Wartburg Speaks

"The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form." Martin Luther

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

1 John 3:8

Now if one could learn to differentiate, then each side would be fairly treated. Christ would comfort those whom the devil wants to frighten and dishearten, and, on the other hand, He would intimidate those whom the devil makes smug and presumptuous. After all, these two must always contend against each other. What the devil ruins and destroys, Christ must build up and restore; and what the devil establishes, Christ destroys, as we read in 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” –Martin Luther

Monday, January 30, 2006

I am crucified with Christ through faith

So through faith I, having been crucified with Christ in spirit, am crucified and die to the Law, sin, etc., so that they have no further jurisdiction over me but are now crucified and dead to me.
But here Paul is not speaking about being crucified with Christ by imitation or example—for imitating the example of Christ is also being crucified with Him—which is a crucifixion that pertains to the flesh. 1 Peter 2:21 deals with this: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” But he is speaking here about that sublime crucifixion by which sin, the devil, and death are crucified in Christ, not in me. Here Christ does everything alone. But I, as a believer, am crucified with Christ through faith, so that all these things are dead and crucified to me as well. –Martin Luther

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Judgment of God

Judgment of God

The judgment of God. It is contrary to the judgment of men. It condemns what men choose and chooses what men condemn. And this judgment has been shown us in the cross of Christ, for as He died and was made the rejected of the people, so we must bear a similar judgment with Him, be crucified and die spiritually, as the apostle explains in Rom. 6:4f. and 8:10f.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Christ was crucified for us

It is not an easy matter to believe this. To believe that Christ was crucified for us, that He died and was damned for us, requires the power of God. Thus St. Paul says to the Corinthians: “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). And yet this proclamation penetrates the heart; for “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” (Rom. 1:16). If I were to consult reason about this, it would say: “Let the devil believe in the sort of wretched person who was nailed to a cross!” And yet the holy martyrs let themselves be burned at the stake and slain for such a faith! Despite His horrible appearance they believed that this condemned Man was the Savior of the world.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Luther's Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms

Luther’s insight into God's exercising a twofold reign in this world.
According to Luther, every Christian is a citizen of two realms, which serve each other but should never be "brewed and cooked together," lest the Devil has his way.
There is the infinite "Kingdom to the Right," where God has revealed himself in Christ. This is the realm of the Gospel, grace, faith, love and the equality of all. It becomes a reality in this sinful world where God's Word is proclaimed, where the sacraments are administered, and where Christ forgives the believer's sins.
This spiritual realm, the church, will never vanish but be completed gloriously in the end-time.On the other hand, there is the secular and finite "Kingdom to the Left," of which Christ has said, "My kingship is not of this world" (John 18:36). Here God will never reveal himself. But it is still his creation. The Devil is the "Left-Hand Kingdom's" bitter enemy.
In this realm natural reason is the empress, according to Luther. Reason is God's good gift to man to find his way in this world.
The "Kingdom to the Left" is the realm of the hidden God who rules the secular world through "governing authorities ... instituted by him" (Romans 13:1). They are fallible, of course, and sometimes become outright evil. But in time God intervenes and puts things right again.
In this world where man lives his biological life, there is no equality. There are superiors and subordinates, the Law requires obedience, and misdeeds are punished. But the Law is nevertheless from the hidden God.
Secular rulers may not necessarily be believers. "Better a wise Turk than a foolish Christian," Luther remarked. "It is sufficient for the Emperor to possess reason."
God's two realms are not antagonistic, however. They are to serve each other. The "Kingdom to the Right" has the task to radiate into the "Kingdom to the Left," to inform, admonish and support it by preaching the Gospel
Secular rulers, on the other hand, serve the spiritual realm by maintaining order and preventing chaos, the state from which God's creation has saved the world. In wild chaos, the Gospel cannot take its course.
Luther insisted that it is essential to make clear distinctions between the two Kingdoms.