Quotes from Martin Luther

Those who lapse from the Gospel to the Law are no better off than those who lapse from grace into idolatry.

Who can love Him if He wants to deal with sinners according to righteousness? Therefore remember that the righteousness of God is that by which we are justified, or the gift of the forgiveness of sins.

Faith is Individual

There will not be, nor arise in us, the righteousness of God, unless our own righteousness falls and perishes utterly. We do not rise unless we who are standing badly have first fallen. Thus altogether the being, holiness, truth, goodness, life of God, etc., are not in us, unless in the presence of God we first become nothing, profane, lying, evil, dead. Otherwise the righteousness of God would be mocked, and Christ would have died in vain.

Wer ein Christ sein will, der steche seiner Vernunft die Augen aus.

For this is what GOD means when Peter says: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of GOD" (1 Peter 5:6), and for this reason He humbles and disciplines His saints so that they should not be proud.

We all shouldn't try to do the same work. Rather, each of us should pay attention to our own responsibilities. Otherwise, we cannot be of one mind and one heart. We must allow the works to be varied so that each of us can remain with what God has entrusted to us. We should simply do the work at hand.

How much less, then, is the disorder to be tolerated that arises when a Christian leaves his office and takes upon him a temporal office, or when a bishop or pastor leaves his office and takes upon him the office of a prince or judge; or, on the other hand, when a prince takes up the office of a bishop and lets his princely office go? Even today this shameful disorder rages and rules in the whole papacy, contrary to their own canons and laws.

He lives and reigns who saved the three youths from the fiery furnace of the king of Babylon, and if He will not save me, my head is worth nothing compared with Christ.

For we have vowed enough in baptism, more than we can ever fulfill; if we give ourselves to the keeping of this one vow, we shall have all we can do.

And the way Christ treats the works of Satan, so Satan attempts to destroy the works of Christ, such as life, righteousness, joy, and the like.

What recourse do we have but to be of mutual help to one another and to forgive those who fall, since we ourselves have already fallen or are about to fall?

If we will not learn out of the Scriptures, we must learn out of the Turk's scabbard, until we find in our hurt that Christians are not to make war or resist evil. Fools must be chased with clubs.

Therefore Augustine was right when he said: "The external works of the Godhead are indivisible.

One thing, and one alone, is necessary for life, justification, and Christian liberty; and that is the most holy word of God, the Gospel of Christ, as He says, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me shall not die eternally" (John xi. 25), and also, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John viii. 36), and, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. iv. 4).

If I were emperor, king, or prince in a campaign against the Turk, I would exhort my bishops and priests to stay at home and mind the duties of their office, praying, fasting, saying mass, preaching, and caring for the poor, as not only Holy Scripture, but their own canon law teaches and requires.

In accusing me of being a damnable sinner, you are cutting your own throat, Satan. You are reminding me of God's fatherly goodness toward me, that He so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In calling me a sinner, Satan, you really comfort me above measure." With such heavenly cunning we are to meet the devil's craft and put from us the memory of sin.

and preserve Your doctrine true at this place, that our children after us may be still praising You. Amen.

Theology is nothing else but grammar engaged with the words of the Holy Spirit.

Thus a Christian, being consecrated by his faith, does good works; but he is not by these works made a more sacred person, or more a Christian.

Where the happy medium cannot be attained, it is better and safer to fall short on this side than on that; that is, too much mercy is better than too much punishment. One can withdraw and reduce too much mercy; but punishment cannot be taken back, especially where it touches body, life, or limb.

Some indeed have invented outrageous lies about the Turks in order to stir up us Germans against them, but there is no need for lies; the truth is all too great.

True, then, are these two sayings: "Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works";

The most important requirement of prayer is firmly holding on to God and believing that he is merciful and compassionate—someone who wants to help us.