Words of Hope…
A desire to find peace with God led Martin Luther to devote himself to a monk’s life. As part of this, he was required to do the lowest jobs and to beg from house to house. He patiently endured this humiliation, believing it was necessary because of his sins.
He led a very strict life, trying to subdue the evils of his nature by
fasting, vigils, and whippings. Later he said, “If ever a monk could
gain heaven by his monkish works, I would certainly have been
entitled to it…. If it had continued much longer, I would have carried my self-denial even to death.”1 With all his efforts, his burdened heart found no relief. Finally he was driven nearly to despair.
When it seemed that all hope was gone, God raised up a friend for him. Staupitz opened the Word of God to Luther’s mind and urged
him to look away from self and look to Jesus. “Instead of torturing
yourself because of your sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer’s
arms. Trust in Him, in the righteousness of His life, in the atonement
of His death…. The Son of God … became man to give you the
assurance of God’s favor…. Love Him who first loved you.”2 His
words made a deep impression on Luther’s mind. Peace came to his
troubled heart.
Later, Luther spoke from the pulpit in solemn warning. He told
the people how offensive sin is to God and how impossible it is for
anyone by his own works to reduce its guilt or avoid its punishment.
Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in Christ can save the
sinner. The grace of Christ cannot be purchased—it is a free gift. He
counseled the people not to buy indulgences but to look in faith to a
crucified Redeemer. He told about his own painful experience and
assured his hearers that it was by believing in Christ that he found
peace and joy.
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Source: Ellen G. White, The Great Hope, pp. 47-48
1 J. H. Merle D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, bk. 2, ch. 3.
2 Ibid., book 2, ch. 4.