I
am no Martin Luther scholar. However, I bumped into a famous saying
of his the other day, and I thought it would be good to comment on
it. I think that he has some wisdom for us.
The
saying I have in mind is his 'sin boldly' comment in a letter to
Philip Melanchthon, his close associate. Here's the significant part
of the letter.
If you are a preacher of grace, then
preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must
bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who
are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe
and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over
sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we
have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness,
but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s
glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the
world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit
fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the
purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so
great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly – you too are a mighty
sinner.
Now,
with one eye on what little I know about Luther and the other on what
I see around me these days let me offer a very loose
paraphrase:
Philip, the need of the day is for
Christians who live boldly. This is no time for being timid. We need
to pursue the Father's call upon our lives. That will mean that we
will need to make some hard decisions, fateful decisions, which makes
them dangerous decisions. So, Philip, don't be afraid to decide, even
if it will mean that you're going to get it wrong. Of course, you're
going to get it wrong. You're going to make some really bad decisions
at times. But what did you expect? You're a sinner. So, there will be
those times when you will have to act boldly even though it may mean
that you are, in fact, sinning boldly. But understand this. Your
living boldly will depend on your believing boldly. Jesus has come.
He has provided forgiveness for all of our sins. All of them! Think
of it, Philip, all of them! So, yes, as you work at living
boldly you just might sin. In fact, I am sure that you will. But do
not fear. Jesus has saved you. So, live boldly for him. Do not be
timid. Act decisively for the sake of the Gospel, even if it means
getting it very wrong at times.
Two
thoughts about Luther's statement. First, I realize that what he
wrote is open for all kinds of misunderstanding and abuse. But there
are times when you just need to say something bluntly and then,
later, explain and clarify. Sometimes you have to shake people up a
bit. Second, Luther could write this because he understood grace. We
do not see the profound ugliness of our sin and how that sin has
touched everything in our lives. We think that we have some problems,
especially in one or two areas of our lives. But overall, we're not
that bad. And that's why we don't need all that much grace. That is a
lie from Satan. It is still true that 'all our righteousness is as
filthy rags'. We are far worse than what we think. But in Jesus, the
Father offers real grace. Real grace for real sinners. Us. Luther
understood this. And it freed him up to live boldly for Jesus. Did he
get it wrong at times? Absolutely. Did the Father continue to love
him the same anyway? Absolutely.
I
suspect that Luther's advice to Melanchthon is advice that many of us
need to hear. We live in difficult times. Being faithful disciples of
Jesus these days will mean that we will need to live boldly,
especially in the face of a hostile world. But, instead, we live
timid lives, afraid of sinning. How silly. Of course we'll sin! But
because of our timidity (as well as our desire to maintain the myth
that we aren't all that bad) the world is going to hell.