The devil orders me to doubt the truth of what I have believed. But if you should begin to be in doubt as to whether or not the Gospel is true, a fall is already threatening you, just as it threatened the first human beings. Therefore those who, as Erasmus does in his Annotations, ask whether it can be proved from Scripture that Christ is the Son of God must be reproved. But if we accept this, see to it that we do not fall away from the true doctrine. Above all, it is necessary to stay with the basis of the first doctrine, in order that we may be convinced and certain. But when we are certain, then you must regard and despise as the hissing of Satan whatever has been added later. Christ died and was raised again for you. It is through Him that you must be saved. But, says the devil, what if the laws of the pope were also kept? If you are attentive here and give ear to these thoughts, you will fall from your foundation and from the previous doctrine. Therefore James says properly in chapter 4:7: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. He does not say: Argue with Satan and with a heretic. But resist by saying: The Word of God is there. If you want to believe, fine. But if you do not want to believe, go to the Parisians and argue. When you deal with heretics in another way and speak with them in a fawning manner, the devil assails you in order that he may remove the Word from your heart. Therefore avoid a heretic after admonishing him once or twice (cf. Titus 3:10). Martin Luther Luthers Works, AE 30:259, Lectures on the First Epistle of St. John, 1 John, 2:24
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 10:38:55 +0000
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