In preparing for our latest Northwest Institute of Christian Studies class that covers the Reformation among other things, it has been a treat to read some of what our spiritual heroes in the past have written. Imperfect as they all were, it is still a joy to read words which God used to change or correct the course of the Church, and indeed the course of the world in some cases.

Few voices were as powerful and memorable as that of Martin Luther. He wrote many works in his life on a broad range of Christian subjects. One of those works from very early in his journey towards recapturing the essence of the Gospel was a letter written to Pope Leo X in Rome. It was a letter intended to prove that Luther had not (at that point) ever publicly attacked the character of the Pope. He had, however, attacked what he felt were great errors in the teaching of the church. He was hopeful that when the Pope read his letter, he would see the truth of Luther’s argument and lead a reform of the church from the top down. Sadly, this didn’t happen and what began as a movement for reformation turned into a protest that divided the Western Church to this day.

So what was Luther’s subject in this letter? What argument did he hope to prove? Luther hoped to clarify a proper understanding of the believer’s relationship to Law. In light of our study of Exodus, I think it would be of interest and encouragement to hear these words of the great Reformer very early in his own understanding of these truths.

From Luther’s letter entitled, The Freedom of a Christian:

Should you ask how it happens that faith alone justifies and offers us such a treasure of great benefits without works in view of the fact that so many works, ceremonies, and laws are prescribed in the Scriptures, I answer: First of all, remember what has been said, namely, that faith alone, without works, justifies, frees, and saves; we shall make this clearer later on. Here we must point out that the entire Scripture of God is divided into two parts: commandments and promises. Although the commandments teach things that are good, the things taught are not done as soon as they are taught, for the commandments show us what we ought to do but do not give us the power to do it. They are intended to teach man to know himself, that through them he may recognize his inability to do good and may despair of his own ability. That is why they are called the Old Testament and constitute the Old Testament. For example, the commandment, “You shall not covet” [Exod. 20:17], is a command which proves us all to be sinners, for no one can avoid coveting no matter how much he may struggle against it. Therefore, in order not to covet and to fulfil the commandment, a man is compelled to despair of himself, to seek the help which he does not find in himself elsewhere and from someone else, as stated in Hosea [13:9]: “Destruction is your own, O Israel: your help is only in me.” As we fare with respect to one commandment, so we fare with all, for it is equally impossible for us to keep any one of them.
Now when a man has learned through the commandments to recognize his helplessness and is distressed about how he might satisfy the law—since the law must be fulfilled so that not a jot or tittle shall be lost, otherwise man will be condemned without hope—then, being truly humbled and reduced to nothing in his own eyes, he finds in himself nothing whereby he may be justified and saved. Here the second part of Scripture comes to our aid, namely, the promises of God which declare the glory of God, saying, “If you wish to fulfil the law and not covet, as the law demands, come, believe in Christ in whom grace, righteousness, peace, liberty, and all things are promised you. If you believe, you shall have all things; if you do not believe, you shall lack all things.” That which is impossible for you to accomplish by trying to fulfil all the works of the law—many and useless as they all are—you will accomplish quickly and easily through faith. God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing. “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all,” as it is stated in Rom. 11[:32]. Thus the promises of God give what the commandments of God demand and fulfil what the law prescribes so that all things may be Christ’s alone, both the commandments and the fulfilling of the commandments. He alone commands, he alone fulfils. Therefore the promises of God belong to the New Testament. Indeed, they are the New Testament.
Time would sharpen Luther’s understanding of this great treasure, and he doubtless would have written certain things differently in his later years. But to the heart of this celebration of the grace which comes through the promises of God in delivering poor sinners out of bondage to the Law, believers of every age can add a thankful, “Amen.”