What?
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious
31 sinners. Be a sinner and
sin32 boldly,
33 but believe and
34 rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world]
35 we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness,
36 but, as Peter says,
37 we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness
38 dwells. It is enough that by
39 the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.
40 No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins
41 by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.
42
August 1, 1521
The translation here is based on the text offered by the manuscript copy of this letter; the printed editions have a text which can be translated as: “only fictitiously sinners.”
32 The manuscript copy of this letter has the following text: “
et peccaris,” “and you will have sinned,” which makes little sense; therefore the translation is based on the text offered by the earliest printed edition.
33 Passages such as this were misunderstood and used as main arguments against Luther. Luther was interpreted as encouraging laxity and licentiousness. When the Peasants’ War broke out, this opinion was strengthened. Erasmus, for instance, constantly suspected that Luther was stimulating discontent and even rebellion with his ideas and work. For the proper understanding of this statement, see W. H. T. Dau,
Luther Examined and Re-examined (St. Louis, Mo., 1917), pp. 111 ff. See also pp. 12 f.
34 The phrase “but believe and” is missing in the manuscript copy of this letter but is found in the earliest printed edition.
35 The word “here” is missing in the manuscript copy of this letter but is found in the earliest printed edition.
36 The manuscript copy of this letter offers instead
animae, i.e., “of the soul”; the translation is based on the earliest printed edition.
37 II Pet. 3:13.
38 The manuscript copy offers instead
anima, i.e., “soul”; the translation is based on the earliest printed edition.
39 The manuscript copy offers a text which has to be translated: “that we have come to know the riches of God’s glory”; the translation is based on the earliest printed edition.
40 John 1:29.
41 See I Cor. 6:20 and I Pet. 1:18–19. The printed editions of this letter offer a text which has to be translated: “think that the price and the redemption [paid and] completed for us by … is too small?” The translation is based on the manuscript copy of this letter.
42 So according to the manuscript copy of this letter. The printed editions offer a text which has to be translated: “for you are a mighty.…”
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.):
Luther's Works, Vol. 48 : Letters I. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 1999, c1963 (Luther's Works 48), S. 48:IV-283
