Martin Luther

One of the watchwords of the Reformation is “Justification by faith alone.” As Reformed Christians, we hold tenaciously to this foundational truth. Yet I fear that many Reformed believers have a distorted view of this glorious doctrine. As an example of sound Reformation teaching, I want to share with you a few thoughts of the great Reformer, Martin Luther, from his commentary on Galatians 3:11–14.
—Jan Neels

“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them” (vv. 11, 12). The righteousness of the law is the fulfillment of the law and that we can never accomplish. The law is a statement of debit; the gospel is a statement of credit.

When we believe in Christ, we exercise faith. When we believe in the law, we are active but have no life. After all, the function of the law is not to give life, but to kill. Who loves God with all his soul, heart, and mind, and his neighbor as himself? The law demands that we fear, love, and worship God with an undivided heart. Anyone pursuing obedience to the law utterly fails to do this.

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (v. 13). When Christ took on Himself the sins of the whole world, He was no longer innocent; the law hanged him as a sinner. Our merciful Father in heaven saw how the law oppressed us and how impossible it was for us to get out from under its curse. So He sent His Son into the world and as much as said to Him, “Thou art now Peter the liar, Paul the persecutor, David the adulterer, Adam the disobedient. Thou, my Son, will pay for the iniquity of my people!”

The law growls, “All right, if Thy Son is taking the sin of the world, I see no sin anywhere but in Him. He shall die on the cross.” So the law kills Christ, and we go free. If He bears our sins, we do not bear them. That’s why Paul exclaims, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). When we hear that Christ was made a curse for us, let us believe it with joy and assurance! By faith, Christ changes places with us. He gets our sins, and we get His holiness.

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ” (v. 14a). The Old Testament gospel promise to Abraham—“In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed”—came only by Christ, the seed of Abraham. To become our blessing, Christ had to be made a curse. The merits we plead and the work we offer to God is Christ who was made a curse for us. Let us praise God for transferring our evil, our death, and our sins to Christ, and the righteousness and blessings from Christ to us. “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (v. 14b). The promised Spirit spells freedom from the law, sin, death, curse, hell, and judgment of God. The promised blessings of the Holy Spirit are received by faith alone. Faith builds on the promises of God in Christ. As Reformed believers, we confess, “I believe one holy universal church.” It is a holy church. That means there is no sin, evil, or curse in the church of God. Yet, when we believe, our eyes will find many shortcomings in the members of the church including ourselves. You see them succumb to temptations, act weak in faith, give way to anger and envy. So how can this church be holy? It is the same with the Christian church as it is with the individual Christian. When I examine myself, there is enough unholiness to shock me. But when I look by faith to Christ, I find that I am altogether holy! When I remember that the righteous live by faith, I rest—not in my works or merits, but in Christ’s.

Martin Luther (1483–1546) was the great reformer who God used to usher in the sixteenth-century Reformation. This article was quoted from A Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther (Grand Rapids: Zondervan).