Having Been Sent

John says: “He whom God has sent.” This means that God’s Word is not thought of otherwise than as having been sent. Let no one suppose that God’s Word comes to earth through human zeal. If it is God’s Word, it must be sent. It is impossible to understand and to interpret Holy Scripture of oneself or arbitrarily. It will not do to speak unless one is called; God’s Word comes only when it is sent by God. If God had not sent it, the whole world would be ignorant about redemption from sin and comfort for the conscience. If God had not sent the Word and the ministry, we would have nothing. For this reason it is imperative that we neither speak nor hear anything but the Word of God. Avoid whatever had its origin in man’s mind and zeal. The Word of God does not come unless it is sent from heaven. Anyone associating with the monks should inquire of them whether their system is also the Word of God. You will hear them allege that it stemmed from good intentions and that its purpose is to honor God. From this they conclude that it is a worship of God and that it is the Word of God. But for anyone to worship God aright and to atone for sin more is necessary than good intentions! All that flows from your heart is zeal and your own opinion. Tell me whether God sent it from heaven and whether He commanded it. “But,” they will reply, “it was all done to glorify God!” All the worse; it is twofold blasphemy that you call that the Word of God and the worship of God which you yourself have fabricated. That is the way the pope deceived the world as he hid under the name and title of the church. No Word of God comes to the world unless it is sent by Him. If it has grown from my heart, if I pattern myself after Chrysostom, Augustine, and Ambrose, then it is not the Word of God. There is an enormous difference between the Word that was sent from heaven and that which is born of my own zeal and opinion. Holy Scripture did not spring from the soil of the earth. Thus John says: “He who is of the earth speaks of the earth” (John 3:31). Therefore we must base our salvation firmly on the power of God’s Word, not on our own zeal and imagination. –Martin Luther