The True Christian Faith

“He who believes in me (said Christ), though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die,” John 11, verses 25 and 26.

“For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” First Corinthians 3, verse 11.

We wish all the chosen children of God, our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, an increase of faith, grace, peace and spiritual joy, perfect righteousness and eternal life, all of which is from God our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ his only begotten Son, our Lord, who loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood. To him be praise, honor, glory, kingdom, power and majesty, from eternity to eternity. Amen.

Chosen, beloved children, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: although, O God, we are so unwisely prevented by this irrational, blind world from preaching the true gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to everyone by word of mouth; and although the cruel, bloody tyranny, encouraged by our useless, wicked priests and preachers, is used so unrestrainedly against Christ and his word (for these poor children seek and love dross more than gold, chaff more than wheat, lies more than truth, and darkness more than light), yet God’s only invincible truth, which always triumphs through the Holy Spirit in the true children of God, shall bear its crown. This is so even though it is stung so miserably in the heel by the conquered serpent and his seed, the proud despisers, liars and shedders of blood, that it can scarcely stand in obedience to its Lord Jesus Christ. For all their raving, this envious, bloody seed and serpent must remain under its sway, with bruised head and quite powerless, for through the power of the Spirit and the gospel truth in Christ Jesus he is wholly overcome.

Since, then, this old, crooked serpent, which from the beginning was proudly and falsely opposed to God and was a cruel murderer, is put under the feet of Christ and his church, and has endured and seen his lying seed destroyed and trampled underfoot through the revealed truth, he therefore gnashes his teeth in furious rage and breathes out his accursed, infernal breath of heresy through his prophets and preachers. He casts out of his mouth the terrible streams of tyranny, through the rulers and the mighty of the earth, after the glorious church (the woman), pregnant with the word of the Lord, intending to exterminate and destroy her seed. But God be eternally praised, who has protected her against the red dragon and has prepared her a place in the wilderness.

Since, then, for the reasons given, I cannot teach publicly, I will nevertheless serve you by writing, as long as the Lord permits me and I live. I will serve you with my small talents, which the gracious Father has granted me through his Son Christ Jesus out of the abundant treasury of his heavenly riches. I say with Paul: not with the wisdom of man, not with words of wisdom will I serve you, for I neither possess nor know them. I let those seek them who are eager for them. My boasting, with Paul, is only to know Christ, and him crucified; for to know him is eternal life. Therefore God cannot endow us with better wisdom than this, although it is foolishness to the world; for truth is more precious than gold and silver, than all pearls and precious stones; there is nothing under heaven to be compared to her. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace; she is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her, and happy is everyone who retains her.

Yes, beloved brothers, everyone who is thus rightly taught of God in this wisdom (for she is the wisdom of the saints) may glory, by the grace given him, over all graduated doctors, theologians, jurists, orators and poets, even if he could neither write nor speak, and were the most helpless person on earth. But all those who are not instructed by God in this wisdom, though they were as glorious as Solomon, as victorious as Alexander, as rich as Crœsus, as strong as Hercules, as learned as Plato, as subtle as Aristotle, as eloquent as Demosthenes and Cicero, and as skilled in languages as Mithridates; yes, so greatly experienced that his like had not been found since the beginning, he is nevertheless a fool in the eyes of the Lord. This must be confessed and acknowledged.

With this wisdom, I say, as much of it as the gracious Father, the Giver of every perfect gift, has given me through his Son Jesus Christ, I desire with all my heart to serve not only our brothers and sisters but the whole world, so that all the hungry and thirsty souls who desire to live according to the will of the Lord may be clothed from above and satisfied with this heavenly wisdom; those souls which he created for his honor and purchased with the blood of his Son, that they may learn to know God in spirit through his Son and word, who says, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord,” Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24.

O dear children, you who are born of the word of the Lord through the Spirit, reflect rightly in your hearts upon these things: how incomprehensibly great are the heavenly bounty and grace which have appeared to us through Christ and have been given us by the Father, that he has so graciously bestowed upon us grievous sinners, in our most abominable blindness, the glorious and divine gift of his wisdom; yes, when we knew neither God nor Christ, were strangers to the life that is from God, children of wrath and of eternal death, did not know the word of peace, and strayed like sheep that knew no shepherd; that he has so graciously bestowed upon us this great treasure, the true knowledge of the kingdom of God, the treasure which lies buried in the field, which he discovered to us by his Spirit, and has made known to us the mystery of his good will and the true regenerating meaning of his holy gospel, which cannot be taught in colleges, cannot be purchased, is not to be brought from foreign lands, nor can it be merited by anything; that with the key of his word and Spirit he has opened to us the saving truth, and has closed it to all emperors, kings, lords, princes, the wise and the learned, before the whole world; that he redeemed us from the power of darkness and, according to his will and good pleasure, led us into the kingdom of his dear Son; yes, that he has made us kings and priests, that we are to be a chosen and holy people, a people to serve him in love and to be his own, that we are to publish his power and virtue, because he has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, as Peter says. O great grace and love!

Most beloved brothers, always rejoice in the Lord. Again I say with Paul, rejoice that the great King Jesus Christ, who has all power in heaven and on earth, has shown such grace toward you, that he has called you, poor, unesteemed children, you who are the reproach and disgrace of the whole world, to such high honor, and has made you kings and priests. Kings, I say, who have been anointed with the oil of grace through the Holy Spirit, crowned with the crown of honor, clothed with the garment of righteousness, and governed by Christ your King; not with the weapons of death, such as firearms, spears, swords, horses, riders and servants, as the kings of this world do, but with the invincible and eternal scepter of the power of God, namely, with the sharp-edged sword of the holy word, which by virtue of your unconquerable faith will victoriously triumph over gold, silver, cities, countries, lords, princes, flesh, blood, banners, banishment, swords, stakes, water, fire, hunger, thirst, nakedness, hell, sin, law, fear, devil and death. You will be perfect in life and in death, and secure from all your enemies, both visible and invisible, who would deprive and rob you of the promised kingdom through the counsel and seed of the old serpent. The dominion and government of the spiritual king are spiritual; therefore they cannot be fatally hurt or conquered by tyranny, false doctrine or evil lusts; for they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them, who is also their helper and redeemer, whose shield and sword is their glory.

Again, you are also priests anointed of God, not with the outward oil of Aaron and his sons, nor with the perishable blood of oxen and sheep, nor with the splendid garments of gold, silk and precious stones, as the law required; but anointed, sprinkled and affected with the oil of the Holy Spirit and with the blood of Christ, and clothed with the garment of righteousness; ordained and called of God, not to slay creatures daily and offer them upon altars in outward temples of stone, as Moses commanded the priests in the law, but to slay human beings all your lives with the sword of the divine word (understand it spiritually), together with your own rebellious flesh and blood; that is, that you teach and reprove them and yourselves with the Spirit and word of the Lord, so that you and they die to your unrighteousness and evil lusts and destroy them, and so offer, in your spiritual house or temple not made with hands, upon the only and eternal altar of our reconciliation, Jesus Christ.

Besides, you are not such priests as offer bread and wine of their own righteousness for the sins and transgressions of the common people and for the souls of the dead; nor are you to sing or read mass, nor to worship the gold, silver, wooden and stone images, nor serve them or burn incense to them, as the poor, ignorant priests of the world do. But you are holy priests, who purify and sanctify your own bodies daily, and in time of need willingly offer them as a sweet-smelling sacrifice for the truth’s sake, together with your ardent prayers and joyful thanksgiving, out of a believing, converted, pure heart; for such offerings are well pleasing to the Lord.

Would to God that all who are called priests were changed into such priests! Ah, how much innocent blood would be spared, how gloriously the truth would be spread, and what a noble Christian world this would be!

Tell me, beloved brothers, who can fully comprehend this grace or tell of these benefits? Again, in times past we all strayed like lost sheep that have no shepherd; we walked according to the lusts of our evil flesh, as all do who do not know the way of the Father; we were unbelievers in divine things, blind and without understanding, full of bruises and putrefying sores from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, and by nature children of wrath like others. But blessed be the Lord, now we are washed, now we are sanctified, now we are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of our God, First Corinthians 6, verse 11. In short, we are converted to the true Shepherd and keeper of our souls, Jesus Christ, who pastures us in the rich pastures of his truth, feeds us with the bread of his word, sustains us with the tree of life, and refreshes us with the water of his Spirit. Who can comprehend and tell of this grace?

Besides this, when we were still ungodly and enemies, he did not punish us as he did the angels that sinned, nor like the first depraved world, nor like Sodom and Gomorrah, nor like those who worshiped the calf, nor like those in the day of provocation, nor like the seditious and the adulterers, nor like those in the wilderness who acted contrary to his will and word, for he destroyed all of them. But he saved us through his great mercy, led us by his right hand, drew us by his goodness, renewed us by his word, begot us by the Holy Spirit, and enlightened us by the clear light of his truth, so that by his grace we renounced the world, the flesh, the devil and all manner of evil, willingly entered upon the path of peace, and submitted to the easy yoke of his gospel. It seems to me that this may properly be called grace.

Most beloved children, take heed. Since the gracious Father has dealt so marvelously with us according to his great mercy, and has shown his love toward us without our merits, it is right and fitting that we also love, fear, praise and honor such a kind Lord and merciful Father, serve him with all our powers, and be obedient to him in all our weakness.

For he has shown toward us afflicted sinners such unspeakable love and grace, as has been said; and this love and grace cannot be rightly seen and understood with the blind eyes and ignorant reason of the flesh, but must be seen and understood with the inward eyes of the mind and through the anointing of the Holy Spirit; that is, with a sincere, sure, immovable, confident, vigorous, unfeigned and pure faith, such as the Scriptures teach.

Such an unfeigned faith being required, as mentioned, and finding clearly in the word of the Lord that all the dealing and aim of true Christianity, concerning the new birth or new creature, true repentance, dying to sin, a new life, true righteousness, obedience, salvation and eternal life, lie in a sincere, active faith, according to all Scripture, as may be seen and read in many passages, I have therefore, through the grace of the Lord, undertaken to prove to all lovers of eternal truth, by divine testimony from the word of the Lord, which is the true doctrine that avails before God and has the promise in the Scriptures; namely, the one which has energy, power, work and effect, in agreement with the gospel of Christ and the doctrines of the apostles. I have done this so that all who see, read or hear our writings may thoroughly and understandingly know that the stubborn, fruitless faith of this world is vain and dead, and is eternally banished and accursed of God, and its fruits are vain hypocrisy, commandments of men, idolatry and false service. It regenerates no one; it is earthly and carnally minded, hating and persecuting the truth; for this faith knows neither Christ nor his word, as may be plainly seen throughout the whole world. God knows of no other faith than that which has power and fruit, regenerates the heart, converts and renews, as the Scriptures say, “The just shall live by faith,” Habakkuk 2, verse 4.

It is all in vain to boast of faith where the godly, new fruits and works of faith are not found.

I therefore exhort all my God-fearing readers in the Lord, and entreat all, to impress these things on their souls and write them on the tablets of their hearts: that our holy and Christian faith is not a dead or outworn speculation, as the world thinks, nor is it only boasting with words, as we find it among the great and tolerated sects. But it is an active gift and power of God, a living, heavenly inspiration in a melted, open heart or conscience, which firmly believes, lays hold upon and acknowledges the whole word of God (the threatening law as well as the consoling gospel) to be right and true, by which the heart is pierced and moved through the Holy Spirit with a peculiar, regenerating, renewing, life-giving power. And first it produces the fear of God, for it knows the judgment and wrath of the Lord upon all transgressions and sins which are committed against his will and word. The heart dreads, fears and stands astonished before God, and therefore dares not do, counsel or permit anything which it acknowledges, through the word and in the Spirit, that God, the righteous judge, hates and forbids in his holy word.

This faith also produces the love of God, by which we love him; for it acknowledges from the testimony of the holy Scriptures, rightly understood in the Spirit, the unsearchably great riches of grace with which our merciful, good Father has so graciously endowed us through Christ. Therefore it loves its loving God in return, awakened by the manifest kindness of this grace, and so is willingly urged, through the active power of love (arising from such unfeigned faith), to obedience to all the commands of God, even as Christ says, “If a man loves me, he will keep my words,” John 14, verse 23.

See, this is the faith with which we have to deal in the following writings. It is the only faith which has the promise in Scripture of salvation and eternal life through Christ, the only and firstborn Son of God. To him be praise, honor and glory from eternity to eternity. Amen.

We see that if anyone wishes to build a good house or a high and lasting tower, a solid foundation is laid first, so that it will bear the heavy building above it, and so that the work, begun at such great expense, is not ruinously and shamefully torn down and abandoned. So it must be with all true Christians: they must have in their hearts such a sure and solid foundation that they may stand unshaken in the building of their faith against all the raging tempests, rains and floods, which will try them not a little; so that by the help of the Lord they may successfully finish the work and building they have undertaken, and may not depart again from the right road, to the everlasting shame and injury of their poor souls. Paul says, “If any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him,” Hebrews 10, verse 38.

Faithful brothers, take heed. This precious and only well-fitted cornerstone, ground and foundation in Zion, prepared for us by the Father, upon which we have to build the edifice of our faith, is Jesus Christ. All who are founded upon this ground will not be consumed by the fire of tribulation; for they are living stones in the temple of the Lord; they are like gold, silver and precious stones, and can never be overcome by the gates of hell, such as false doctrine, flesh, blood, the world, sin, the devil, water, fire, sword or any other means, however sorely they are tried. For they are founded upon Christ, confirmed in the faith and assured in the word through the Holy Spirit, so that all the furious and bloody Neros under heaven, with all their cruel tyranny, cannot turn them away from the pure and wholesome doctrine of Christ, nor divert them from a blameless and pious life, which is of God, as we have seen in many places for more than twenty years past. For they are as immovable as Mount Zion, firm pillars, brave soldiers, and pious, valiant witnesses of Christ; they have fought until death, and fight daily, for the word and truth of the Lord (God be eternally praised). I speak of those who have the Spirit and word of the Lord.

Yes, that stone lies firm in their hearts and is so sealed in them by faith that in their greatest need they regard neither father nor mother, wife nor child, money nor possessions, life nor death. For they are so constrained in their hearts by reverence for God, because Christ says, “Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven,” Matthew 10, verses 32 and 33, that they are not allowed to speak a false word, even to escape the hands of the bloodthirsty and the dangers of death, as may be seen.

But I fear, yes, it is indeed found to be the case, that the greater part of all those who call these poor innocent sheep accursed heretics, who betray, catch and banish them and take their lives and possessions, are not ashamed, and do not tremble before their God who hates all lies, to say yes for no and no for yes for the sake of a stiver, and yet dare to boast of Christ and call themselves by his name. If they are such liars and so unfaithful in small things, what they would do in greater things, where life and possessions are at stake, as is the case with these poor sheep, may easily be imagined. [Note 1]

O reader, reflect. If the old, crooked serpent, with all his deception, falsehood and lies, lived in the hearts of the Christians, as it does in their persecutors, their goods would not be plundered and their blood would not be shed. And they would not only conceal the truth, but would hate and oppose it together with all the children of the devil. All who are born of the truth hate lies. Again, all who are born of lies hate the truth. If they hate the truth, how can they speak it, especially when life and possessions are at stake? If our rulers and judges wish to be assured of this difference, let them call some of their evildoers who are guilty of death before the judgment seat and examine them about the things of which they are accused, but without punishing them. What does it avail? Would they freely confess their guilt, for which they are to die, as these innocent children do in their faith? Yes, what is more, let your most highly renowned monks in their professions, caps and so on, and your most accomplished priests in their terms and masses, be tested as severely as you test these in their faith; then we will see what becomes of all their professions, caps, terms and masses. But the common proverb is: The wolf escapes, but the lamb has to suffer.

Since, then, I say, in all those who are born of the truth and have Christ and his truth and his Spirit dwelling in their hearts we find, during their lives and in death, nothing but the simple, plain truth of Christ, by which they are born to righteousness and converted; yet it is manifest that, however piously and blamelessly they live, our lying, adulterous, lewd, idolatrous, drunken priests and monks (who openly rob God of his glory and maliciously murder those whom Christ purchased with his precious blood, slander them before the whole world, and betray them and bring them to the stocks and posts, and all this for no other reason than that they are urged by the manifest truth, by their strong faith and by the Spirit and fear of the Lord to renounce their leaven, vain false doctrine and idolatrous sacraments, and to live with all their hearts according to the will of God). O Lord! This is how they deal with those who seek and fear you with all their hearts.

Tell me, beloved lords, when will you stop this cruel, disgraceful, murdering, bloody seed from continuing in their Judas-like conduct? When will you turn your backs on their deceiving lies and turn your faces to Christ? When shall the innocent blood be wiped from your deadly and avenging sword, and the sword be put back into the sheath? When will you hear and fear God more than you do lords and princes? When shall the abominations of antichrist be rooted out of your hearts, and the doctrine of Christ be planted there in their place? When will you be satisfied with pious and blameless lives, and have had your fill of the blood of innocent saints? When shall Christ Jesus, with his word, Spirit and life, be conceived in you through faith, and be born in you in deed? I fear never. For you are earthly and carnally minded; the eyes of your understanding are darkened, so that you desire the world rather than heaven, lies rather than truth, sin rather than righteousness, the honor and praise of man rather than that of God.

Yes, beloved lords, why say so much? It is the same with you as with the priests and preachers, who through the instruction of Scripture know the truth in part; but since they love their cross-fleeing bodies more than God, they preach and teach only so far as the mandates and resolutions of the princes allow and permit, so that they do not incur the displeasure of the world and lose their worldly honor and their easy life. It is the same with you, my dear lords. Many of you know well that the teaching, ceremonies, divine service and life of your priests and preachers are untrue, deceiving, idolatrous, false and carnal, and that ours are the doctrine and ceremonies of the Lord, according to Scripture. Yet, in order to keep the friendship of the emperor and your incomes (I mean you who are guilty of blood), Christ Jesus with his innocent lambs must, without any mercy, wherever the mandates are enforced, be caught, banished, robbed and doomed to death as the ringleaders of all rogues and thieves, deserving of all torture and shame. And then you say, The emperor’s mandates judge you.

Beloved lords, beware; the hour is fast approaching when the Almighty, the great and terrible God, the impartial, righteous Judge, will judge and sentence all our doings; then you will see too late whom you have persecuted and pierced. Therefore awaken in time, fear God, remember him and reform, while it is still called today.

I entreat you, my reader, do not be displeased that I have digressed so far, for it was not done without cause. But now we will continue, in the name of the Lord, with the thing we have undertaken, and treat and teach as much of it as the merciful Father will grant us grace and help to do, so that we may modestly show to all the God-fearing who seek the truth from their hearts the difference between faith and unbelief, and between the fruits of faith and of unbelief; and that they may grow in the true Christian faith, until the gracious Father, out of the abundance of his glory, makes them strong in the inner man by power through the Spirit, and until Christ dwells in their hearts through faith, so that, being rooted and grounded in love, they may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the abundant love of Christ, which passes knowledge, and be filled with all the fullness of God. And besides, that they may know that it is all hatred and lying which the scribes teach and throw up against us concerning our faith, as to the sword, sedition, polygamy and so on. I speak of what I and my beloved brothers preach and teach, by word of mouth or in writing, publicly or privately, to all the well-disposed.

Cordially beloved brothers, when we can rightly see with spiritual eyes into the impure, abominable doctrine of faith of those who boast themselves to be Christians, with all the abominable unbelief and blind, evil life that comes from such abominable doctrine, then we may well be astonished, yes, grieved to death, at their great blindness and grievous errors. For however inhuman and crude it is, it must be called the holy Christian faith.

It is true that the papists teach and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he offered up his flesh and shed his blood for us; but if we would enjoy them and be partakers of them, we must adhere to and obey the pope and his church, hear mass, receive the holy water, go on pilgrimages, call upon the mother of the Lord and the departed saints, confess at least twice a year, receive papistic absolution, have our children baptized, and keep the holy days. The priests must vow chastity; the bread in the mass must be called the flesh, and the wine the blood, of Christ; besides all their other idolatry and abominations which they practice daily.

And all this is called by these poor, ignorant people the most holy Christian faith and the institution of the holy Christian church, although it is nothing but mere human opinion, self-chosen righteousness, seductive hypocrisy, manifest deception of the soul, the ungodly, indecent bodily nourishment and gain of lazy priests, an accursed abomination, a provoking of God, a disgraceful blasphemy, an unworthy despising of the blood of Christ, a self-devised undertaking, and a disobedient defiance of the divine word. In short, it is a false, offensive divine worship and open idolatry, of all of which Jesus Christ (to whom the Father points us) has not left or commanded us a single letter.

It is not enough for them to practice such abominations; they not only despise as vain and useless all the true fruits of faith commanded by God himself, the sincere, pure love and fear of God, the love and service of our neighbor, the true sacraments and divine service, and so on, but they also revile them as damnable and heretical, and exterminate and persecute them. I think this may properly be called a sect.