|
By Faith
According to a letter written by Martin Luther’s youngest son, Dr. Paul Luther, and preserved in the Library of Rudolstadt, Martin Luther (1483-1546) related to his family the story of his conversion. He acknowledged that it was while he was visiting in Rome that he came to the knowledge of the truth of the gospel.
As multitudes have done, Luther, then a young Saxon monk, troubled by conscience and heavily burdened with a load of sin, was ascending the Sancta Scala, or “holy stairs” (twenty-eight broad marble stairs, claimed to be the very steps Jesus walked on when sentenced by Pilate in Jerusalem) on his hands and knees, repeating his prayers on each step in hopes of receiving a blessing. In his zeal, he hoped to be rid of his burden and obtain the favor of God, when suddenly the words of the prophet Habakkuk came forcibly and incessantly to his mind and heart, “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
At once, he arose and, returning to Germany, took up this text as his motto for life and his preaching the truth of the gospel. How wonderful to realize that there is nothing we can to do save ourselves, and then to realize that everything has been done by the Lord on the Cross of Calvary.
|
