Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith<\/a>) observes that Luther resisted presenting a systematic theology of atonement. Instead, he employed various biblical images and descriptions to meet the pastoral needs of his audience: \u201cWhen he addressed the guilt or shame of his hearers, Luther presented Christ\u2019s substitutionary sacrifice, which took away the penalty of death which the law lays upon sinners, through a variety of descriptions. When he addressed their fears and terrors, he emphasized Christ\u2019s power and presence in their situations through his mighty deliverance in his resurrection\u201d (123).<\/p>\nAccording to Kolb, Luther\u2019s emphasis on the \u201cjoyous exchange\u201d between Christ and the sinner demonstrates that \u201cLuther taught substitutionary or vicarious satisfaction.\u201d Not without qualification and elaboration: For Luther, \u201cthe term \u2018satisfaction\u2019 is \u2018too weak to fully express Christ\u2019s grace and does not adequately honor his suffering.\u2019 The law evaluates sinners as guilty and condemns them to death. Only execution satisfies the law\u2019s demand that sinners die. Thus, sinners are so closely drawn into Christ\u2019s crucifixion that they die with him\u201d (121). <\/p>\n
Luther was also fond of using the Aulenesque image of the \u201cmagnificent duel\u201d: \u201cFrom 1517 on, he presented Christ\u2019s work as a battle won against the believer\u2019s foes. Luther told his students in 1531, Christ\u2019s \u2018victory is a victory over the Law, sin, our flesh, the world, the devil, death, hell, and all evils; and this victory of his he has given to us. Even though these tyrants, our enemies, accuse us and terrify us, they cannot drive us into despair or condemn us. For Christ, whom God the Father raised from the dead, is Victor over them, and he is our righteousness.\u2019\u201d He reiterated the theme in his Large Catechism<\/em>: \u201cBefore this I had no lord or king but was captive under the power of the devil. I was condemned to death and entangled in sin and blindness. . . . we lay under God\u2019s wrath and displeasure, sentenced to eternal damnation, as we had merited it and deserved it. There was no source of help, no comfort for us until the only, eternal Son of God, in his unfathomable goodness, had mercy on us. . . . Those tyrants and jailers have now been routed, and their place has been taken by Jesus Christ . . . He has snatched us, poor lost creatures, from the jaws of hell, won us, made us free, and restored us to the Father\u2019s favor and grace\u2019\u201d (121-2).<\/p>\nThe liberation is also a liberation from the law: \u201cPaul presented the law as a captive, \u2018bound hand and foot, shorn of all power, so that it cannot exert its tyranny, that is, accuse and condemn\u2019. When oppressed by guilt and fear of judgment, God\u2019s people have \u2018the courage to insult the law with a certain holy pride and to say: \u201cI am a sinner. If you can do anything against me, Law, go ahead and do it!\u201d That is how far the law now is from frightening the believer.\u2019\u201d As Luther said: \u201cOnly Christ takes away the law, kills my sin, destroys my death in his body, and in this way empties hell, judges the devil, crucifies him, and throws him down into hell. In other words, everything that once used to torment and oppress me Christ has set aside; he has disarmed it and made a public example of it triumphing over it in himself\u201d (122).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Robert Kolb (Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith) observes that Luther resisted presenting a systematic theology of atonement. Instead, he employed various biblical images and descriptions to meet the pastoral needs of his audience: \u201cWhen he addressed the guilt or shame of his hearers, Luther presented Christ\u2019s substitutionary sacrifice, which took away the penalty of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[579,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atonement","category-luther"],"yoast_head":"\n
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