Martin Luther’s Preface to His Commentary on Galatians
(Crossway Classic Series)

Part 3 of 3

I say this so that no one should think we reject or forbid good works. Those who know nothing but the righteousness of the law may still judge this doctrine that is far above the law; yet it is impossible for unspiritual people to be able to judge it. Of course such people take offense, for they can see no higher than the law. But imagine two worlds, the one heavenly and the other earthly. In these there are two kinds of righteousness, quite separate from each other. The righteousness of the law is earthly and has to do with earthly things, and by it we do good works. But as the earth can only produce fruit if it is first watered and made fertile from above, so by the righteousness of the law, in doing many things we do nothing, and in fulfilling the law we do not fulfill it unless we are first made righteous without any merit or work of ours, by Christian righteousness, which has nothing to do with the righteousness of the law or with the earthly and active righteousness. This righteousness is heavenly-we receive it from heaven, we do not have it of ourselves; it is worked in us by grace and apprehended by faith, and by it we rise above all laws and works. Therefore, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:49, “Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven”-that is, the new man in a new world, where there is no law, no sin, no remorse or sting of conscience, no death, but rather perfect joy, righteousness, grace, peace, salvation, and glory.

So then, do we do nothing to obtain this righteousness? No, nothing at all. Perfect righteousness is to do nothing, to hear nothing, to know nothing of the law or of works, but to know and believe only that Christ has gone to the Father and is no longer visible; that [H]e sits in heaven at the right hand of [H]is Father, not as a judge, but is made by God our wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption; in short that[H]e is our high priest, entreating for us and reigning over us and in us by grace. In this heavenly righteousness sin can have no place, for there is no law; and “where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15).

Seeing, then, that sin has no place here, there can be no anguish of conscience, no fear, no heaviness. That is why St. John says, “Anyone born of God does not continue to sin” (1 John 5:18). But if there is any fear or grief of conscience, it is a sign that this righteousness has been withdrawn, that grace is hidden, and that Christ is darkened and out of sight. But where Christ is truly visible, there must be full and perfect joy in the Lord, and the conscience is at peace and thinks, “Although I am a sinner by the law and under the condemnation of the law, I still do not despair and do not die, because Christ lives, and [H]e is my righteousness and my everlasting life.” In that righteousness and life I have no sin, no fear, no sting of conscience, no worry about death. I am indeed a sinner, as far as this present life and righteousness are concerned, as I am a child of Adam; where the law accuses me, death reigns over me and wants to ultimately devour me. But I have another righteousness and live above this life-Christ the Son of God, who knows no sin or death but is righteousness and eternal life. By [H]im, this body of mine that is dead will be raised up again and delivered from the bondage of the law and sin and will be sanctified together with my spirit.

So both these continue while we live here. The flesh is accused, tempted, oppressed with heaviness and sorrow, bruised by the active righteousness of the law; but the spirit reigns and is saved by this passive and Christian righteousness, because it knows that it has a Lord in heaven, at the right hand of his Father, who has abolished the law, sin, and death and has trodden underfoot all evils, led them captive, and triumphed over them in [H]imself (Colossians 2:15).

Therefore, St. Paul, in this letter, teaches us in order to comfort us and to confirm us in the perfect knowledge of this most Christian and excellent righteousness, for once we lose our belief in justification, all true Christian doctrine is lost. There is no middle ground between the righteousness of the law and Christian righteousness. Anyone who strays from Christian righteousness must fall into the righteousness of the law; in other words, when people lose Christ, they slip back into reliance on their own works.

That is why we so earnestly repeat this doctrine of faith or Christian righteousness, so that it may be continually exercised and may be plainly distinguished from the active righteousness of the law. Otherwise we should never be able to believe the true theology. The church is founded on, and consists in, this doctrine alone. So if we want to teach and lead other people, we need to pay careful attention to these matters and to note well this distinction between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of Christ. This is easy to describe in words but hard to put into practice, for when we are near death or in other agonies of conscience these two sorts of righteousness come closer together than we would wish. So I warn you, especially those of you who will become teachers and guides of consciences, to exercise yourselves continually by study, reading, meditation on the Word, and prayer, so that in time of temptation you may be able to instruct and strengthen both your own conscience and that of other people, and to bring them from the law to grace, from active and working righteousness to passive and received righteousness, from Moses to Christ. When we are afflicted, and our conscience suffers conflict, the devil makes us afraid by the law and accuses us with the guilt of sin, our wicked past life, God’s wrath and judgment, hell, and eternal death. Thus he drives us to desperation, makes us bond-slaves to himself, and plucks us from Christ. Furthermore, he brings against us those passages of the Gospel in which Christ himself requires works of us and clearly threatens those who do not perform them with damnation. If we are unable to judge between these two kinds of righteousness-if we do not by faith take hold of Christ as he sits at God’s right hand, interceding with the Father for us wretched sinners, then we are under the law and not under grace, and Christ is no more a Saviour, but a lawgiver. Then there will be no more salvation for us, but a certain desperation and everlasting death, unless repentance follows.

Let us then be careful to learn to discriminate between these two kinds of righteousness, so that we may know how far we should obey the law. We have already seen that for a Christian the law ought to have dominion only over the flesh. When it is so, the law is kept within bounds. But if it presumes to creep into your conscience and tries to reign there, you must make the right distinction. Give no more to the law than is right, but say, “You want to climb up into the kingdom of my conscience, do you, Law? You want to reign over it an reprove sin and take away the joy I have by faith in Christ and drive me to desperation? Keep within your bounds, and exercise your power over the flesh, but do not touch my conscience. By the Gospel I am called to share righteousness and everlasting life. I am called to Christ’s kingdom, where my conscience is at rest and there is no law, but rather forgiveness of sins, peace, quietness, joy, health, and everlasting life. Do not trouble me in these matters, for I will not let an intolerable tyrant like you reign in my conscience, which is the temple of Christ, the Son of God. He is the King of righteousness and peace, my sweet Saviour and Mediator; [H]e will keep my conscience joyful and quiet in the sound, pure doctrine of the Gospel and in the knowledge of Christian and heavenly righteousness.”

When I have this righteousness reigning in my heart, I descend from heaven like the rain that makes the earth fertile. That is to say, I come out into another kingdom, and I do good works whenever I have a chance. If I am a minister of the Word, I preach, I comfort the brokenhearted, I administer the sacraments. If I am a householder, I am in charge of my house and my family, and I bring up my children in the knowledge and fear of God. If I am a magistrate, I work hard at the job that heaven has given me. If I am a servat, I do my master’s business faithfully. Whoever is convinced that Christ is his righteousness works cheerfully and well in his vocation, and also submits through love to the magistrates and their laws even if they are severe and cruel. If necessary, he will submit to all manner of burdens and dangers in this present life, because he knows that this is God’s will and that this obedience pleases him.

That is Paul’s argument. He sets himself against the false teachers who had obscured this righteousness of faith among the Galatians, and he defends and commends his own authority and office.

By Ted R

Posted in General