Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Romans 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
SALVATION BY FAITH IN THE RISEN CHRIST
Here [in this verse] the Lamb is truly revealed, of whom John the Baptist testifies, when he says in John 1:29, "Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." Here is fulfilled that which was spoken to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head," which means that for all those who believe in him, hell, death, and the devil and sin have been destroyed. In the same manner, the promise is fulfilled today [Easter Day] which God gave to Abraham, when he said in Genesis 22:18, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Here Christ is meant, who takes away our curse and the power of sin, death, and devil.
All this is done, I say, by faith. For if you believe that by this seed the serpent has been slain, then it is slain for you; and if you believe that in this seed all nations are to be blessed, then you are also blessed. For each one individually should have crushed the serpent under foot and redeemed himself from the curse, which would have been too difficult, nay, impossible for us. But now it has been done easily, namely, by Christ, who has crushed the serpent once, who alone is given as a blessing and benediction, and who has caused this Gospel to be published throughout the world, so that he who believes, accepts it, and clings to it, is also in possession of it, and is assured that it is as he believes. For in the heart of such a man, the Word becomes so powerful that he will conquer death, the devil, sin, and all adversity, like Christ himself did. So mighty is the Word that God himself would sooner be vanquished than that his Word should be conquered.
-- Martin Luther
(Hendrickson Publishers: Through the Year with Martin Luther, 354:7-8)
