Friday, July 06, 2007

Luther on the Law of the Law

In preparation for my presentation at the Annual Theological Conference of The Augustana Ministerium, I came upon an interesting article by Tuomo Mannermaa entitled "The Doctrine of Justification and Christology" (Concordia Theological Quarterly, July 2000, pp. 206-239) with an excellent quote from Martin Luther:
Thus with the sweetest names Christ is called my Law, my sin, and my death, in opposition to the Law, sin, and death, even though in fact He is nothing but sheer liberty, righteousness, life, and eternal salvation. Therefore He became Law to the Law, sin to sin, and death to death, in order that He might redeem me from the curse of the Law, justify me, and make me alive. And so Christ is both: While He is the Law, He is liberty; while He is sin, He is righteousness; and while He is death, He is life. For by the very fact that He permitted the Law to accuse Him, sin to damn Him, and death to devour Him He abrogated the Law, damned sin, destroyed death, and justified and saved me. Thus Christ is a poison against the Law, sin, and death, and simultaneously a remedy to regain liberty, righteousness, and eternal life. (LW 26, p. 163: Gal 2:20)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That clearly to me states that Christ led a human life,in order to give his life for my sins. He went against the politicians,and stood up to the Rabbi's and stated what was right.