# “Beat it into their heads continually” by Martin Luther

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2019/06/13/beat-it-into-their-heads-continually-by-martin-luther-2/
- Published: 2019-06-13T12:00:31-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“Just as our opponents refuse to concede to us the freedom that faith in Christ 
alone justifies, so we refuse to concede to them, in turn, that faith formed by 
love justifies. Here we intend and are obliged to be rebellious and stubborn with
them, for otherwise we would lose the truth of the Gospel.

We would lose that freedom which we have, not in the emperor or in kings and princes
or in the pope or in the world or in the flesh, but in Christ Jesus.

We would lose faith in Christ, which, as I have said, takes hold of nothing but 
Christ, the Jewel. If our opponents will let us keep intact this faith by which 
we are born again, justified, and incorporated into Christ, we are willing to do
anything for them that is not contrary to this faith.

But because we cannot obtain this concession from them, we for our part will not
budge the least little bit. For the issue before us is grave and vital; it involves
the death of the Son of God, who, by the will and commandment of the Father, became
flesh, was crucified, and died for the sins of the world.

If faith yields on this point, the death of the Son of God will be in vain. Then
it is only a fable that Christ is the Savior of the world. Then God is a liar, for
He has not lived up to His promises.

Therefore our stubbornness on this issue is pious and holy; for by it we are striving
to preserve the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to keep the truth of the Gospel.

If we lose this, we lose God, Christ, all the promises, faith, righteousness, and
eternal life.

But here someone will say: ‘But the Law is divine and holy.’ Let the Law have its
glory. But no Law, no matter how divine or holy, has the right to tell me that I
obtain justification and life through it.

I will grant that it can teach me that I should love God and my neighbor, and live
in chastity, patience, etc.; but it is in no position to show me how to be delivered
from sin, the devil, death, and hell.

For this I must consult the Gospel and listen to the Gospel, which does not teach
me what I should do—for that is the proper function of the Law—but what someone 
else has done for me, namely, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has suffered and
died to deliver me from sin and death.

The Gospel commands me to accept and believe this, and this is what is called ‘the
truth of the Gospel.’ It is also the main doctrine of Christianity, in which the
knowledge of all godliness is comprehended.

It is, therefore, extremely necessary that we should know this article well, teach
it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

–Martin Luther, [_Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4_ ](https://amzn.to/2MFCjOW)(
ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; vol. 26; Saint
Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 90–91. Luther is commenting on Galatians
2:5.

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