Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Joshua 19:1-20:9 Luke 19:28-48 Proverbs 13:12-14

“An Active Faith”

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
[Hebrews 11:8]

The Christian faith is ready to rest completely on God’s Word with all it’s confidence and courage, and then go joyfully on its way. Therefore St. Peter says: then the loins of your mind are girded, and your faith in genuine, if you have such courage, no matter whether property, honor, body, or life are involved. With these words he has surely given an excellent description of a true faith. It must not be an indolent and sleepy faith, and only a dream. No, it must be a living and active thing, so that no one devotes oneself to it with all confidence and clings to the Word, no matter what happens, in order that we may press forward through fortune and misfortune. Thus when I must die, I must rely boldly on Christ, readily put forth my neck, and trust in the Word of God, which cannot lie to me. Faith will go straight ahead, let nothing lead it astray, and ignore everything it sees, hears, and feels. This is the kind of faith St. Peter demands – a faith that consists in such power, not in thoughts or words.