Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Joshua 21:1-22:20 Luke 20:1-26 Proverbs 13:15-16

“How to Go to God”

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
[Ephesians 2:8-9]

Therefore it is necessary to mark these words well; for with the words “no one can come to Me”, Christ intends to say that faith is a gift of God. And He is willing to give it. To come to Him means to believe in Christ. But he who does not believe is so very far from Him. You assume that faith is your own doing, your power, your work; and thereby you interfere with God’s work. It is the gift of God, so that He alone may be accorded the honor and no man may boast of his strength. The Father draws us to Him and gives us His Word, and the Holy Spirit, and faith by the Word. It is His gift as Paul tells in Ephesians 2:8-9. This is the essence of Christianity, against which the world has always contended madly and foolishly and against which it will always rage. Do not boast – revel in the fact that you are called by Christ into faith, it is a gift of God.