“The righteous live by their faith,” the prophet Habakkuk observed. The words impressed a young Martin Luther deeply, and he made them the centerpiece of his Reformation theology. Yet generations of Lutherans have turned faith into a work, as if by grunting and greater effort, we could have more of it. Luther wanted to be the best monk around, and he prayed and he studied and he worked to be faithful. Then with sudden clarity, he realized that the faithfulness at stake was not the disciple’s—but God’s. And God’s faithfulness is boundless.
This message is from “Scripts to Faith” by Martha E. Stortz in the April 2009 issue of Lutheran Woman Today, now Gather magazine.
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