Written by Pastor Jack Wellman“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
– Martin Luther
Martin Luther Faith Quote Commentary
Martin Luther’s quote on faith above should definitely act like a beacon of light for all Christians who find themselves shaken and tossed around by the world. Martin Luther’s description of faith acts like a lighthouse perched on solid bedrock in the middle of a fierce storm. By focusing on the solidity of faith, we can weather any storm. Faith only has power if it is lived. It delivers unshakable stability-but only if we let ourselves trust God and live in faith.
Faith is a gift from God
One of the great lessons of the Bible is found in the letter of Paul to the Hebrews. In one passage, he describes God as the ‘author and finisher’ of our faith. This is very powerful. This goes to the core of faith. The reality is that humans don’t have a capacity for enduring faith on their own. We are simply too weak. It doesn’t take much challenges or temptations for us to lose our faith if we are relying on our own strength. Instead, whatever faith we have come from God. He draws us. We only need to accept the invitation and give his Holy Spirit permission to enter our lives. He does the heavy lifting. We only need to keep the door open as his Spirit continues to work on our lives and shed the light of faith on our hearts.
God does all the work
It is no empty detail in the bible when Jesus said that people should take on his yoke. He said that his yoke is light. The reality is that all yokes are heavy-they are made of iron and wood. Jesus’ yoke is light because when we accept him by faith, the faith he gave us, he does the work for us. His Holy Spirit works in our lives so we are able to follow his commandments. We can’t do this on our own but thanks to God’s Spirit, we are able to conquer our addictions, our negative thinking, our tendency to sin. As long as we keep the door of our hearts open to God’s spirit as it continues to channel grace into our heart, our faith can be strengthened by God’s grace.
God’s grace strengthens our faith. God’s grace is the life force of our faith. We only need to give God permission and he will run to us. We can be confident in this. We can build our lives on this solid bedrock of God’s reassurance. This is how God perfects our faith.
