Quotes from Martin Luther

If Münzer and Carlstadt and their comrades had not been allowed to sneak and creep into other men's houses and parishes, whither they had neither call nor command to go, this whole great calamity would not have happened.

To put it more plainly, suppose a small group of earnest Christian laymen were taken prisoner and settled in the middle of the desert without any episcopally ordained priest among them; and they then agreed to choose one of themselves, whether married or not, and endow him with the office of baptizing, administering the sacrament, pronouncing absolution, and preaching; that man would be as truly a priest as if he had been ordained by all the bishops and the popes.

what Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has thrown out the works of the law, he sounds as though the wants to abolish the law by faith. No, he says, we uphold the law through faith

Experience teaches how amazingly the ungodly and wicked tremble in lightning, pestilence, or other exigency of death, when the righteous, on the other hand, endure everything unafraid and calm.

Hence every teaching that flatters or indulges the flesh and teaches temporal things is not of God, because it is not a rod but a reed and softness of clothing (Matt. 11:7-8).

Our faith in Christ does not free us from works but from false opinions concerning works, that is, from the foolish presumption that justification is acquired by works.

The devil is our mortal enemy, the world attacks us horribly, and it is evident everywhere that there is no more miserable and contemptible person on earth than a Christian. That is why we must have a greater, stronger, and more reliable comfort, to offset all their defiance and might.

Hence the German proverb: "All mischief begins in the name of God.

If the Gospel is to be preached, it must concern the resurrection of Christ. Whoever does not preach this is no Apostle; for it is the head article of our

But grace has changed my nature for the better, to keep me from joining them and shedding innocent blood.

For if I believe the promise of God, I am certain that my life is pleasing to God and is superior to all the orders, since it makes a heavenly man, a conqueror of death, an heir of eternal life, and one who tramples the devil underfoot, as is stated in Ps. 91:13: "You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and serpent you will trample underfoot." This is the strength and particular power of Christians.

The inner and hidden part of this wisdom is nothing else than knowing oneself thoroughly, and therefore hating oneself.

For if the world were without godly men and those who are to be saved, it would not stand; and when the last saints are living, the Last Day will soon come. For God has no concern for the state and the household except for the sake of the church.

There is no means to take sin away but grace alone. That

IN this chapter Moses selects another occasion for transgressing the First Commandment, an occasion called spiritual pride because it boasts of its righteousness and merits. This is trust in one's own works, and no plague and opponent of faith or trust in the mercy of God is more destructive.

THIS, therefore, is also essentially necessary and wholesome for Christians to know: That God foreknows nothing by contingency, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His immutable, eternal, and infallible will. By this thunderbolt, "Free-will" is thrown prostrate, and utterly dashed to pieces.

For through terror He sanctifies those who believe in His name.

In order not to forget God and through lack of restraint to misuse one's good fortune, it is ten times more necessary to call upon God's name during a period of bliss than in the midst of tribulation.

But it is God who smites the godless, as he says here.

Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better;

Nor are we only kings and the freest of all men, but also priests for ever, a dignity far higher than kingship, because by that priesthood we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one another mutually the things which are of God. For these are the duties of priests, and they cannot possibly be permitted to any unbeliever.

But the Christian life is of such a nature that it is bound daily to the vine, that is, to the Word, and is made drunk with the gifts of the Spirit or the Word. In the second place, it is not only made drunk this way by the Spirit and filled with the confidence which is the most salutary inebriation for the new man; but it is also washed in wine according to the old man.

The present facts are that the world is insane and rages when we confess Christ and believe in Him.

Yes, with a feeling of pity and sympathy the godless are to be destroyed or struck down by us as we remember that we are the instrument of God and are ourselves perhaps to be cast as a whip into the fire after we have blasted the evildoers.