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speratus said:
I have patiently maintained the needful difference between outward proof based on works and divine assurance which is obtained through the means of grace. Although works always follow faith, to deny assurance without works is to deny justification by faith alone. Do you agree with Luther?


Let Your Sins be Strong. If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. . . It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins?

I fail to see what the quote above has to do with the subject of "Assurance"? And secondly, "No!", I do not agree with those words of Luther as they appear apart from their actual context. I believe I understand the point he was trying to make, e.g., Romans 8:31-39. However, his hypothetical example is contrary to Scriptural teaching concerning the inextricable relationship between justification and sanctification. It may be that Luther wrote this early on as he did change his mind on several matters as he matured in the faith. But regardless.... you provided the quote obviously as "proof" for your personal view. And in doing so, you have erred, even twice: 1) resting on the writing of a man rather than Scripture, 2) resting on a spurious statement and not the truth. [Linked Image]

In His Grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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