My response was primarily concerning Martin Luther's Statement that I copy and paste below:
“The gospel is that you are more wicked than you dared to believe and more loved than you dared to hope – at the same time” – Luther
I would say to this that if you are in Christ you are no longer more wicked than you dared to believe. Jeremiah 17:9 is concerning your past, the transition into your present and future of Luke 8:15 being through Ezekiel 36:25-27.
Matthew 13:49-50, God will sever the wicked from among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Therefore Luther was mistaken in making the statement above...if you define "loved" in his above statement to mean "accepted" which is how I believe many would perceive that.
Thanks for your comments, and I will gladly share with you, on what Luther meant. Luther and the Reformation taught 'simul justus et peccator,' simultaneously righteous and sinful. So I will provide a provide R.C. Sproul concise teaching on this:
What Does “Simul Justus et Peccator” Mean?
from
Nathan W. Bingham Jan 05, 2016 Category:
Ligonier Resources
In
this excerpt from his teaching series,
“Luther and the Reformation,” Dr. R.C. Sproul shares the very heart of the gospel as he explains Martin Luther’s latin phrase,
“Simul Justus et Peccator.”
Transcript
Perhaps the formula that Luther used that is most famous and most telling at this point is his formula
simul justus et peccator. And if any formula summarizes and captures the essence of the Reformation view, it is this little formula.
Simul is the word from which we get the English word simultaneously. Or, it means ‘at the same time.’
Justus is the Latin word for just or righteous. And you all know what
et is.
Et the past tense of the verb ‘to eat.’ Have you et your dinner? No, you know that’s not what that means. You remember in the death scene of Caesar after he’s been stabbed by Brutus he says, “
Et tu, Brute?” Then fall Caesar.
And you too Brutus? It simply means 'and',
Peccator means sinner.
And so with this formula Luther was saying, in our justification we are one and the same time righteous or just, and sinners. Now if he would say that we are at the same
time and in the same
relationship just and sinners that would be a contradiction in terms. But that’s not what he was saying. He was saying from one perspective, in one sense, we are just. In another sense, from a different perspective, we are sinners; and how he defines that is simple. In and of ourselves, under the analysis of God’s scrutiny, we still have sin; we’re still sinners. But, by imputation and by faith in Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is now transferred to our account, then we are considered just or righteous. This is the very heart of the gospel.
Will I be judged in order to get into heaven by my righteousness or by the righteousness of Christ? If I had to trust in my righteousness to get into heaven, I would completely and utterly despair of any possibility of ever being redeemed. But when we see that the righteousness that is ours by faith is the perfect righteousness of Christ, then we see how glorious is the good news of the gospel. The good news is simply this, I can be reconciled to God, I can be justified by God not on the basis of what I did, but on the basis of what’s been accomplished for me by Christ.
But at the heart of the gospel is a double-imputation. My sin is imputed to Jesus. His righteousness is imputed to me. And in this two-fold transaction we see that God, Who does not negotiate sin, Who doesn’t compromise His own integrity with our salvation, but rather punishes sin fully and really after it has been imputed to Jesus, retains His own righteousness, and so He is both just and the justifier, as the apostle tells us here. So my sin goes to Jesus, His righteousness comes to me in the sight of God.
Now in that article that I provided you the link to, it explains this very thing. We will look at a few passages. Please keep in mind that I am not promoting sin, or denying good works. I am sharing with you, that sinners who believe and declared righteous on account of Christ, but we are still in these bodies of death! We have not received our glorified bodies yet. So the war begins, between the flesh vs the spirit. This is the ongoing battle believers face throughout their lives.
Let's start with 1 Tim. 1:
15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom
I am the worst.
What does Paul say here? That Christ Jesus came to save sinners! Amen, and Amen to that! And Paul says---of whom I am the worst. Did you catch that? Paul said, "I am", not I was.
In Romans 7:
13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
15For I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Every believer will struggle with sin, throughout their lives. And Sanctification of the believer is a life-long process. Which is why we teach in the perseverance of the Saints. Only in Christ Alone through Faith Alone we have assurance before God, and no other place.
Hope this helps???
God Bless!
