Transformative Grace: Luther's Insight on Sin and Righteousness

Luther's own experience had given the lie to all that left him saying after years of monkery I did not love, I hated the righteous God, I was angry with God and with that in his heart, Luther had found he could strive as hard as he wanted and yet only find himself further than ever from actually fulfilling the law by loving the Lord his God. [12:43]

Luther saw this as an assault on the very vitals of the Reformation and he responded with a blistering argument on the bondage of the will. Now the title that Luther gave his work written the next year on the bondage of the will commonly throws people but people think I make free choices don't I, is Luther saying I can't do what I want? [09:04]

Luther wrote, we do not become righteous by doing righteous deeds, rather having been made righteous we do righteous deeds. That is our sin is not he saw something we can sort out by ourselves by adjusting our performance. If we are to be righteous we have to be made righteous. [05:26]

Luther asked how shall a work please God if it comes from a reluctant resisting heart? If hearts are enslaved to the charming lies of sin if there to be one to God then the glory of God in the face of Christ must be made known to them. Christ must be shown to be better more desirable than sin. [17:58]

What Luther had seen then is that the problem of our sin goes as deep in us as it possibly could, all the way down into our hearts shaping what we want and love, and as a result we never naturally want God. So we freely choose to do the things that we want and that includes we have the ability to live a life of outward morality and respectability. [11:21]

Luther knew an outward appearance of righteousness he could achieve, but it would be nothing more than a hollow sham made of self-dependence, self-worship, self-righteousness he saw. He was like a rotten tree producing rotten fruit, and sin was in his roots, in the very grain of his deepest self. [13:08]

The act of sin has its roots in the heart and reveals that something other than God has become the true object of the heart's desire and adoration, and when played out in real life the difference between those two visions becomes very obvious. See if right behavior is the goal, and if that's a goal that everyone can achieve, if they simply exert themselves properly. [15:55]

Luther's deep view of sin and grace calls us to rely not on our efforts but on the transformative power of the gospel. It is only when we see our desperate need for grace that we can truly appreciate the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice and the depth of God's love. [22:54]

Luther had found he could strive as hard as he wanted and yet only find himself further than ever from actually fulfilling the law by loving the Lord his God. Luther knew an outward appearance of righteousness he could achieve, but it would be nothing more than a hollow sham made of self-dependence, self-worship, self-righteousness he saw. [12:43]

Luther's insight was that sin is not merely a superficial issue that can be resolved by adjusting our behavior. Instead, it is a deep-rooted problem that affects our very desires and inclinations. Our hearts, naturally inclined towards sin, need a radical transformation that only God's grace can provide. [11:31]

Luther saw because sin is a slavery, an addiction Luther saw he couldn't simply hector or order people out of it. That might bring about such a bullying pastor could bring about behavioral change you can enforce that somehow but that will only reinforce a deeper self-dependence. [19:48]

Luther's deep view of sin and grace calls us to rely not on our efforts but on the transformative power of the gospel. It is only when we see our desperate need for grace that we can truly appreciate the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice and the depth of God's love. [22:54]