Martin Luther Quotes
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I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.
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Religion is not 'doctrinal knowledge,' but wisdom born of personal experience.
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Since the law is good, the will, which is hostile to it, cannot be good.
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You must not murder.(Exodus 20:13) Q. What does this mean? A. We should fear and love God so that we may not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need in every need and danger of life and body.
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In a word, the Holy Scripture is the highest and best of books, abounding in comfort under all afflictions and trials. It teaches us to see, to feel, to grasp, and to comprehend faith, hope, and charity, far otherwise than mere human reason can; and while evil oppresses us, it teaches how these virtues throw light upon the darkness, and how, after this poor, miserable existence of ours on earth, there is another and an eternal life.
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What will you do in the mundane days of faithfulness?
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We must make a great difference between God's Word and the word of man. A man's word is a little sound, that flies into the air, and soon vanishes; but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, greater than death and hell, for it forms part of the power of God, and endures everlastingly.
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Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
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Our preaching does not stop with the law. That would lead to wounding without binding up, striking down and not healing, killing and not making alive, driving down to hell and not bringing back up, humbling and not exalting. Therefore, we must also preach grace and the promise of forgiveness - this is the means by which faith is awakened and properly taught. Without this word of grace, the law, contrition, penitence, and everything else are done and taught in vain.
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Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it one thousand times. This confidence in God's grace and knowledge of it makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures; and this is the work of the Holy Ghost in faith.
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Pray like it all depends on God, then when you are done, go work like it all depends on you.
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God delights in our temptations and yet hates them. He delights in them when they drive us to prayer; he hates them when they drive us to despair.
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Insurrection ... never brings about the desired improvement. For insurrection lacks discernment; it generally harms the innocent more than the guilty. Hence, no insurrection is ever right, no matter how right the cause it seeks to promote.
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I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us.
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As long as a man is persuaded that he can make even the smallest contribution to his salvation, he remains self-confident and does not utterly despair of himself, and so is not humbled before God. Such a man plans out for himself a position, an occasion, a work, which shall bring him final salvation, but which will not.
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Nothing good ever comes of violence.
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The soul can do without everything except the word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.
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Then they began to say: 'Yes, but how can we know what is God's Word, and what is right or wrong? We must learn this from the Pope and the councils.' Very well then, let them conclude and say what they please, yet I will reply, you cannot put your confidence in that nor thus satisfy your conscience, for you must determine this matter yourself, for your very life depends upon it. Therefore God must speak to your heart: This is God's Word; otherwise you are undecided.
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The bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst.
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Spare the rod and spoil the child - that is true. But, beside the rod, keep an apple to give him when he has done well.
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The fewer the words, the better the prayer.
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'For He that is mighty hath done great things for me, and Holy is His Name' (Luke 1:49). Luther comments:
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Holy Christendom has, in my judgment, no better teacher after the apostles than St. Augustine.
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Riches, understanding, beauty, are fair gifts of God.