Quotes by Martin Luther

About Martin Luther:

Martin Luther was a German friar, priest and professor of theology who was a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Initially an Augustinian friar, Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
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To be convinced in our hearts that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing.

Martin Luther

The soul can do without everything except the word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.

Martin Luther

To an unbelieving person nothing renders service or work for good. He himself is in servitude to all things, and all things turned out for evil to him, because he uses all things in impious way for his own advantage, and not for the glory of God.

Martin Luther

Fight vigorously against the wolves, but on behalf of the sheep, not against the sheep. And this you may do by inveighing against the laws and lawgivers, and yet at the same time observing these laws with the weak, lest they be offended, until they s...

Martin Luther

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all.

Martin Luther

Ebenso hilft es der Seele nichts, wenn der Leib heilige Kleider anlegt, wie's die Priester und Geistlichen tun, auch nicht, wenn er sich in Kirchen und heiligen Stätten befindet; auch nicht, wenn er sich mit heiligen Dingen befaßt; auch nicht, wenn...

Martin Luther

To preach Christ is to feed the soul, to justify it, to set it free, and to save it, if it believes the preaching.

Martin Luther

Being by his faith replaced afresh in paradise and created anew, he (the believer)does not need works for his justification, but that he may not be idle, but that he may exercise his own body and preserve it. His works are to be done freely, with the...

Martin Luther

the Church of Rome, formerly the most holy of all Churches, has become the most lawless den of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels, the very kingdom of sin, death, and hell; so that not even antichrist, if he were to come, could devise any ad...

Martin Luther

Love is not only pure joy, and delight, but also great and deep heaviness of heart and sorrow. But love too is full of joy and sweetness even in bitter sorrow, because it regards the misery and injury of others as its own. So also Christ was glowing ...

Martin Luther

To progress is always to begin always to begin again

Martin Luther

Therefore the words in Psalm 72:7: "In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth," must not be explained as signifying such earthly peace as the world enjoyed under Caesar Augustus, as many believe, bu...

Martin Luther

In these words the Apostle sets forth a most apt antithesis: first, he who is justified by faith has peace with God, but tribulation with the world, because his life is spiritual. Secondly, the unrighteous have peace with the world, but anguish and t...

Martin Luther

...so unbelief alone commits sin..Hence Christ calls unbelief the only sin.

Martin Luther

These words [of Romans 12:1-2] are overflowingly rich in consolation; for just then when afflictions come over us, we should be of good courage, because that is the good will of God. Therefore we should be greatly pleased when things happen to us whi...

Martin Luther

A unjust law, is no law at all.

Martin Luther

If then, Moses so distinctly announces that there is in us not only a faculty, but also a facility for keeping all commandments, why are we sweating so much? ... What need is there now of Christ or of Spirit? We have found a passage that asserts free...

Martin Luther

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.

Martin Luther

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

Martin Luther

Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.

Martin Luther

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

Martin Luther

Author Bio

  • NameMartin Luther
  • DescriptionGerman monk, priest, and professor of theology, seminal figure in Protestant Reformation
  • AliasesLuther
  • BornNovember 10, 1483
  • DiedFebruary 18, 1546
  • CountryGermany
  • ProfessionLinguist; Translator; Theologian; Writer