Fri.-Sabbath, 8/3-5/12 Devotion

Yippee--it's almost Sunday again! We *get* to go back to church! In order to help us get ready, here are the phenomenal words of Martin Luther, from his almost-unbelievably great Preface to his "Galatians" commentary. . . .

"Therefore, when I see a person who is bruised enough already being oppressed with the law, terrified with sin, and thirsting for comfort, it is time for me to remove the law and active righteousness from his sight and set before him, by the Gospel, the Christian and passive righteousness. This excludes Moses with his law and offers the promise made in Christ, who came for the afflicted and for sinners. Here we are raised up again and acquire hope; here we are no longer under the law but under grace (see Romans 6:14). How is it that we are not under the law? We live according to the new nature, to which the law does not appertain. As Paul says later on, 'Christ is the end of the law' (Romans 10:4); since He has come, Moses ceases with his law, circum-cision, sacrifices, [etc.]."