Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional

by Martin Luther, James C. Galvin (Editor)

Overview

Timeless insights from one of the most important people in church history. Some people value good works so much that they overlook faith in Christ. Faith should be first.… It is faith—without good works and prior to good works—that takes us to heaven. We come to God through faith alone. —Martin Luther Resounding across the centuries, Martin Luther’s prolific writings as a pastor, theologian, scholar, Bible translator, father, and more, remain powerful and richly relevant. Faith Alone is a treasury of accessible devotionals taken from Luther’s best writings and sermons from the years 1513 through 1546. This carefully updated translation retains the meaning, tone, and imagery of Luther’s works. Through daily readings, Luther’s straightforward approach challenges you to a more thoughtful faith. Read one brief section a day or explore themes using the subject index in the back of the book. Faith Alone will deepen your understanding of Scripture and help you more fully appreciate the mystery of faith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310317678
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	05/26/2009
Sold by:	Zondervan Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	195,133
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James C. Galvin (EdD), is a former national training director of Youth for Christ (USA), and is now an organizational consultant specializing in strategy, leadership, and change. Dedicated to releasing the potential of leaders and organizations, he has been developing resources for Christian leaders for over twenty years. He and his wife and two children live in Winfield, Illinois.

Read an Excerpt

Faith Alone

A Daily Devotional

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Zondervan

Copyright © 2005 James C. Galvin
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-26536-3

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Chapter One

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

You have often heard me say that the Christian life has two dimensions: the first is faith, and the second is good works. A believer should live a devout life and always do what is right. But the first dimension of the Christian life-faith-is more essential. The second dimension-good works-is never as valuable as faith. People of the world, however, adore good works. They regard them to be far higher than faith.

Good works have always been valued more highly than faith. Of course, it's true that we should do good works and respect the importance of them. But we should be careful that we don't elevate good works to such an extent that faith and Christ become secondary. If we esteem them too highly, good works can become the greatest idolatry. This has occurred both inside and outside of Christianity. Some people value good works so much that they overlook faith in Christ. They preach about and praise their own works instead of God's works.

Faith should be first. After faith is preached, then we should teach good works. It is faith-without good works and prior to good works-that takes us to heaven. We come to God through faith alone.

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:

When I was a monk, I didn't accomplish anything through fasting and prayer. This is because neither I nor any of the other monks acknowledged our sin and lack of reverence for God. We didn't understand original sin, and we didn't realize that unbelief is also sin. We believed and taught that no matter what people do, they can never be certain of God's kindness and mercy. As a result, the more I ran after and looked for Christ, the more he eluded me.

When I realized that it was only through God's grace that I would be enlightened and receive eternal life, I worked diligently to understand what Paul said in Romans 1:17-a righteousness from God is revealed in the gospel. I searched for a long time and tried to understand it again and again. But the Latin words for "a righteousness from God" were in my way. God's righteousness is usually defined as the characteristic by which he is sinless and condemns the sinner. All the teachers except Augustine interpreted God's righteousness as God's anger. So every time I read it, I wished that God had never revealed the gospel. Who could love a God who is angry and who judges and condemns us?

Finally, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I took a closer look at what the prophet Habakkuk said: "The righteous will live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). From this I concluded that life must come from faith. I therefore took the abstract to the concrete level, as we say in school. I related the concept of righteousness to a person becoming righteous. In other words, a person becomes righteous by faith. That opened the whole Bible-even heaven itself-to me!

January 2

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Faith Alone Copyright © 2005 by James C. Galvin. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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