"Forgiveness is God's command"
About this Quote
Martin Luther compresses his Reformation theology into a stark imperative: forgiveness is not a gentle ideal or a therapeutic technique, but obedience to God. Command makes forgiveness objective and nonnegotiable. It does not wait for feelings to catch up; it issues from the divine will revealed in Scripture, especially in Jesus words about loving enemies and the petition of the Lord's Prayer. Luther taught that when believers pray, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, they bind their own plea for mercy to their willingness to show mercy. In the Small Catechism he explains that God forgives daily and richly, and we likewise truly forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.
Calling forgiveness a command also reveals the law-and-gospel dynamic at the heart of Luther's thought. The law exposes how hard forgiving actually is. Resentment, pride, and the desire for revenge run deep. The command strips away excuses and drives the conscience to Christ, whose own forgiveness of sinners is the source and power for our forgiving. The gospel is not a soft suggestion but a creative word that makes new hearts. God commands what God also gives: the capacity to release debts because we have been released first.
Luther's realism keeps forgiveness from collapsing into permissiveness. In his two-kingdoms teaching he distinguishes between personal forgiveness and public justice. Christians may forgive from the heart while still upholding the proper work of civil authority to restrain evil. The point is not to abolish accountability, but to end cycles of vengeance and restore neighbors.
Placed against the backdrop of indulgence-selling and anxious consciences, the line underscores that forgiveness is God's domain. It cannot be bought, brokered, or hoarded. It is received by faith and enacted in love. To refuse it is to rebel against God's clear will; to practice it is to participate in the very mercy that reformed Luther's world.
Calling forgiveness a command also reveals the law-and-gospel dynamic at the heart of Luther's thought. The law exposes how hard forgiving actually is. Resentment, pride, and the desire for revenge run deep. The command strips away excuses and drives the conscience to Christ, whose own forgiveness of sinners is the source and power for our forgiving. The gospel is not a soft suggestion but a creative word that makes new hearts. God commands what God also gives: the capacity to release debts because we have been released first.
Luther's realism keeps forgiveness from collapsing into permissiveness. In his two-kingdoms teaching he distinguishes between personal forgiveness and public justice. Christians may forgive from the heart while still upholding the proper work of civil authority to restrain evil. The point is not to abolish accountability, but to end cycles of vengeance and restore neighbors.
Placed against the backdrop of indulgence-selling and anxious consciences, the line underscores that forgiveness is God's domain. It cannot be bought, brokered, or hoarded. It is received by faith and enacted in love. To refuse it is to rebel against God's clear will; to practice it is to participate in the very mercy that reformed Luther's world.
Quote Details
| Topic | Forgiveness |
|---|
More Quotes by Martin
Add to List
