The decisive role in the formation of Luthers theology was Pauls letter to the Romans, particularly Romans 1:16-17. Luther concluded that justification is a gift of God, appropriated by faith. He is quoted as saying, Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that the just shall live by faith. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
The decisive role in the formation of Luthers theology was Pauls letter to the Romans, particularly Romans 1:16-17. Luther concluded that justification is a gift of God, appropriated by faith. He is quoted as saying, Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that the just shall live by faith. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
