"...false brothers ..., who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery." Gal. 2:4

"Even today heretics pretend the name of God, of Christ, and of the Church, and teach their doctrine as the pure gospel of Christ. ...The corruption or falsehood of the gospel is that we are justified by faith but not without the works of the law.
This is the gospel the false apostles preached. ...The true gospel is that the works of charity are not the ornament or perfection of faith: but that faith itself is God's gift and God's work in our hearts, which therefore justifies us, because it apprehends Christ our Redeemer. ...faith..., has no other object but Jesus Christ the Son of God, delivered to death for the sins of the whole world. It looks not to charity: it says not, what have I done? what have I offended? what have I deserved? but what has Christ done? What has He deserved? Here the truth of the gospel answers you: He has redeemed you from your sin, from the devil, and from eternal death. Faith therefore acknowledges that in this one person, Jesus Christ, it has forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He that turns his eyes from this object has no true faith, but a fantasy and a vain opinion, and turns his eyes from the promise to the law, which terrifies and drives to desperation." -Martin Luther

Or when a person turns to the law he may become self confident and self-righteous, because he is not like others, but is good, and does those things that please God. This person says of himself, "I am so glad I'm not bad, like this other fellow is certainly bad. I am a church loving; Bible loving person, and I do pretty well in the "being-good-all-around" department."

The Gospel, when truly seen for all its glory,--which is the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus,-- makes us cry out to the Lord as the tax-collector did in Jesus' parable in Luke 18: "...the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’"

Jesus said this man went home justified, for he asked for mercy, and he recognized he was a sinner and deserved God's judgment.

So, even when we come to Christ, and He takes our wicked heart; gives us a new heart; makes His abode with us; where we now have no condemnation; and are new creations in Christ, we still have a constant gratefulness for the Cross, His mercy, and forgiveness. This causes our hearts to continually say, "I'm so unworthy of Christ's blessing and love." And yet at the same time rejoice in His great love, and also enjoy the peace that passes all understanding which abides within us.


There's a humility in our souls, which bears witness that we truly have been born again. And we have the promise from God that we shall one day be heirs of the New Earth and New Heavens, where love and righteousness will reign in all their fullness, and sin will be no more.

For now, we must struggle with sin, and we always will in this age, but we are no longer slaves to sin, but instead we are now slaves to righteousness.

Martin Luther once again: "Christians are not made righteous by doing righteous things, but being made righteous by faith in Christ, they do righteous things.