In Luther’s tract, The Freedom of a Christian, written in October 1520, Luther describes how the gospel nurtures the Christian. Then he provides one of his most succinct summaries of the gospel—in 184 words.
The Christian Nurtured by the Gospel
“Nothing else in heaven and on earth can make the soul alive, righteous, free, and Christian besides the gospel, the Word of God preached by Christ. As Christ himself says in John 11:25, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me…will live and…never die.’ Likewise, John 14:6, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’ Again in Matthew 4:4, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
“So we can now be sure that the soul can do without all things except the Word of God, and without the Word of God, nothing can help it. And if it has the Word of God, it needs nothing else; it has everything it needs in the word—nourishment, joy, peace, light, art, righteousness, truth, wisdom, freedom—and all these good things overflowing.”
Luther’s 184 Word Description of the Gospel
“You may ask, however, ‘Which is the word that gives such abundant grace, and how shall I use it?’ The answer (184 words):
“It is nothing but the preaching of Christ in accordance with the gospel, spoken in such a way that you heard your God speaking to you. It shows how your whole life and work are nothing before God but must eternally perish with everything that is in you. When you truly believe that you are guilty, then you must despair of yourself and confess that the verse in Hosea is true, ‘O Israel, in yourself you have nothing but your destruction; it is in me alone that you have your help.’ So that you can come out of yourself and away from yourself, that is, out of your perishing, God places the dear Son, Jesus Christ, before you and allows you to be addressed by this living and comforting word. You are to surrender yourself with steadfast faith in this Word and boldly trust God. And for the sake of this selfsame faith, all your sins will be forgiven, all your destruction will be overcome, and you will be righteous, genuine, satisfied, upright, and fulfill all the commandments and be free of all things.”
