Martin Luther quotes from our Galatians series

April 23rd, 2025
by Jo Boyle

We have heard some wonderful quotes from Martin Luther during our Galatians sermon series. Read some of the quotes below.

“Thus it is to our great benefit that we always keep in mind this week and comforting declaration… may we throughout our entire life, when facing every danger, when confessing our faith before tyrants, and at the hour of our death boldly and confidently declare, “Oh law, you have absolutely no power over me, thus in vain, you accuse me and condemn me, for I believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God who the Father sent to the world to redeem unworthy sinners oppressed by the tyranny of the law. He gave his life and spilled his blood for me. Thus when I feel your terrors and threats, oh law, I plunge my conscience in the wounds, the blood the death, the resurrection and victory of my Saviour Christ. Apart from him, I will see nothing, I will hear nothing.”

"Luther was obsessive about confession. In fact, it eventually got to the point that his confessor—who ended up being Staupitz—began to get fed up with his maddeningly overscrupulous confessee. Once, Luther actually continued confessing for six consecutive hours, probing every nook and cranny of every conceivable sin and then every nook and cranny within each nook and cranny, until Staupitz must have been cross-eyed and perspiring just listening. When would it end? But Luther didn’t care. He was simply determined to keep digging until he got to the bottom of it all. But he never did. He did not yet understand that there really was no bottom, that we were sinful all the way down. All Luther knew was that as soon as he left confession, there likely lurked sins he had not ferreted out, despite his digging like a terrier after a rat. He knew that according to all he understood of church doctrine, a sin must be recalled and confessed before it could be repented of and forgiven. But hadn’t he tried as hard as possible to find and confess every one? How did the others do it? Was he more sinful than they? He concluded that he must be and must therefore try harder yet."