# “Our hope lies in His mercy” by Martin Luther

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2012/03/22/our-hope-lies-in-his-mercy-by-martin-luther/
- Published: 2012-03-22T13:30:06-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“Paul describes this faith in most significant words, namely, _when we cry Abba!
Father! _For in the spirit of fear it is not possible to cry, for we can scarcely
open our mouth or mumble. But faith expands the heart, the emotions, and the voice,
but fear tightens up all these things and restricts them, as our own experience 
amply testifies.

Fear does not say _Abba_, but rather it hates and flees from the Father as from 
an enemy and mutters against Him as a tyrant. For those people who are in the spirit
of fear and not in the spirit of adoption do not taste how sweet the Lord is (cf.
Ps. 34:8; 1 Peter 2:3), but rather He appears to them as harsh and hard, and in 
their heart they call Him a virtual tyrant, although with their mouth they call 
Him Father, just as that slave in the Gospel who when he had hidden his master’s
money said to him: ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not
sow, etc.’ (Matt. 25:24).

Such are the people who are displeased that God accepts no man’s merits but has 
free mercy. Thus they say: ‘Thou has commanded the impossible, Thou hast not given
grace but only knowledge; this I still have, and I give it back to you.’

Rather they ought to rejoice because He has not put our hope in ourselves but only
in Himself, in His mercy. All who are of this mind are secretly saying in their 
hearts: ‘God acts in a tyrannical manner, He is not a Father, but an enemy,’ which
is also true.

But they do not know that one must agree with this enemy and that thus, and only
thus, He becomes a friend and a Father. For He will not come around to our way of
thinking and be changed for us, so that we may become His friends and sons.”

–Martin Luther, _[Luther’s Works: Lectures on Romans, Volume 25](http://www.amazon.com/Luthers-Works-Vol-25-ebook/dp/B0039QGJ20/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1332435545&sr=8-4&tag=toletaupanre-20)_(
St. Louis: Concordia, 1972), 358-359. Luther is commenting on Romans 8:15-16.

[HT: Mark Dever]

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