Happy Reformation Day!
Friday, October 31st, 2008For those of you who may not know, this is the day that we Lutherans celebrate Martin Luther pinning his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Church in Germany, October 31, 1517 - Reformation Day.
In honor of the wonderful clarity and joy of the Gospel we are now able to enjoy as protestants due to Dr. Luther’s rediscovery of the Gospel of justification in St. Paul, I am posting Luther’s preface to his commentary on Galatians.
I will post this in parts over the next three days, so be sure not to miss all of them. Later, this will be available in our “freebies” section in its entirety.
Now, of course Dr. Luther was a wonderful and prolific writer who produced many more things we can recommend, but this is a great introduction for those who may not know why we love the theology of the Reformation.
Enjoy!
By Ted RMartin Luther’s Preface to His Commentary on Galatians
(Crossway Classic Series)Part 1 of 3
I myself can hardly believe that I was so verbose as this book shows when I publicly expounded this letter of St. Paul to the Galatians. However, I can see that all the thoughts that I find in this treatise are mine, so I must confess that I uttered all of them, or perhaps more than all of them. The one article of faith that I have most at heart is the faith of Christ. All my studies in divinity, by day and night, continually go back and forth from [H]im, by [H]im, and to [H]im. Yet I could not attain anything near the height, breadth, and depth of the such heigh and inestimable wisdom; there appear here only some poor and bare beginnings, fragments, as it were. Therefore, I am ashamed that such a barren and simple commentary should be published on such a worthy apostle and chosen instrument of God.
But then again, I consider the infinite and horrible profanation and abomination that has always raged in the church of God, and still today continues to rage against this one sure foundation, our justification (that is to say, that it is not ourselves, nor by our works, which are less than ourselves, but by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that we are redeemed from sin, death, the devil, and are made to share eternal life), and I am compelled to throw away all shame and to be bold above measure.
In paradise, Satan shook this rock of faith (Genesis 3:5) when he persuaded our first ancestors that they could be like God by their own wisdom and power, abandoning true faith in God who had given them life and promised to continue it. After a while this liar and murderer, true to form, stirred up brother to murder brother, for no other reason than that his godly brother had offered by faith a more excellent sacrifice, and he offered up his own works without faith, which had not pleased God (see Genesis 4). There followed a most intolerable persecution of Satan against this faith by Cain’s sons, until God had to purge the world by means of the Flood, defending Noah, the preacher of righteousness. Even so, Satan continued his work in Noah’s third son, Ham, and in innumerable others. After this, the whole world grew mad against this faith (as St. Paul says in Acts 14:15-16), inventing an infinite number of idols and strange religions by which people went their own way, trusting in works to please gods and goddesses without Christ’s help and seeking by their own works to redeem themselves from evils and sins. The example and writings of all nations demonstrate this.
But these are nothing compared with Israel, the people of God, who not only had the sure promise of the patriarchs and afterwards the law given to them by God himself through [H]is angels, but also had the constant witness of the prophets’ words, miracles, and example. Even so, Satan (that is, the outrageous opinion they had of their own righteousness) so dominated them that they later killed all the prophets, and even Christ himself, the Son of God, their promised Messiah. The reason was that these prophets had taught that people are accepted into God’s favor by grace alone, and not by their own righteousness. The devil and the world have always taught that we do not want to appear to do evil, but that whatever we do, God must allow it, and all his prophets must consent to it or die. Abel shall die, but Cain shall flourish.
But in the Gentile church it was and is even worse, so that the madness of the Jewish synagogue pales in comparison. As St. Paul puts it, they did not understand it, “for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). But the Gentile church has received and acknowledged Christ to be the Son of God who has been made our righteousness, and the church publicly signs, reads, and teaches this.
I am content to allow this too-lengthy commentary to be published in order to stir up all the brothers in Christ revealed and risen. Hitherto, people have seemed to be possessed with devils, but now the devils themselves seem to be possessed with far worse devils—which is a great argument that the enemy of truth and life perceives the day of judgment to be at hand—the horrible day of his destruction, but the day of our redemption; that will be the end of all his tyranny and cruelty. He has reason to be disquieted when his members and powers are so assailed, like a thief or adulterer who, when the morning comes and uncovers his wickedness, is apprehended.
Satan does not rage against the lives and opinions of whoremongers, thieves, murderers, perjurers, rebels against God, and unbelievers. Rather, he gives them peace and quietness; he maintains them in his court, with all sorts of pleasures and delights, and gives them everything they want. In the same way, in the early days of the church, he permitted all the idolatries and false religions of the whole world to be quiet and untouched, and he maintained, defended, and nourished them. It was only the church and religion of Christ that he attacked on every side.
My meditations are published for my brothers, who will either show their thanks to the Lord for my work or else will pardon my weakness and temerity. I would not wish my reflections to be liked or accepted by the wicked, but rather that both they and their god might be more vexed, for I produced these writings (with much labor) only for such as St. Paul wrote this letter to—the troubled, afflicted, vexed, tempted (for only they understand these things)—wretched Galatians in the faith.
