LUTHER died on February 18th, 1546, so we reach the Quater-Centenary of his passing. Much is being written about this Giant amongst men. The following letter is the ninth of De Wette’s collection, and with the exception of a few sentences to be met with in the histories of Milner and D’Aubigné, is believed never to have before appeared in an English translation. It will be noticed to have been written at a very early period of the great Reformer’s course, and before the commencement of what may be termed his public life.
“Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, . . . but I desire to know the state of your soul, whether at length, wearied of her own righteousness, she is learning to repose with confidence on the righteousness of Christ. For in the age in which we live, the temptation of presumption is strong upon many, and especially upon those who are labouring with all their might to be righteous and good; being ignorant of the righteousness of God, which has been most liberally and gratuitously given to us in Christ, they seek in themselves to work that which is good, in order that they may have a confidence of standing before God, adorned with virtues and merits; but this is impossible. When with us, you were of this opinion, nay, in this error, and so was I, but now I also fight against it, though I have not yet fully prevailed. Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and Him crucified, learn to sing to Him, and, despairing of yourself, to say to Him, ‘Thou, O Lord Jesus, art my righteousness; but I am thy sin; thou hast taken upon thyself mine, and hast given me thine: thou hast taken upon thyself what thou wast not, and hast given to me what I was not.’ Beware of at any time aspiring to such purity as to be unwilling to seem to yourself, nay, really, to be a sinner, for Christ dwells not but in sinners; for on that account He came down from heaven where He dwells among the righteous, that He might dwell also among sinners. Meditate upon His love, and you will see the sweetest consolation arising from it. For if by our own labours and afflictions we were to attain to peace of conscience, why did Christ die? You will not then find peace but in Him, trusting in Him, but despairing of yourself and your own works. You will learn likewise from Him, that as He undertook for you, so He hath both made your sins His, and His righteousness yours. If you firmly believe this as you ought, do you also instruct the brethren who are untaught and still in ignorance, and patiently bear with them and consider their sins your own, and whatever good you have, let them have the benefit of it. As the apostle teaches, ‘Receive ye one another; as Christ also received us, to the glory of God’ (Rom. xv. 7). ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God . . . made Himself of no reputation,’ etc. (Philipp. ii. 5). So also, if you seem to yourself better than others, do not you be eager to appropriate it as your own peculiar possession, but make yourself of no reputation, and forget your own excellence, and be as one of them, so that you may bear them in your arms. For unhappy is that man’s righteousness, which will not bear with others who are comparatively worse, and which meditates flying from the world and dwelling in a desert, whereas such a one ought by patience and prayer and example to let his presence benefit them. To act otherwise is to hide the Lord’s talent, and not to deliver to our fellow-servants what is their due. If, therefore, you are a lily and a rose of Christ, know that you have to dwell among thorns; only take care that you do not, through impatience and rash judgment or secret pride, become a thorn yourself. The kingdom of Christ is in the midst of enemies, as says the Psalm, why then do you imagine it to be in the midst of friends. Therefore, whatever may be your wants, falling on your knees before the Lord Jesus, beg of Him to supply them; He Himself will teach you all things, only observe what He has done for you and for all men, that you may learn also yourself what you ought to do for others; if He had been willing to live only amongst the good and to die for His friends, for whom, pray, would He have died, or with whom would He ever have lived? Thus do, my brother, and pray for me, and the Lord be with you. Farewell in the Lord. From your brother, Martin Luther, an Augustinian.”
“Wittenberg, April 7, 1516.”