To my Jehovah’s Witness friend,
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“I wish to know the condition of your heart, whether you have at last come to
loathe your own righteousness and desire to rejoice in the righteousness of
Christ and to be of good cheer because of it. For in these days the
temptation to presumptuousness is very strong, particularly in those who strive
with might and main to be righteous and godly and do not know of the altogether
immaculate righteousness of God which is freely given us in Christ. As a
result of this they are searching for something good in themselves until they
become confident that they can pass muster before God as people who are properly
adorned with virtuous and meritorious deeds, – all of which is impossible.
While you were with us, you held this opinion, or rather this error, just as I
did. For my part, I am still wrestling with this error and am not quite
rid of it yet.
Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ – Christ Crucified. Learn to sing
praises to Him and to despair utterly of your own works. Say to Him: Thou,
my Lord Jesus, art my Righteousness; I am Thy sin. Thou hast taken from me
what is mine and hast given me what is Thine. Thou didst become what Thou
wert not and madest me to be what I was not. Beware of your ceaseless
striving after a righteousness so great that you no longer appear as a sinner in
your own eyes and do not want to be a sinner.
For Christ dwells only
in sinners. He came down from heaven, where He dwelt in the
righteous, for the very purpose of dwelling in sinners also. Ponder this
love of His, and you will realize His sweetest consolation. For if we must
achieve rest of conscience by our own toil and worry,
for what purpose did
He die? Therefore, you are to find peace in Him by a hearty despair
of yourself and your own works. And now that He has received you, made
your sins His and His righteousness yours, learn also from Him firmly to believe
this, as behooves you; for cursed is every one who does not believe this.”
(See Galatians Chapter 3).
My friend, please don’t seek righteousness through your own works, but seek the
perfect righteousness that can only be found by faith in the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you
have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
In Christ our righteousness,
Scott Diekmann
The quoted text was written by Martin Luther in a letter to his acquaintance
friar Spenlein in 1516. Quoted from
The Proper Distinction
Between Law and Gospel by Dr. C.F.W. Walther, (St. Louis, Concordia
Publishing House, 1986) 109-110.
Luther calls Spenlein "brother." While I don't consider Jehovah's
Witnesses fellow brothers in Christ, the Bible tells us to love them and reach
out to them, that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus
Christ. (Acts 26:18)
