[W, XXVI, 20, 21] the Epistle to Titus,32 we have "that you insist on these things." We do this to strengthen our own people, who are not strong and sure and fully persuaded but are easily misled because they have no zeal for the truth and do not take this seriously. That is, the Word makes me strong for Christ so that I have no doubts, and we should let that count for something that someone can give thanks to God. Anyone can let the spit fly in public and be considered a learned teacher. But to teach with this confidence is indeed a rarity.
Because He judged me faithful by appointing me to His service.
Again this is pure boast about his certainty: "I have this great duty in spite of and against Satan." God causes him to have success in his work. If anyone still has doubts, he is lazy and slow to work. The Enthusiasts crack such lame jokes 33 and present such pitiful arguments.
Not only do they not strengthen with their foolish bits of worthless information, but they even move me to sympathize with them because of their uncertainty. There is no blessedness in their teaching, "it is but toil and ]1N" (Ps. 90:10), because they are uncertain. But they will boast just the same. Faithful. Paul has not become a saint now, has he? This happens because of divine reckoning, as in Rom. 4:3. His sin is taken away. Thus we become faithful when God reckons it to us. In that grace of His I live from His Gospel. Let others boast of their own accomplishments. I am sure that I have the Gospel of the blessed God. Then the Lord has looked on me as a faithful man. It makes me rejoice from the bottom of my heart that the blessed God has looked on wretched me. Because He wants me, a faithful man, to preach, I shall do it. This is boasting over the certainty of the Word.
Whoever has this certainty can be a happy man and can teach others with good results.
I said yesterday 34 that it is the great blessing of all Christians and especially of those in the ministry that they are sure that they have the Word of God. Out of that certainty follow peace of heart, rejoicing, thanksgiving, and an entire life that becomes more bearable. On the other hand, whoever lacks this certainty is without peace and comfort.
At this appropriate moment, Paul goes on to state this exceptional example of God's grace and mercy — the example of himself. This is one of the most glorious passages that Paul treats here with word and 33 Luther uses the German phrase remen so lame Zoten.
34 The lecture of Jan. 21 begins at this point.
[W, XXVI, 21] example. He speaks words of life and salvation and adds this very effective example of himself. This is opposed to sin, death, devils, princes, the flesh, and the judgment of God, which is the most serious of all, just as the Law is and our conscience, which is divine wrath or desire for judgment. Opposed to all these this is a very beneficial and useful passage. So note it well.
13. A blasphemer: a proud man, one who treats another badly, a harmful and violent man, who does violence to people. This is the first "virtue'' Paul mentions. These are his "merits" which preceded
God's grace. This is his way of arriving at grace. Our sophists weaken this text. They say that although this miracle did happen to St. Paul, yet we must not make this a general rule. That gloss Satan invented so that that text might not remain in the church. That venomous gloss has abolished that text: "The Lord will not do with you as He did with Paul," against the clear text of Paul, "that in me He might display"
(v. 16). Still their gloss prevails: "This is an ideal, a sketch, that others might believe more firmly in Christ." Paul says that this did not hap¬ pen as a miracle but as a general example. So we must first abominate that terrible gloss. This does apply generally. After all, "whatever was written," Rom. 15:4. To whomever grace comes, it comes as it did to Paul — without merit, because that is how we have lived. I was a fer¬ vent saint; I celebrated Mass daily; I confessed to the world with body and soul; I kept preparing for sacrifice whatever sacrifice I, a wicked man, could make, because there on the altar was crucified the Son of God; and I wanted to redeem others with my good works. If we com¬ pare this with Paul, we certainly outstrip him. But there you have out and out blasphemy against the doctrine of Christ, for I am saying:
"I want to be Christ. I want to be counted like Him. I make you a sharer and brother of all my good works, my vigils, my Masses, as if I were a Christ who wanted to take away the sins of the world."
Is not this blasphemy against God? No one can therefore boast that he has received grace because of his own merits. To be sure, merits have appeared, but we were never worse than when we appeared the best. Paul never chased after Christians like a thief. Instead, he was a zealot. He performed his work as though engaged in the highest office. Therefore grace came to him through mercy. We have cruci¬ fied Christ, blasphemed His holy name and doctrine, despised His blood. This same thing happens today in the papacy. There is nothing worse than the Mass, which was a marketplace where we sold a good
[W, XXVI, 21, 22] work. This sin is not avenged yet, nor can it be, but eternal death and the Last Day must punish it. Just as grace came to Paul, although he was sinning greatly, so also grace is offered to all sinners, lest anyone lose hope. Paul is set down here as an example for our comfort so that, if we believe, we may know that Christ is merciful and longsuffering. After all, we do have a command to hope as well as a prohibi¬ tion against losing hope. The first is the command that one should hope diligently in the Lord Jesus. Holy Scripture urges this every¬ where by commands and promises as well as by examples for hope.
Paul was a blasphemer. With his words he sinned first against the Gospel because he condemned it as heresy. We also have done this.
Had God not given us His light, we still would be doing it. You see, whoever does not know Christ cannot keep silent when he hears that Christ condemns his works. I condemned Hus and Wycliffe, 35 who wrote against the pope and good works. I thought they were pure poison. That's the way people are who still must be converted.
A persecutor. "Not only did I condemn that doctrine, I did it with a violent hand." He was guilty of much blood, for he kept killing, he kept delivering judgment, he pursued his intent to conquer the church as church. He killed very much. It was mass murder. It is a great comfort to know that the greatest apostle was involved in so many sins against the First Commandment that he blasphemed God's name and caused it to become worthless. Later he had good men imprisoned and robbed them, separated families and especially was responsible for the death of St. Stephen. "I made the statement: 'He should be executed.' " This comfort of Paul belongs to all of us wretched sinners.
It is not a miracle. It is rather an example. Whoever gives it his con¬ sideration cannot lose hope, because it is too strong an example. You are no more devout than a bandit. In fact, the bandit is a better man than you. He kills people and carries off their bodies. Paul carried off both their bodies and souls. "I used to force them to blaspheme."
Pie compelled them to recant; he confirmed many in their own wicked¬ ness; he terrified many. So Paul therefore came to grace with as great a burden of sin as we — we who have been leaders in doing and 35 Jan Hus, Czech reformer (1369—1415), was influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe (1320—1384). Both were condemned to a fiery death for heresy by the Council of Constance in 1415, Wycliffe posthumously. For Luther's own defense against the charge of Hussitism leveled at him by Johann Eck in the Leipzig Debate, 1519, see Luther's Works, 31, pp. 321 f.
[W, XXVI, 22, 23] preaching wrong things. If we have not been that bad, still we have restrained and hindered the Word of the Gospel; we have sacrificed
Christ in the Mass. There really are no baser rascals in the whole wide world. In blasphemy are included all the sins against doctrine and the soul. Therefore we should not despair because we are blasphemers now. He was a persecutor of men, he caused separations from wives and children and the destruction of homes, he made widows and or¬ phans. Paul has written a good ease against himself. He was violent, harmful. And he even considered this legitimate. He did not repent.
He went on with hard intent and violence. There was a heaving sea of sins in Paul. He is the greatest sinner we can find in Christianity.
Of whom 1 am the foremost (v. 15) is really true, because here rapine, blasphemy, and holy teachings come together. He abuses the power of his teachers and magistrates.
16. I received mercy. "I was presented with mercy." In Greek it reads: "But I also was such a one. That's what I became too, such a lost scoundrel was I; in that condition I received mercy." He cannot say: "He gave this to me according to my merits." To bestow mercy on a person who has such "virtues" ought to be a further sin. To clash with well-known truth and to be unwilling to believe it is dangerous.
Paul very likely did not know what they believed and anticipated. He only heard them preach against Moses and abrogate the Law. "I was ignorant and an unbeliever on top of it" (v. 13), that is, a heathen.
There are others who know what is being taught, but they don't be¬ lieve it. Unfaithfulness can stand beside understanding, or knowledge.
For instance, I can know what the papists believe, but I don't believe that. They hear us teach "faith alone," but they attack the idea. Paul was not entirely ignorant of that doctrine. Similarly I was [not] igno¬ rant of what Hus taught.86 Whenever I heard the name Hus, I was afraid. I dared not trust myself when I once came upon a sermon of his clipped to a Bible. "I received mercy for this reason: I was igno¬ rant. I began to see myself as a fool, and I did not believe." Paul here is making something of an excuse for his blasphemy. Does this, then, take our comfort away from us? No! It strengthens our comfort. There are such persecutors as the emperor and Ferdinand,37 who simply do not read or hear what is taught. They are ignorant and unbelieving.
37 Charles V and his Brother, Ferdinand I of Bohemia. Cf. Luther's Works, 16, p. 258, n. 10; 17, P. 188, n. 12.
For such men we pray. As for Erasmus and Emser,38 who resist solely because of an eagerness to resist, and Zwingli and Oecolampadius,39 who fight against the truth which they feel they do not have, see 1
Cor. 4:3.40 Paul was not like this. To them the truth is offered to bind their conscience, but they are unwilling to believe. In this way Carlstadt was overcome in his toOto, yet he did not yield.41 To be unwill¬ ing to believe when the truth is known is to sin against the Holy Spirit.
This is the attitude of Korah.42 They sin obstinately against the truth.
By the grace of God, we are not such people. We admit our blas¬ phemy. Yet we have been moved not to blaspheme the truth but to rejoice over it. Therefore we hope, even if we have been ignorant.
Now we can say to the Lord: "You converted Paul not because of him himself. From this I can draw great confidence in the Lord that all of us may presume upon Your mercy and longsuffering." Because this is the sure Word of God and we rejoice in its truth, we are sad when someone is misled. "Love does not rejoice at wrong" (1 Cor.
13:6). Thus the conscience is sure that Christ converts. If He was merciful then when we crucified Him on the altar, He is more merci¬ ful now. It is our comfort that in our terrible blasphemies and cruci¬ fixions He has remembered us and gives us light. "I want to abound in mercy toward you," Matt. 23.43 It is forever indescribable that that mercy renders such good gifts for such evil deeds. If we will be un¬ grateful, He will give us sects, every article of faith will directly pass
38 Against Desiderius Erasmus (1466—1536) Luther wrote his treatise The Bondage of the Will (1525). Cf. the introductory remarks in Luther's Works, 33, pp. 8 ff. Against Jerome Emser (1477—1527), formerly Luther's teacher at Erfurt, Luther writes in his letter "To the Leipzig Goat" (1521): "I will overlook it that you are writing against me because of your pretense to learning and wis¬ dom." Cf. W, VII, 263.
39 Ulrich Zwingli (1484—1531) and Johannes Oecolampadius (1482—1531) were in the forefront of the opposition to Luther's teachings concerning the 40 "And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing."
41 Andreas Bodenstein von Carlstadt (1480—1541) rejected the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper with the explanation that Christ's "This" ( touto ) in the Words of Institution was accompanied by the gesture of Christ's pointing to his own body, as if to say: "This is My body, which I shall give into death for you.
In remembrance of it partake of this bread." At Luther's insistence Carlstadt later withdrew this interpretation, but he always felt closer to Zwingli's teaching than to Luther's. Cf. also Luther's Works, 29, p. 33.
43 Perhaps Matt. 23:37 is meant.
[W, XXVI, 24] away, not because I have done this out of stubbornness, not because I have resisted the well-known truth, but because I have acted like a fool.
14. Overflowed. Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more (cf. Rom. 5:20), namely, in me. With the faith. Here the man pronounces himself holy. "I was the foremost and worst sinner of all, a murderer and a shameful scoundrel." Yet for these he received very rich grace beyond what the rest received. He received both grace and love. The greater the iniquity, the greater the grace. Because Paul was a greater sinner than Peter, he received more grace than Peter.
"The grace of Christ has abounded, because I have been guilty of such a flood of sins. What is that grace? It is overflowing forgiveness.
It is also a gift. I have received a twofold blessing: forgiveness and grace and in addition the gift of the Spirit — faith and love." Grace is that favor and beneficence of God which forgives sins and does not remember them. Second, that man must be restrained to cease his sinning. This is what faith and love do. Grace causes God to be fa¬ vorably inclined; faith and love cause man to be holy. The first is useless without the second. To have other words, works, and ideas — that is what the gift causes. Grace is not alone; it comes in such a way that faith and love are joined to it. It creates a new man so that I be¬ lieve in Christ. It makes me more effective because I am given a faith which is effective through love in Christ. You consider Paul the worst sinner and the greatest saint because the greatest iniquity was in Paul.
He, therefore, who was the worst, became the most beloved servant.
If I have been a robber, a murderer, an oppressor of widows and little children, I must say: "You have set up Paul as an example. I do not contemplate examples of wrath and desperation set down for the terror of a "hard head.' " God has given no example for our despair. God says and does nothing to lead one to lose hope. He does give examples of His wrath. Those examples have to do with confounding stubborn¬ ness — a serious sin in the world, because for the most part the world holds Him in contempt. If the weakhearted take up these examples of wrath, they begin to fear and to lose hope. They misuse those ex¬ amples. You see, they were not written to encourage the loss of hope but to inflict a blow on the stiff neck. If sin and the fear of judgment vex you, you should avoid all Scripture that sets forth examples of wrath. Such examples do not apply to you, because you are not stiff¬ necked. Rather search Scripture for that which comforts you and [W, XXVI, 24, 25] nourishes hope: David, Manasseh, Moses, Aaron, Mary Magdalene, the dying thief. He permitted few pure saints to live long. Yet He preserved John in such a way that He did not have to perform miracles.
All the others He permitted to fall into grievous sin, so that each should have nourishment for his hope. It is a great thing to hope in God, so that He may bestow the kingdom of heaven without cause. Therefore
He overwhelms us with so many examples to enlarge our heart and en¬ courage our hope. The hardhearted and quarrelsome have the exam¬ ple of the flood, Sodom, and Saul. We must divide the Word cor¬ rectly: comfort must be given the weakhearted; on the other hand, those opposite must receive a threat. Otherwise they will be over¬ whelmed, as 2 Cor. 2:7 says, for the command is certain and does not fail: "I am the Lord." The Lord forbids despair under penalty of eter¬ nal death. Where there is stubbornness, one must inflict a blow on it.
This is an excellent example for consciences that feel that they have sinned much. Not to be killed yet — although this may be nothing — nevertheless lends encouragement. If I look at my sins, they are noth¬ ing when compared with those of Paul. According to the Spirit, how¬ ever, Paul is nothing when compared with me. Were the Lord to give pure examples of mercy, that would be useless because of the hard¬ hearted and stubborn. We see what the wicked are doing today. Yet He offers them mercy. That is a useful text, salutary to all wretched consciences. So praise God among the saints. This is the right way to honor the saints. Heavenly Father, the more we see the papists and the more You have magnified and listed the sins of Paul, the greater is Your mercy.
15. Sure. There stands the rule and text by which Paul himself was saved. The rule "He came, etc." is greater than Paul's example, which is the best kind of teaching. This passage has quite often been life and salvation for me. So Paul praises it with a beautiful preface.
He speaks with great certainty. Oh, who else could speak with such assurance! This is a very trustworthy and certain statement. Then, icorthy of full acceptance. This we should receive. Where are those who are full of dead men's bones? 44 I can say this in the midst of the tyrants' prisons, in the death of the devil, because Paul swears and de¬ clares that this statement is certain, this Christian rule "Christ has come." Whoever grasps this comprehends Christ correctly. We looked at ourselves before the judge and into the rainbow and invoked Mary
[W, XXVI, 25, 26] and Barbara.43 I loved the Virgin more. We kept reading these words, but we did not note them. Praise God that we are over that; mit allem
Fleiss und Willen we should accept these words, that is, we should ac¬ cept them by every means, with every effort, with all our heart. After all, this does not disappoint, because this Word is sure, it is also saving.
No, this Word transcends evaluation! Human reason shudders at the greatness of the gift, because I am to believe that God gives me eternal life for all my sins, as I said earlier. But this is too much! The greatness of the past Gift makes possible also the gift which is yet to come.
Because this has happened, because God has given His Son, therefore the other will happen. Even if I am not worthy, it is still true. Were
I unwilling to glorify God in His promise, I would still be willing to glorify Him in the Son He sent. I would want to say that His blood is worthy of redeeming me from sin and death. Nothing except eternal life can be the reward. Rom. 8:32: "He who did not ^pare His own
Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also give us all things with Him?" These words are beyond evaluation and incomprehensible.
The Gift that has been given is very great, except that it is not yet revealed. Eternal life is not as great as Christ. From the very magni¬ tude of the Gift I have received I perceive the greatness of the gift which God has yet to give.
Christ did not come to judge, to destroy, but to give Himself for the salvation of sinners. Therefore let no sinner lose hope. Rather let him despair who does not want to be a sinner, as the self-righteous.
The sinner has the opportunity to hope because "Christ has come."
Like the devil, the law of Moses condemns. We do not need Christ to condemn us, nor was He sent to condemn; and yet we receive Him thus because we have neither read nor understood Scripture.
Of whom I am the foremost. Here there was an argument; that is:
"I consider myself the foremost for the sake of humility." He said this in all seriousness. "I know of no greater sinner in the church." David was a great one, but Paul perpetrated more than David, who neither persecuted doctrine nor misled. Let the text stand then. So Paul is saying: "I comfort all sinners. I stand here to sustain you. None of you can compare himself with me."
Yesterday46 we heard that Paul called himself the foremost of all sinners; that we who know we are sinners console ourselves with this
45 Cf. Luther's Works, 17, p. 140, n. 3.
40 The lecture of Jan. 22 begins at this point.
[W, XXVI, 26, 27] salutary text; and that God does not condemn sinners but rather sends His Son to save them. As a consequence, no cause for condemnation has been left among men. Otherwise sin would seem to be the greatest cause. You see, if we cling to Him, sin and the commandment have been washed away by Christ. So the man who complains that he is burdened with sins deceives himself, or lack of faith is the reason for his condemnation. He describes this beautifully here, saying that God loves and pities sinners. This is an essential passage which de¬ mands frequent use, especially in temptation and in the peril of death.
At those times one has the real proof of that passage. When people are without tribulation, it cannot bring pleasure. Under the pope we have lived quietly. No one hated us. In that situation this passage was foolish and dull. When the hour of trial draws near, then we remem¬ ber this Word of salvation. Therefore the Word is willing to do battle against death, because as the Word of life and peace it is a battle against fear, Satan, and tribulation and as the Word of God it is a struggle against the devil, and the spirit with the flesh that adheres to it is saved.
16. For this reason . . . for an example. Here Paul is saying that this occurrence is not per se a miracle but a general example. As an in¬ dividual thing, this passage speaks of special prerogative. Therefore all comfort is taken away. But when it is written as a comfort and example for me, then it applies to me, so that I may glory in this pas¬ sage, not just Paul, who has reached his goal. "Therefore," he says,
"He has had compassion on me," so that it might not have a secret and individual privilege, but that "Jesus Christ might display," that is, that all Christians, who are sinners, might know "from my example" what sort of a Person Christ is: The Lord is long-suffering, patient, etc.;
He can forgive and is willing to forgive our countless sins. "Therefore I have been set up as an example for the whole church that all may fix their eyes on me as an example of His long-suffering mercy."
Patience. Every kind of patience. "He could endure my murders, blas¬ phemies, seductions, crimes of violence. I used to force people to blas¬ pheme, revoke, and deny Christ." Those who were to believe. This warms Paul's heart. Before this he blasphemed; he drew many away from Christ. "Now," he says, "I have received mercy, and I have re¬ paid it. Where I once alienated one from Christ, I have brought a thousand to Him, because my ministry has not been in vain. Those who previously became hardened because of my' madness now are forced to be ashamed."
For eternal life. We believe in Christ not only for this life but also for that which is to come. You see, we believe in the Conqueror of death, the Destroyer of hell. No one believes in Christ that Christ may fill his belly. We know Him not according to the flesh. There stands
Paul before us, with glory in thanksgiving in remembrance of the good he has received and for the evil left behind. He abounds in spir¬ itual affection, and this makes him very sure not only that he must avoid sins but also that, in place of sins, many fruits have been given to him — fruits which the Lord has given him. As a result, his spirit abounds in rejoicing, and he gives thanks. This also describes our joy.
John writes in his last epistle (3 John 4): "No greater joy do I have," because truth is in the purity of the Word.
17. To the King of ages. This King has no peer. First, He is the King of ages. With one wink of His eye He holds the eyes and crowns of all kings in contempt. They are the kings of an hour. They do not rule for a hundred years but for a man's lifetime. This is a unique
King, who rules from the beginning of the world throughout all ages.
The other kings are kings, but they are nothing, for He is the same for all ages. Others die. So do we. He alone has immortality. He is the One who does not die. Also, He bestows immortality on others. He is invisible. The eye of neither flesh nor spirit sees Him. To the only wise God. Also, He alone is wise. This is blasphemy: that if God alone is wise, then all are fools, and where God is not present with His wisdom, there there is pure foolishness. Kings aren't fools, are they? But God takes away not only their power but also their wisdom, their sense of justice. By the wisdom of God we who are in Christ have wisdom. But this wisdom comes from God — of course, from His
Word. Those who have the Gospel have the wisdom of God. They are wise in God and from God. Wherever His Word is not present, there neither God nor His wisdom is, but pure foolishness. Paul says that the world considers our God a fool (cf. 1 Cor. 1:21), that no one is interested in this, and that "claiming to be wise, thy became fools"
(Rom. 1:22). But we glory in God, that He alone is wise and portions out His wisdom among His people. Through the wisdom of God they learn many things, a wisdom that is a certain quality resident in the soul. This, however, is said very briefly in Scripture. Wisdom in Scripture is sacred. It is the Gospel. It teaches you to know God, the counsel of God, and the Son of God incarnate for you. Such wis¬ dom is hidden from the world. Only faith grasps it. Afterwards one
[W, XXVI, 28] can grasp wisdom wastefully. Wolves learn from a wolf. But true wisdom is meditation as to how I shall live forever, how I shall possess and have God. This is in the Gospel alone, but that wisdom is foolish¬ ness in the world's eyes. The Book of Wisdom sings the praise of the Gospel because it describes the example of the Israelite who clung to the wisdom and Word of God. But to the world he is simply a fool, and all the rest are wise. In 1 Cor. 1:25, however we read: "The foolishness of God is wiser than men." Paul is moving along in the Spirit. He is saying: "They live as if destined to be eternal con¬ querors, but my King is immortal. I thank my God." So far Paul is giving thanks.
18. This charge. Before this we heard Paul urge Timothy to com¬ mand that they refrain from new doctrines. Now he is exhorting
Timothy himself. Satan prepares his traps through false teachers, through our own thoughts of public insults, and privately when he misquotes Scripture for presumption or loss of hope. Satan does not sleep. What sort of charge is it? As follows: in accordance with the prophetic utterances. The text is obscure. I don't know what Paul intends here. He clearly says that Timothy should do battle in the prophecies. We are not sure what sort of prophecies these are. We take it as just that: that they are prophecies, that is, the books of the prophets in which Timothy himself must be trained. Indeed, it is a good idea that the one who cares for souls ought to pay attention not only to reading the prophets but also to giving the prophets to the crowd and to the people of God. I really do not know what these prophecies are. The text reads: "Certain prophecies went out about you." "There was a prophecy about you. You have much of the tes¬ timony of the prophets who prophesied." And also, as he says later
(cf. 1 Tim. 4:14), "by the laying on of hands and in the assembly of the elders" Timothy was ordained as a teacher of the church. To this I want to apply these prophecies: "That you remain firm, that you be watchful according to those prophecies by which as by an endow¬ ment you were commissioned to serve as a soldier," that is, "Timothy, my son, see to it that you respond to your calling which you must fulfill.
There was a prophecy about you when you were called and ordained.
See to it that you are zealous in that calling. Do not be lazy." He appears to speak not about the writing but about the words of the prophets which were spoken over him. I do not know what their custom was for ordaining such teachers. Read something about it in Acts 13:1-4. One reads exegetical notes concerning these things, such as "according to the custom at ordinations" concerning Ezek. 3, to the effect that then the promises were read, because the responsibility of refuting, rebuking, teaching the faith, and feeding souls was now given to the ordinand. Isaiah has something of this sort (cf. Is. 6).
So you see, for that time that was the method, that he spoke and then added the prayer that God might give to him according to those prophecies spoken about him. In this way the pope sets forth to the bishops and to the emperor the articles to which they must swear.
Those are the words of the prophecies, although this can be better interpreted. Paul can be saying: "when you are told what you are to do."
By them. That is, "by the prophecies as they have been described to you. Not only should you stand firm in them; you should also fight."
Paul has the custom of freely using military terms with which he brightly illuminates the Old Testament. About the old wars he says many things that were merely figures of speech. "Remember that you have been appointed to read for seven hours and that you read, etc.
But see to it that you conduct yourself like a soldier. You must stand in the front ranks. You are a soldier. You have weapons and sword in hand. You have been set up in a place of war. See, then, that you fulfill those prophecies which have been prescribed for you. May you be a good soldier. On behalf of souls, hurl yourself into peril of life, body, possessions, and all things." You see, a bishop must teach the ignorant, comfort the weak; he must be patient with them. He has been set out for the convenience of others, so that he lives for others rather than for himself. Satan then attacks through false teachers, with bothersome hardships, and by false interpretation of Scriptures based on private thoughts. Therefore watch that you may remain firm in them. The good warfare. This is a Hebraism, how one wages this warfare. It is a salutary training. He should thus be a soldier under Christ that His words properly come to prominence. He who teaches well is a good soldier. In the Word the ignorant are taught, the sluggards aroused, foes overcome and consoled, although he says this rather of the general public than of the service that is useful for the brethren. These are very burning, powerful words. The factious spirits also fight. They fight more diligently, more ardently than we do. But theirs is an evil service, they are devils, because they desert the Word of God and follow their own thoughts.
19. But holding faith. This he inculcates carefully. This is the one word Satan attacks: faith. If the word is "conscience," he cannot abide it, and he cannot endure anything good. Rather he tolerates people like the Enthusiasts and the factious spirits. They accomplish much, and he helps them. But where there is a true conscience and faith, he becomes a fool, so that he gives not a penny for God. The Enthusiasts are full of good works, but they blaspheme in doctrine.
On the other hand, the godly give and serve less. Now they do more good works than formerly, and they give more. Where a single florin is given now, it is more than 10,000. But even if one gives but a penny to others, it has been done in truth. He does this from a good con¬ science. Faith. Faith is to believe in God and thus to have a con¬ science secure in Christ. You will not produce a good conscience by being a soldier. You will be a soldier by teaching, etc., but watch out that your good conscience is not on account of these; yet you will have a good conscience in this service as a soldier. Were we not sure about the Word, why should we work and suffer? A good teacher is a very pleasing member to God, a very displeasing one to the devil.
Next, God does not allow the Enthusiasts to fight against us with strong arguments, so that you may preserve a good conscience not only within yourself but also among others. How? Be a soldier! He will strengthen you through the Word. Later on (4:16) he says:
"Save yourself and others," as much as lies in the office. We believe there must be an enthusiasm for this office in everyone and that we must strive to keep the faith. This the Enthusiasts cannot do; they follow their own speculations. By rejecting conscience, certain per¬ sons. What they did I do not know. Some persons reject this good conscience and faith. These are the light and wind-blown spirits who, when they once hear, know immediately. Later they become smug, but soon the devil overcomes them. Already the Enthusiasts have gone back to that point that they are beginning to deny Christ.
Zwingli says: "The Son of God did not die. Christ has redeemed us insofar as He is a man. Divinity cannot suffer. If Christ suffered for us, He is denied as Christ by those very words." They are worse than the Jews, they have been so captivated by their thoughts that they cannot escape from them, nor do they cling to the principal position of faith. They deny original sin, Baptism, and now Christ's sacrament. That is to reject faith and to have no concern for a good conscience. They have made shipwreck. Mark well this passage
[W, XXVI, 30] against the smug and presumptuous. Stand firm on the main article so that you stick to it in faith. Works will surely follow in due time.
If this item fails, immediately danger — shipwreck — is near. If Christ fails, shipwreck occurs. To preach the rest of the doctrine does not help at all. In this way, the papists have become shipwrecked, and all have gone to the devil.
20. That they may learn. What they did I do not know, because he does not write what they taught. In Corinth there were certain people who kept denying the resurrection. I believe they were Judaizing, because they denied Christ as the Son of God. After all, it is for this end that Satan rages, because he is unwilling to cease the attack. Through Arius he fought against Christ concerning His divin¬ ity; through Pelagius, about His humanity. Now people deny that He is the Son of God and that He is one Person. To be sure, they confess
Him with their words, etc., but they rip and divide Christ into two persons as if doing this out of zeal, lest they mix the two natures.
It is true that we must not mix the two persons. By the same token, we must not divide the two natures, although I may not say, "Divinity is humanity," yet God is man. To reject faith and a good conscience is to fall presently into shipwreck. This is an excellent metaphor from ships. In a single word he points out what the world and the sea are.
We are carried into the midst of perilous storms. With trembling we must remain in the Word. Immediately a shipwreck occurs. So it is not that we are safe. Rather we are serving as soldiers. We have not been set up in a place where it is safe to leave the Word of God and hide it under the bench. Instead the Word is essential. There must be no sleeping, so that the Word is always in our heart. Before, when we were in shipwreck under the pope, we were at ease, because no one opposed him. Now he sends the sectaries on our necks and crowds us.
At the end of chapter 147 we hear how Paul gives Timothy this command, that he wage good warfare by keeping a good conscience.
He gave an example about those who rejected faith and a good con¬ science and suffered shipwreck. These he consigned to Satan. This example he wrote to strengthen us and to terrify the spirit sects, be¬ cause it is a rule that whoever has started to neglect faith and con¬ science soon becomes a heretic and is forced to be zealous. On the 47 The lecture of Feb. 3 begins at this point. No lectures were held the week of Jan. 27, for Luther was away at Torgau those days. Cf. W, Briefe, IV,
[W, XXVI, 30, 31] other hand, whoever turns his enthusiasm to this end, that he have faith and a good conscience, remains safe from heretical thoughts.
Paul therefore finds that all heretics rise from this source, that they begin to weary of this general doctrine of faith, love, and the cross.
Because they are unaffected by this doctrine, they find new doctrines every day. He wants to say: "Those who find new dogmas are those who have no concern that they have a good conscience before God and that they walk in faith." We experience this daily. That you hold a good conscience and faith is a very noteworthy statement. That is, you should so walk in your enthusiasm that you keep your goal before your eyes, that you hold a good conscience before God and faith. Spiritual self-love will surely leave a person alone; but if others cannot resist the temptation to go into shipwreck, either they follow the inventions of others, or they themselves think up new ideas. In this sin they have underestimated those two points, because they reject good conscience and faith. As a result, they have fallen into ship¬ wreck. This the Enthusiasts do today. If they were living a life dedi¬ cated to harming neither God nor their neighbor, they would be glad to call a halt. They are caught up in speculations and new dogmas.
This is what we call "shipwreck of faith." The man who begins to hold a worthless conscience and faith is not in a little danger but in the greatest and most terrible peril, because he is not merely breaking a leg in this shipwreck but is drowned completely.
1 have delivered. What it means to deliver to Satan you find defined in other places. I believe that the apostles, too, employed this deliverance to torment people's bodies, just as one threatens the person who ravishes his stepmother. Take a look at that passage.
Although he has not done it, he has begun to do it, but in such a way that they might forbear to injure their souls. That is, he is using his power to chastise, not to kill; to edify, not to destroy. This is one way of delivering to Satan — that Satan may harass and punish phys¬ ically. Another method is to excommunicate, to denounce, so that one is outside of the church, as Matt. 18 has it. I believe that Paul is here speaking about the first method. I believe that Hymenaeus and Alexander were that obstinate and were frustrating doctrine that much. They were not wretched specimens. They are special. They were not, like the princes of Abiron,48 poor fools. They were very noble people, and they caused great damage. Therefore, because
48 Abiron, or Abiram, was a fellow conspirator of Korah's. Cf. Num. 16:1.
[W, XXVI, 31] they hold great power, Paul has made this attack by his authority as an apostle.
That they may learn. Our chastisement ought to be a medicine, for the kingdom of Christ is one of mercy. It does not chastise to destruction but to salvation. It does not kill. It holds no sword ex¬ cept a spiritual one. It keeps a man under Satan, yet it does not deliver him farther than to recover him from the snares of Satan.
It wants to have him chastised in such a way that he returns. We have no other punishment. Let each Christian not look for vain glory.
Let him not seek new and unusual things. Rather let him teach the pure Word of God. If he blunders, he is not guilty of one or two mistakes, but he errs endlessly. This develops into shipwreck. A slight error in the beginning becomes a very great one at the end.
In the first chapter Paul instructs Timothy how he should remain firm in purity of doctrine and wage that warfare in sound doctrine by resisting those who teach otherwise. Then he instructs him to remain steadfast in faith and a good conscience and to help others in the same faith and conscience. In the next section, he instructs Timothy how to live externally in the church and how he ought to train Christians — as well as himself — in their moral way of life.
The first moral work of love among Christians is toward civil office.
True Christians therefore do not say no to a public officer, even though he is an unbeliever, much less to a Christian one. Our rebaptizers say that Christians cannot hold public office. On this subject
Paul speaks in great detail. We must note every syllable. The first fruit of love is to be that you Christians respect every public officer in the world and that you pray for them, because you hear what it means to keep the realm in peace. When a good magistrate fails or is upset, then nothing good is left in this life. Then you will be unable to come to love, to obey parents, rear children, or support the wretched.
We must forget about all fruits of love if public offices do not stand firm in peace. In time of war you must anticipate your death at every moment; the inviolacy of virgin, wife, and all property is in peril. God has His will in peace; in the opposite condition the devil has his. Therefore it is the first work of Christians that we respect all public officers. There was a time when I had so narrow a mind that I would not dare to include in my prayers such important matters as praying for kings. My mind, you see, was afraid to ask for such great things. Thus the importance of matters frequently dampens the ardor of the petitioner. It is the gift of the Lord Himself that more is given
(for example, public officers) than the very gift we are asking for.
We ask that He preserve all things He has thus delivered and are now actually in hand. Because our God is so great and gives such great gifts, He wants us to ask for great things. His goodness is in¬ finite, it pours out without measure. We must pray: "I am indeed unworthy to ask. But I consider not my insignificance but Your great¬ ness, for You give invaluable gifts." It is a shame to pray to God for a mere pittance.1 From the very greatness of the gifts the confidence to ask for great things grows. He gave His Son. Our petitions —
1 Luther uses the German Parteke, a word he seems to have introduced into literary German. It is thought to be a diminutive form developed from the Latin word partem, which was one of the cries used by schoolboys as they sang before the houses of citizens and begged for alms of food. In his Sermon on Keeping
Children in School of 1530 Luther makes a special point of the fact that he, too, was a Partekenhengst ("crumb collector") during his student days in Eisenach.
Cf. Luther's Works, 46, p. 250.
[W, XXVI, 32, 33] peace in the world, wisdom for magistrates — are far inferior to a prayer for eternal life and remission of sins. Let everyone then expand his heart and pray not to a simple little God but to the God of the heaven and earth He created. So He will give great things to those who ask for great things. Christians who understand that these are the gifts of God pray. Let this be the first fruit of love, that you pray. You see how Paul urges this fruit of the Christian faith.
1. Supplications. These are prayers with which we pray for evils to be averted, so that when I pray for a prince, I shall say: "God, the evils which threaten his official position are countless. There will be great danger in the Council of Ratisbon.2 Satan will call the par¬ ticipants away from serious matters so that they discuss trifles. They will finish no business. Neither peace nor harmony will result. They will not end preparation for war against the Turk. The princes will arrange whatever pleases them." It is the duty of Christians to see whose fault it is that nothing happens in meetings. We must pray that God would instill a good spirit so that they consider all good and salutary things. There will be infinite evils at Ratisbon if we shall not have prayed that the Lord would stimulate them to thoughts of peace. The clergy are bent on wars. Were we to pray, we would accomplish something and would do battle against Satan in the midst of the princes, even though we would be absent in body.
Prayers. These are requests for good things: that the Lord would remove every lamentable condition with which Germany is being oppressed; that instead of those evil men He would give prudent, wise, pious princes who are eager for peace. In this way we pray for the kings of France, England, and Bohemia.3 They are good gifts of God, but the devil is in their midst. We must do what we can.
Intercessions. These postulations are properly intercessions. We correctly apply them to our enemies, according to Matt. 5:44, who do
2 When the political situation in Germany in the 1520s seemed to make it unlikely that the Edict of Worms (outlawing Luther and exposing him to a death by violence) would be enforced, various additional efforts were made to suppress the spread of the Reformation. A meeting and agreement at Ratisbon (Regens¬ burg) in 1524 ostensibly aimed at reforming the church, but among its provisions was a strict implementation of the Edict of Worms. The politics of the day brought failure to this effort, too, but it was a first step toward the Ratisbon meet¬ ings of 1541 and 1546, in which the Catholic-Protestant dialog broke down completely.
3 Francis I, king of France 1515—1547; Henry VIII, king of England 1509 to 1547; Ferdinand I, king of Bohemia and Hungry since 1526 and administrator of Germany since 1521. See also Luther's Works, 17, p. 188.
[W, XXVI, 33] not seem worthy of our praying for them. We must, however, pray for our enemies. Here is the reason. If you have prayed that God remove evils but one or two who are persecuting all honorable things and the Gospel still stand in the way, then you pray for them: "Lord, forgive them. They do not know what they do," lest He should lay the fault to their charge as to people who do not know, etc. Let them place Christ before themselves, as Stephen did (Acts 7:56-60). "Pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44). First, we must pray for all public officials, whether they are ours or someone else's, that He take evils away from them and give them good things. We must also pray for tyrants, who persecute us and hinder our prayers when tyrants and sects hinder the fruit of the Gospel. We pray: "Pay no attention to what Duke
George 4 or Zwingli does. Rather listen and permit Your Gospel to be sown and to produce fruit."
Thanksgivings. This also pertains to Christians. Gratitude always merits the receipt of more; ingratitude drains the fountain of divine goodness. Gratitude consists of more than the expression "I thank you, Lord God." It also involves acknowledging first that it is a gift of God, that a person knows that peace, which today holds sway here in Germany, a type of government, and the security that allows one to marry are pure gifts of God. It is a gift of God to have a king and a state and the pest without poison, etc. After all, Satan wants the air polluted, all the land burdened with pestilence and death.
That this does not occur is a gift of God. We have so many kings and peoples, so much produce, food, and property, purely out of His goodness. This gratitude consists not only in our words alone but principally in our acknowledgment of the blessing we have received.
Those people are rare who make such an acknowledgment. Thus no one gives thanks, nor do people pray. Even those who pray with their mouth do not make this acknowledgment. Gratitude must be involved with prayers, because one must confess the gifts he has received. Phil. 3.
For all men. The Christian ought to ask for great things and in¬ clude all men in his prayer. God gives and bestows great things. He wants us to pray for great things. At that time there were heathen magistrates, and the "all men" included also Turks and Tartars. Yet for these we must also pray, and especially for kings. Still, we do
4 Cf. Luther's Works, 17, p. 188, n. 13. pray once a year for the pope and the emperor,5 but this is not a habit.
We have few words of prayer, but if one sees a thing, he ought to have a prayer for it: "O God, may You be kindly disposed to all men, especially to princes, and more especially to our princes." This is a great prayer if it comes from a good heart.
2. That ice may lead a quiet and peaceable life. If we pray for public officials, this is the fruit: to lead a placid, quiet, peaceful life.
Extend this expression then, and you will discover how great a thing peace will be. In that condition we can build, plow, fish, sail in safety, walk, sleep, eat, have chaste wives and children who apply themselves, feed our herds. Those good things which we have be¬ cause of God's great blessing no one considers as good things. Indeed,
God bestows them, but He preserves them through public officers.
In time of war there is no peace. One cannot go in or out. Not a hair of one's head is safe. In this case no one considers that these out¬ standing benefits are preserved by a good civil authority which ought to be keeping watch so that peace might endure. It is a great gift to live in peace and quiet. What a wretched state of affairs it was when the peasants were revolting! Everything was filled with the fear of death. There was no thought of plowing. I am sure that Satan plans something similar to stir up a war through the princes and bishops that will be worse than that of the peasants.6 The power to begin a war is in our hand; to stop it is in Another's hand. They might be killed in one month. We must pray for the wicked papists not only for their own sakes but that peace may not be upset, that preachers may not be checked in their duty, and that the Word may not be taken away. We must pray for public officials; when they have peace, we have peace, too. So we must pray also on behalf of evil men.
Godly and respectful in every way. Let our prayer not be a carnal one, a prayer that seeks our own ends. We must not pray to live in wealth but to ask that godliness and dignity may be able to exist through this peace. The ungodly use peace for shameful wickedness.
We use peace that we may more quietly be able to discuss the Word, extend the faith, and bring up our children in spiritual, corporal, and moral discipline — in Christian discipline. He has said both, a godly
5 A special collect "for all who govern states" was featured in the Mass of Good Friday. But this petition was in position as well as in form subordinate to the collect for the pope in the same service.
0 Possibly an allusion to a league of Catholic princes and bishops supposed to have been formed in Breslau in 1527.
[W, XXVI, 34, 35] and respectable, that is, upright life. The man who watches out for indignities and shame holds before himself an upright life. His words, gestures, things he sees, every disposition of his body, garb, and food — all these are honorable. The inconstant man is one who walks dis¬ honorably, since he acts the fool in his food, habits, and words. He is not oepvog ("honorable"). Instead, he is shallow and shameful. Let us teach the faith, let us increase the hearing of the Word, let us spread the knowledge of Christ. Let us be concerned for what belongs to the kingdom of God and to moral matters. Let us be serious toward men and do nothing that offends but only what edifies.
3. This is good and acceptable.7 In this way you see the apostle make a distinction between doctrines in order to consider human doctrines as useless myths, although he generally marks them thus, and they are vain and useless in their effort to brand sound doctrine as heresy. This is sound, as if he were saying: "These things one should have learned. These things are useful." The flesh follows another dogma. It is his entire intent to keep us on the royal road and in sound doctrine. There is never sound doctrine unless one has seen temptation. This, he says, is teaching empty doctrines. But this is good and useful. What is more, it is "acceptable." Thus we read in Titus 3:8: "I desire you to insist on these things." In the pope's kingdom they do not care what is acceptable to God or what is sound.
They care only for a great and different work. If a work glitters with a bright show on its surface, they do it. But we do something when we know very certainly that it pleases God. It is a very beautiful life when someone knows that his life pleases God. Such a person Satan tries to carry off. This passage is an excellent commendation of a true good work. There is no profit in wearing a hood. And what does it profit this and that fellow to be shaven? Besides, this is not ac¬ ceptable to God. What is acceptable to God is to pray for a magis¬ trate in the sight of the Savior. The passage causes much debate.
It is much discussed in nearly every disputation even today. Different exegetes explain it in different ways. Those who cause arguments should be avoided. You see, our doctrine is the kind that people cannot grasp except with calm minds. It is the water of Siloam;s it is the serene spirit, it wants to be taken up with kindness and gentleness. But if one is contentious, Scripture is opposed to him.
7 The lecture of Feb. 4 begins at this point.
4. God wants all men to be saved. Elsewhere we read (John 13:18): "I know whom I have chosen." If anyone wants to be agree¬ able, he has a hundred arguments which they may oppose. They want only that to be heard which they themselves say. To such peo¬ ple, then, say, "Farewell." We must answer (1 Cor. 11:16): "If anyone is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no such practice." On the other hand, those who really want to learn are quiet and at peace.
If you say something twice to someone, he should look for another teacher, because our doctrine is the sort which brooks no contention.
The Holy Spirit, then, must not fight against Himself. In this vein Augustine says: "No one saves except the one God. Nowhere is there salvation except in God." John, the illuminator,9 that teacher, is re¬ ported as saying: "All in this city." 10 This is an exclusive proposition that is expressed in universal terms. Every man is an animal,11 there¬ fore only man is. In the same way: He causes all men to be saved, therefore He is the only Savior. This is a strong idea and appears to have confirmation from the text:
5. One God. Here the exclusive proposition connects with the universal. That is: No man saves; or, God alone saves. The good and godly heart will not laugh. This is a very fine statement, for outside of God there is no salvation. God is our God. He is salvation.
Whatever good happens to anyone comes from God; whatever evil, from Satan. All men (v. 4). That is, He is their Salvation. God saves them with His goodness. Then He also makes these things come true.
There is the question whether this means eternal or temporal salvation.
We can take Augustine's statement either way, because no one saves except God alone.
I think he is speaking about general salvation. He saves from the perils of adultery, fornication, poverty, error. Whoever now has escaped some peril escapes as God saves him. Ps. 107 confirms this idea. There God lists all their perils and their many works. He lists prison, poverties, captivity, the perils of the sea; and everywhere He says: "You shall confess, etc." He is speaking about the most general salvation. Paul says in ch. 4:10: "He is the Savior of all men, especially
9 Cf. Luther's Works, 22, p. 62.
10 The reference may be to the "all" in John 1:7: "That all might believe through Him."
II Omnis homo est animal was a common example of the "universal" propo¬ sition in Aristotle, e. g., Prior Analytics, I, 25a, 25; II, 91b, 5.
[W, XXVI, 35, 36] of those who believe." That passage clearly distinguishes between "all men" and "those who believe." The latter He saves eternally, but not the former. Accordingly, when we make a distinction of salva¬ tion between faithful and faithless people, we must draw from those passages this conclusion, that Paul here refers to general salvation.
That is, God saves all the faithful, but He does not save the faithless in the same way. After all, He gives the victory even to wicked kings, but to David He gave a singular victory. To him, while he was still a mere lad but a pious one, He gave the throne of the kingdom. God preserves from plague both the ungodly and the godly. He gives both the light of the sun. Is this not a general statement? He tells us to pray for all men, because such a prayer for men is acceptable, even if they are wicked. The grace of God is one and the same, even for the faithless. We must therefore pray not only for the faithful but for all men. That prayer offered for them is both heard and pleas¬ ing, because He wants it so and desires to save all men. God wants to be asked that we may gain this request from Him, as Paul says
Rom. 3:29: "Is He not the God of the Gentiles also?" He commands us to pray, and He accepts our prayer even for the wicked, because
He is considering the following: that through our prayers He wants to save even the wicked, to give peace, wife, etc. Prayer for all men is acceptable, because He desires all men to be saved. Paul is not speaking about God's incomprehensible will — a topic forever secret, as here regarding the will of His command. There is a will which is hidden and reserved for Himself. This He points out to us in word and deed. His other will He reveals with many signs. Therefore we take this passage to refer to the will of His command or work, not to His hidden will. The contentious man, however, does not agree.
From the material we have just treated and from other passages which agree you see this, as below in chapter 4 and in the psalm.12 Why?
Because He wants to save all men. God pours out His blessings so that doing this good thing — giving rain, for instance, to all men — pleases Him. It is therefore our duty to pray that the rain come.
Satan, on the other hand, has his delight in the wicked, who desire to disturb this peace.
And come to the knowledge. This also refers to the will of the precept: "God wants all men to be saved." He wants to illumine all men under the sun, because He Himself shows the light of the sun
12 1 Tim. 4:10 and Ps. 107, as above, p. 261.
[W, XXVI, 36, 37] to the whole world. If they wish to ask us: "Why does He make some people blind?", that is God's hidden and incomprehensible will.
However, I see the sun shining as a sign. In this way He wants "all men to be saved." You see, He causes the sun of Christ to rise in the world. He has given us the command that we illumine all men:
"Go and preach to every creature" (Matt. 28:19), that is, He exposes to absolutely all men the light or knowledge of the truth. This is nothing else than that He wants all men to know this. After all, the Gospel comes that men may know the Gospel. Many do not know it.
This relates to His most secret will. But His will which He has given us to teach is incomprehensible. These questions are too deep for you to explore. Adam broke his neck over them. This is beyond us and means nothing to us. We must think about those matters which have been expounded and given to us, for instance, the fact that He has given light to all men, and what they do not perceive with their eyes has still been expounded.
Thus Paul's statement is very simple. It is our job to pray that we may have a quiet life; that there be one salvation; that a prince have a safe rule and realm on earth; that a husband have a safe home and wife; the state, a safe magistracy; the housefather, a healthy crop.
Next, we pray that all men may know the truth; that they may know the source from which they receive their blessings. You see, through our prayer and thanksgiving we indicate that these come from one
Man. But these things do not bring one to a knowledge of the truth.
5. For there is one. Here we have the explanation: these things belong not only to Christians but to all men. Therefore we must pray to one God on behalf of all men. He must reveal Himself to the Gentiles that they may know how to have this Word of salvation and all good things. Mediator. What is the knowledge of the truth?
It is to know the one God, from whom come those temporal blessings.
He is clearly setting down a twofold salvation. There is a true God, who saves all men with a general salvation; and Christ the Mediator, who saves with an eternal salvation which also comes from God but through Jesus Christ. After all, Christ was not incarnate to have kingdoms, wives, and children. We have those gifts without the death of Christ. In those prior things God is our Savior without Christ.
However, in our eternal salvation God is not our Savior without the Mediator. You see that Paul is speaking about salvation in general.
This he then divides into temporal and eternal salvation. No matter [W, XXVI, 37, 38] what he assigns to God, this is salvation left to God through Christ.
Some people select other gods, but we know the God of all men.
He has not left Himself without witnesses that they might see the one God, but this is because they do not know Him.
Retween God and men,... 6. who gave Himself as a ransom for all.
It is not clear whether this "for all" means for all men or for all those who are redeemed. It sounds as if he were speaking only about the faithful, because he seems to be making a distinction between tem¬ poral and eternal salvation. That is, he seems to say that all who are redeemed are redeemed through Him and not another. Whoever wants to argue may go his own way. He appears to be making a dis¬ tinction here between faithful and faithless men. Yet he speaks about the faithful in such a way that there is no man among them who makes satisfaction for himself but through Christ. This is a very beautiful passage about redemption, about which Paul is happy to write. He speaks of redemption, or of the price of redemption, which means the price by which captives are ransomed. As Christ pays His life and head for our life and head, He has become the Price by which satisfaction is made for divine justice and wrath on our behalf.
Some people 13 think that Christ's death has been set as an example, a type, an ideal of Christians. This is preaching scarcely half of Christ. He truly is the Price of redemption, which God elsewhere calls the forgiveness of sins. The wrath of God is real, not imaginary.
It is no joke. Were it false, mercy would be false. You see, as wrath is, so is the mercy which forgives. May God avert that joke from us.
When genuine wrath is at its highest, so is genuine mercy. Thus most truly has Christ taken the wrath of God upon Himself and has carried it on our behalf. He takes this upon Himself not only as an example, but He is the very true Price which is paid for us. If He has placed Himself in His own Person to turn away wrath from us,
He has established Himself as the Price for us. If He is the Price, He has given not gold or silver but Himself. But here come the new
Enthusiasts and Zwingli, and they say: A man, not the Son of God, has suffered for us. They make the Savior nothing more than a man.
They go so far as to say that as God He does not suffer and that there¬ fore only Plis humanity has been given for us. As proof they use this text, "the man." This passage we must observe as the rule and must explain other passages according to it, as, for instance, Phil.2:7
13 A marginal note suggests that Erasmus may be meant.