New Online teaching series Freedom of the Christian
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joseph
Oct 7, 2008, 10:28:23 AM10/7/08
to Anglican Christian Basics
Luther and the Freedom of a Christian - by Deacon Kathy Walzer
Welcome to our second Anglican Christian Basics class. Last time we
looked at the Nicene Creed as the fullest core belief statement of the
Christian faith. This time we are jumping ahead to the beginnings of
the Reformation in Europe which found its way to England’s shores as
well as everywhere else through the writings of Martin Luther. We
will look in this course particularly at the last treatise that Luther
wrote before being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by
Pope Leo X. This treatise or theological essay is entitled “The
Freedom of a Christian”, although you might find it on the Internet or
in older volumes under the title, “On Christian Liberty.” In this
treatise Luther spells out quite clearly and fully the role of both
faith and works in the life of a Christian and the relationship
between the two, emphasizing repeatedly his central tenet that
salvation is through faith alone and works play no role at all in
making us righteous in God’s sight.
This central tenet: salvation is through faith alone, is no mere
academic exercise for Luther, but it is the heart of his theology
because the discovery of this doctrine in Romans brought him the peace
and comfort and the joy of salvation. Luther had been a law student,
but became a monk as a result of a vow he made when travelling during
a particularly terrifying lightening storm. As a monk, he found that
the more he tried to exercise spiritual discipline and perform good
works, the more he despaired on being able to find favor with God, It
wasn’t until he received his doctorate in 1512 and began lecturing on
the Holy Scriptures that he finally found the peace and assurance he
was looking for. While studying in preparation for lecturing on
Romans he found his way through the dilemma to the answer. As he
reports, “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans,
and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, ‘the
righteousness of God’, because I took it to mean that righteousness
whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the
unrighteous…..Night and day I pondered until I grasped the truth that
the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace
and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to
be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The
whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before ‘the
righteousness of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me
inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to
me a gateway to heaven.”
Justification by grace through faith is no mere philosophical or
theological proposition, but is the gateway to a relationship with God
through Jesus Christ, not based on our works, but on the once for all
finished work of Christ on the Cross for our redemption. And as
Luther found, it is also the key to understanding ‘the whole of
Scripture’ for it places both Law and Gospel in their proper
perspective. Luther’s writings were profoundly influential for the
Reformation in all parts of Europe, including England. The Thirty-
Nine Articles of Religion in our Book of Common Prayer reflect his key
doctrines ‘by Grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone’. “The
Freedom of a Christian” is a clear statement and exposition of the
implications of this justification by faith alone.
The two theses that Luther proposes at the outset of this treatise is:
“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
Luther then proceeds in the rest of the treatise to explain how these
seemingly contradictory theses fit together and support one another in
showing the relationship of the justification by faith that occurs in
the “inner man” to the works that proceed from it, not required for
salvation, but resulting from it. Next week we will look at what
Luther calls “the three powers of faith.”
Welcome to our second Anglican Christian Basics class. Last time we
looked at the Nicene Creed as the fullest core belief statement of the
Christian faith. This time we are jumping ahead to the beginnings of
the Reformation in Europe which found its way to England’s shores as
well as everywhere else through the writings of Martin Luther. We
will look in this course particularly at the last treatise that Luther
wrote before being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by
Pope Leo X. This treatise or theological essay is entitled “The
Freedom of a Christian”, although you might find it on the Internet or
in older volumes under the title, “On Christian Liberty.” In this
treatise Luther spells out quite clearly and fully the role of both
faith and works in the life of a Christian and the relationship
between the two, emphasizing repeatedly his central tenet that
salvation is through faith alone and works play no role at all in
making us righteous in God’s sight.
This central tenet: salvation is through faith alone, is no mere
academic exercise for Luther, but it is the heart of his theology
because the discovery of this doctrine in Romans brought him the peace
and comfort and the joy of salvation. Luther had been a law student,
but became a monk as a result of a vow he made when travelling during
a particularly terrifying lightening storm. As a monk, he found that
the more he tried to exercise spiritual discipline and perform good
works, the more he despaired on being able to find favor with God, It
wasn’t until he received his doctorate in 1512 and began lecturing on
the Holy Scriptures that he finally found the peace and assurance he
was looking for. While studying in preparation for lecturing on
Romans he found his way through the dilemma to the answer. As he
reports, “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans,
and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, ‘the
righteousness of God’, because I took it to mean that righteousness
whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the
unrighteous…..Night and day I pondered until I grasped the truth that
the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace
and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to
be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The
whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before ‘the
righteousness of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me
inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to
me a gateway to heaven.”
Justification by grace through faith is no mere philosophical or
theological proposition, but is the gateway to a relationship with God
through Jesus Christ, not based on our works, but on the once for all
finished work of Christ on the Cross for our redemption. And as
Luther found, it is also the key to understanding ‘the whole of
Scripture’ for it places both Law and Gospel in their proper
perspective. Luther’s writings were profoundly influential for the
Reformation in all parts of Europe, including England. The Thirty-
Nine Articles of Religion in our Book of Common Prayer reflect his key
doctrines ‘by Grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone’. “The
Freedom of a Christian” is a clear statement and exposition of the
implications of this justification by faith alone.
The two theses that Luther proposes at the outset of this treatise is:
“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
Luther then proceeds in the rest of the treatise to explain how these
seemingly contradictory theses fit together and support one another in
showing the relationship of the justification by faith that occurs in
the “inner man” to the works that proceed from it, not required for
salvation, but resulting from it. Next week we will look at what
Luther calls “the three powers of faith.”
joseph
Oct 22, 2008, 3:23:47 PM10/22/08
to Anglican Christian Basics
Great piece Kathy. This insight of Luther into the Apostle Paul and
the book of Romans is the foundation of all Christians. When this
light goes on (by the grace of God and by hearing his word),
Christians are set free from their striving and worrying about God's
acceptance of them and they are mastered (in their heart and soul) by
no one. We need to hear this every day. - joseph
the book of Romans is the foundation of all Christians. When this
light goes on (by the grace of God and by hearing his word),
Christians are set free from their striving and worrying about God's
acceptance of them and they are mastered (in their heart and soul) by
no one. We need to hear this every day. - joseph
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