch back into thinking that God is judging us on our performance.  I have come to the conclusion that holding on to our belief in the gospel is THE most difficult thing in the Christian life and is THE thing we must give most attention to.  Here are Luther's words:

People don't earn God's approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they've done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God's kindness through Christ. There is no other way.

Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure — free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God's approval through God's kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn't know what he's talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.

The people who truly understand that they receive God's approval by faith and put this into practice don't brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can't comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth.

Related Tags: Religion, Theology, Grace, Gospel, Church, Christian, Christianity, Martin Luther