Saturday, May 17, 2008

I did nothing; the Word did everything

I ran across this quote from Martin Luther which I thought to be a particularly strong contrast to the attempts people make in this day and age to try and accomplish the work of God using the power of man:
In short, I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything. Had I desired to foment trouble, I could have brought great bloodshed upon Germany; indeed, I could have started such a game that even the emperor would not have been safe. But what would it have been? Mere fool's play. I did nothing; I let the Word do its work.
--Martin Luther

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How true. That we should have such confidence in the Word to do it's work.

May we constantly be reminded that God's Word never returns void but accomplishes that for which it intends.

Thanks very much!

- Steve M.