Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Job 8:1-11:20 1st Corinthians 15:1-28 Proverbs 21:28-29

“In God’s Hands”

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
[Romans 8:1]

We learn here that the saints must wrestle with the devil and fight with death, whether by persecution or pestilence or other sickness and mortal danger. In that conflict nothing is better and more vital for victory, than learning to sing this little song of the saints, that is, to look away from self and to cling to the hand of God. Thus, the devil is defrauded and made to miss the boat. It works like this: I am nothing. The Lord is all my strength. I am stripped of everything, of myself and all that is mine. I can say: “devil what are you fighting? If you try to denounce my good works and my holiness before God, why, I have none. My strength is not my own; the Lord is my strength. You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. You cannot prosecute me for my sins, Christ has removed them. I have Christ’s power – leave me be.”