literally “good news.” The good news is the story of Christ, the eternal Son
of God, who became incarnate for the love of us sinners, dying on the cross,
and being raised from the dead. Christian faith means not only believing
this story, but believing that Christ did this “for us” (pro nobis), which also
means pro me, or “for me.”
The Gospel is also a promise in which Christ is given to us. Faith, for
Luther and all Protestantism after him, is always faith in Christ’s promise.
By believing this promise, a sinner is united to Christ and receives all that
is his, including his righteousness, holiness,
and eternal life. Luther compares this to a
marriage, in which we receive Christ (as the
bridegroom) and all his riches, while he takes
us to himself together with all our sins and
debts, making them his own and destroying
them on the cross.
Luther’s epochal doctrine of justi¿ cation
by faith alone stems from his conviction
that only faith in the Gospel can do us
any good spiritually. Justi¿ cation (from the Latin justitia, often translated
“righteousness”) is about how we become righteous or just in God’s sight.
Luther teaches that we are justi¿ ed by faith alone (in Latin, sola ¿ de), apart
from works of the Law. According to Luther, sinners cannot receive Christ
by doing good works but only by believing the Gospel.
Luther’s doctrine of justi¿ cation has radical implications that Luther fully
accepted. He insists on cutting this connection by excluding reason and
free will from any role in salvation. Our own righteousness is so far from
contributing to our salvation that our good works are always in themselves
mortal sins. In a famous and controversial formulation, Luther says, “We are
at the same time righteous and sinners” (simul justus et peccator), because
we are righteous by faith in Christ but sinners by our good works.
Luther’s doctrine of justi¿ cation excludes good works from salvation but not
from the Christian life. Good works, precisely because it is our own rather
than Christ’s, makes no contribution whatsoever to our salvation. The value
The most distinctive
theme in Luther’s
theology is the
contrast between two
forms of the word of
God: Law and Gospel.