Martin Luther’s Gospel
Martin Luther (1483 -1546) sparked the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century and remains one of the most influential persons in the history of the Christian religion. Luther protested against the Roman Catholic practice of indulgences with his Ninety-Five Theses in October 1517. This is recognized by many historians as the official start of the Reformation. Luther came to a revolutionary new belief about how people are made right with God. The doctrine was called justification by faith alone and it became for most Protestants their central tenet in opposition to Rome.
Luther’s gospel of justification by faith is found in his Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. Luther begins with an explanation of key terms and concepts in the Book of Romans by which he focused more on imparted rather than imputed righteousness. Beginning with God’s law, Luther argued that the sinner attempts to fulfil God’s law by works, either through fear of punishment or hope of reward, but fails because their heart is not in it. The sinner does not freely love God or his law since they are sinful at heart. For God’s law is spiritual and can be fulfilled only by the Holy Spirit imparting a genuine love for God and his truth. But the Spirit is received through faith in Christ and in the merits of his death. So, for Luther the root issue was unbelief and its remedy a living faith in Christ:
“Faith, however, is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1:12-13. It kills the old Adam and makes altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; and it brings with it the Holy Spirit . . . Faith doesn’t ask whether good works are to be done, but, before it is asked, it has done them. It is always active . . . Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God’s grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust in and knowledge of God’s grace makes a person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as burning and shining from fire.”
In other writings Luther used the analogy of marriage to explain justification. Just as a bride assumes the name, honor, and privileges of the groom, so in Christ our sins are assumed by him and we receive his righteousness before God. His righteous standing becomes ours in virtue of our faith-union with Christ. He called it “alien righteousness” because it is a righteousness outside of the person and is received as sheer gift. We cannot earn or merit it. It is God’s declaration that we are accepted in Christ.
This brief overview of Luther’s gospel is described more fully in the Preface. In the first half he discusses key topics in the letter — law, sin, grace, faith, righteousness & flesh/Spirit — before giving a chapter-by-chapter survey. It is worth the reading.
Here is Luther’s Preface in a newer translation: Martin Luther’s Preface to Romans
Luther’s Impact on John Wesley
It is well-known that Luther’s Preface was instrumental to Wesley’s evangelical conversion in May 1738. Wesley recorded n his Journal:
“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
This was not the first time that Wesley had read portions of Luther’s Preface. Over a month prior he had read Luther’s description of saving faith from the Preface in another book, called Pia Desideria by Philip Spener. Spener’s book played a key role in the birth of the Pietist Movement in the late 17th century. The esteemed historian W. R. Ward states that by the 18th century Luther’s Preface had become the classic text on evangelical conversion. For the Pietists, justification by faith alone was part of the conversion experience of new birth in Christ. When Wesley states that he received an assurance of his sins being taken away — a reference to John 1:29 — he was referring to the gift of justification as the forgiveness of sin. He alluded to receiving the new birth by the last phrase — “saved me from the law of sin and death.” This phrase comes from Romans 8:1-2, which again speaks of no condemnation for the believer in Christ.
Luther would leave a permanent mark on Wesley’s evangelical gospel. From this point forward he would proclaim to everyone who would listen that we can be forgiven and accepted by God through faith in Christ alone. Justification is a gift of free grace. And, he continually gave credit to Luther for the re-discovery of this fundamental truth of the gospel. Wesley did become more critical of Luther after his fallout with the Moravians in 1740, but he continued to affirm Luther’s gospel of justification by faith alone.
In the 1786 sermon On God’s Vineyard, the elderly Wesley stated that no one had written more ably on justification by faith alone than Luther. Where Wesley parted paths with Luther was over sanctification. Yet, scholars today argue that Luther’s full doctrine of justification by faith incorporated the inward work of renewal. This is evident in his description of saving faith in the Preface to Romans.
For other writings by Luther, see the Reformation Sources page.
Secondary Resources
T. Wengert, gen. ed. Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions (2017).
M. Olson, “Martin Luther’s Contribution to John Wesley’s Doctrine of Justification,” in Wesley and Methodist Studies 13:2 (2021).
M. Olson, Wesley and Aldersgate (2019).
R. Olson, The Story of Christian Theology (1999).
[This post was taken from the Featured Monthly Resources Page on Mark K. Olson’s website.]
