Martin Luther: Lessons from His Life and Labor
Since today is Reformation Day, I thought it would only be appropriate to have a post devoted to Martin Luther. The following quotation comes from a wonderful presentation John Piper did about Martin Luther at the 1996 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors.
To read, listen or download the entire message go HERE.
“Luther dates the great discovery of the gospel in 1518 during his series of lectures on Psalms (see note 30). He tells the story in his Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther’s Latin Writings. This account of the discovery is taken from that Preface written March 5, 1545, the year before his death. Watch for the references to his study of Scripture (italicized).
(Piper now quotes Luther at length)
“I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was … a single word in Chapter 1 [:17], ‘In it the righteousness of God is revealed,’ that had stood in my way. For I hated that word ‘righteousness of God,’ which according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.
Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, “As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteous wrath!” Thus I raged with a fierce and trouble conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.
At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” There I began to understand [that] the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which [the] merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. Here a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory …
And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word ‘righteousness of God.’ Thus that place in Paul was for me truth the gate to paradise. (end Luther’s quote)
“Notice how God was bringing Luther to the light of the gospel of justification. Six sentences—all of them revealing the intensity of study and wrestling with the Biblical text: (the bold is my emphasis, not Pipers)
- I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans.
- According to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically. (An approach to study from which he was breaking free.)
- I beat importunately upon Paul a that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.
- At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words.
- Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory.
- That place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.
The seeds of all Luther’s study habits are there or clearly implied. What was it, then, that marked the man Luther at study?
