Lord’s Prayer: “In short, the Pater Noster (as well as the name and Word of God) is the greatest martyr on earth; for everyone torments and misuses it, and few comfort and cheer it by using it correctly.” [SL 10, 1401f.]
Lord’s Supper: “While pointing to the bread, it is entirely correct to say: This is Christ’s body, and whoever sees this bread sees Christ’s body. Just so John said, as we heard, that he saw the Holy Spirit when he saw the dove. So we also rightly say: Whoever attacks this bread attacks Christ’s body.” [SL 20, 1032]
Lord’s Supper: “One could actually say to Him: The New Testament is to be a fulfillment and a light in comparison with the Old Testament; but you invert the order, so that the New Testament is really an emptying and a darkness in comparison with the Old Testament. For there we find at least a lamb, a living body, which is sacrificed for the people. This pictures the body of Christ far more clearly and plainly than does mere bread, which is actually an obscure figure in comparison with a lamb. This pictures Christ’s blood far more clearly and plainly than does mere wine… Therefore if all things, also the figures, are to be more perfect in the New Testament than in the Old, then Christ would justly have let us stay with that old supper, or it is not true that only bread and wine are present in our Supper; for it must truly excel Moses’ supper very greatly. Otherwise Christ would not have abolished it.” [SL 20, 996ff.]
Lord’s Supper: [as to the matter of administering Lord’s Supper] “It will not do in this matter to require or establish some indispensable form as a law which ensnares and vexes consciences. This is also the reason why we do not find any complete example of such a form in the ancient fathers and in the primitive church except in the Roman Church… Even if different people use different forms, let no one either judge or despise the other.” [SL 10, 2245f.]
Lord’s Supper: “For bread is made out of many grains, ground and mixed together. Out of the many bodies of grain comes one loaf of bread. In it the individual grain loses its body and form and assumes the common body of the bread. Likewise, the drops of wine lose their own form and become the body of one wine. Just so should and will it be with us if we use this Sacrament right… Through the love of Christ we are to be changed and are to make the infirmities of all other Christians are own, take upon ourselves their form and needs, and let them have all the good we are able to give them that they may enjoy it.” [SL 19, 435f.]
Love, Divine: “What
heart should now not joyfully expect everything good from Him, since He has
revealed Himself in such love that He presents His dear Son to wicked,
desperate people (that is, to the entire world, to all human beings), who have
never done anything good and have acted contrary to His commandment every
hour?” [SL 11, 1101f.] John 3:16-21
Love, Human: “In
short, as Paul himself puts it [in
Love, Human: “Genuine, divine, full, and perfect love is the kind that excludes no one, that is not partial or selective but freely goes out to all. The other is a crafty love—when I am a good friend of him who serves me, etc.” [SL 9, 891f.]
Luther: “Outwardly
I was not as other men… Meanwhile, however, I constantly fostered mistrust,
doubt, fear, hatred, and blasphemy of God with this sort of sanctity and
self-confidence. And this righteousness
of mine was nothing but a dunghill and a realm most pleasing to the devil. For Satan loves such saints and regards with
the greatest delight.” [SL 9, 102] Gal. 1:5-17
Luther: “What
good am I deriving from rebuking the pope?
Neither is he nor am I improved by my doing so. But Christ is concerned, upon whose honor,
fame, and praise the pope has designs, because he is preaching and teaching
such doctrines as only tend to destroy Christ.
For if Christ stands, the pope falls; if the pope falls, Christ stands.” [SL 11, 2076f.] Matt. 23:34-49
Luther: “I have never boasted of my holiness on any point… We are not discussing life but doctrine. The doctrine may well be correctly taught by a person even though his life is evil. Bad doctrine is a thousand times more harmful than a bad life.” [SL 15, 1413]
Luther: “Whatever
I am personally does not matter. Yet I
can boast before God with a clear conscience that I am not seeking my own
advantage, which I could attain far better by remaining silent; but, believe it
or not, I mean well with you and all
Lying: “There are three kinds of lies. The helpful lie should be told; the jocular lie may be told; the harmful lie neither should nor may be told.” [W-T 1, No. 412]
Man: “This is what all unbelievers lack: they do not appreciate a child’s faith… The conception and generation of all human beings out of a little drop of blood is a miracle no less than the formation of Adam out of the clay of the earth and of Eve out of a rib covered with flesh.
The world is full of these divine miracles, and yet it is very blind to them… In short, if we believe in an omnipotent God and a God of promise, we can easily believe everything.” [W-T 5, No. 6031]
Man: “The proverb says: Nothing is remembered longer than an injury, and nothing is more quickly forgotten than a benefaction. And our natural depravity is at fault in both cases, since the very opposite should be true. For the good nature of a man is recognized by the fact that he quickly forgets an offense and always remembers a benefaction… Conversely, however, it is characteristic of an evil nature always to remember an offense and always to upbraid and reproach one with things long past.” [SL 3, 1281]
Marriage: “The
man who has the gift to live chastely without a wife is an angel on earth and
enjoys a quiet life.” [SL 7, 982] Matt. 19:10-12
Marriage: “Nor
does a young man or girl commit a sin by thinking about his or her future
spouse. In fact, dinners are arranged in
order to get marriageable young people acquainted, social gatherings of respectable
folk, and dances, which, if they are decent and modest, are in no wise to be
condemned.” [SL 1, 1682] Gen. 24:5-7
Marriage: “If
you have the gift of abstinence and can live without sin, well and good. Then abstain from sex life. But if you cannot without sin abstain from
uniting with a woman, then make use of the remedy which God points out to
you. And if you do not seek to become a
father, seek at least a remedy against sin that you may avoid fornication and
adultery, pollutions, and irregular satisfaction of evil desires.” [SL 2, 361]
Gen. 28:1-2
Marriage: “Married folk are not to act as they now usually do. The men are almost lions in their homes, hard toward their wives and servants. The women, too, everywhere want to domineer and have their husbands as servants…
Marriages in
which both husband and wife are contrary are the common variety, as the proverb
has it: ‘Three
things are rare but dear to God: the
unity of brethren, the love of neighbors, a man and a wife that agree
together.’ But the reason why this is so
rare is that people enter upon this kind of life without prayer.” [SL 1, 1353f.] Gen. 20:11-13
Marriage: “This
life is full of endless offenses; this is seen primarily in domestic relations. Therefore those who are married should be
prepared to condone and forget their mutual offenses, no matter how great they
may be, and should resume their customary loving behavior in their association
with each other.” [SL 2, 161] Gen. 26:8
Mass: “I wish I had been a pander or a robber rather than to have sacrificed Christ for fifteen years by saying Mass.” [W-T 1, No. 894]
Means of Grace: “Nothing
is more dangerous for a man than to arrange a way to God for and by himself and
to depend on his own ideas.” [SL 1, 1046f.] Gen.
17:2-6
June 25
Merit: “If I
were to see heaven standing open and could earn it by picking up a piece of
straw, I still would not want to do so; for I would not want to be in a
position to say: Behold, I have earned
it. No, no! Not to my merit but to God be the glory, to
God who has sacrificed His Son for me and destroyed my sin and hell.” [SL 11, 1453]
Luke 16:1-9
Ministers: “Scripture
certainly praises and lauds this position very highly.
Ministers: “I
cannot foresee the fruit of my teaching, which people are to be converted and
which not… Who are you, after all, to search out these things? Do your duty and leave the result to
God.” [SL 2, 748] Gen. 32:6-8
Ministers: “He who wants to be a minister should
strive with his whole heart to seek only the glory of God and the improvement
of his neighbor. If this is not his sole
aim but his intention is to consider his profit and loss in this office, you
dare have no hope that he will stand.”
[SL 13a, 555] John 10:12-16
Ministers: “I
do not doubt at all that at that very time, when He showed such humility by
washing feet, the Lord saw what would happen in church government, particularly
in the last times. He saw that the
ministering would be forgotten and that only honor and glory would be thought
of.” [SL 13a, 323]
Ministry: “Since
all things must be done orderly in the church, all may not teach—promiscuously,
that is—but only those who have been called to teach. So the difference between clergymen and
laymen is solely one of office, not of right.”
[SL 6, 483]