Martin Luther
The Truth Revealed
Luther, still not grasping the concept of Grace says, “How dare I believe in the favor of God, while there is nothing in me like true conversion? I must be changed before he can receive me.” Staupitz corrects him, assuring him that repentance comes from the heart, not from a display of outward works. He says, “Repentance begins with the love of God and of righteousness. Dwell not on the macerations and tortures, but love Him who first loved you.”
Luther was not yet converted, but the Light of the Truth was rising in his heart. The Words that would frighten him became, in Luther’s words, “an agreeable sport, and the most delightful recreation. All the passages of Scripture which frightened me, seem now to rise up from all sides, smiling, leaping, and sporting within me! Scripture did not contain a word which seemed to me more bitter than that of repentance. Now, however, there is none sweeter and more agreeable. Oh! how pleasant the precepts of God are, when we read them not only in books, but in the precious wounds of the Savior!”
Luther was not yet converted, but the Light of the Truth was rising in his heart. The Words that would frighten him became, in Luther’s words, “an agreeable sport, and the most delightful recreation. All the passages of Scripture which frightened me, seem now to rise up from all sides, smiling, leaping, and sporting within me! Scripture did not contain a word which seemed to me more bitter than that of repentance. Now, however, there is none sweeter and more agreeable. Oh! how pleasant the precepts of God are, when we read them not only in books, but in the precious wounds of the Savior!”