Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Genesis 37:1-38:30 Matthew 12:22-45 Proverbs 3:27-32

“True Man, True God”

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ “
[Matthew 16:15-16]

It is of no avail for salvation if you think of Christ according to human opinion – that He is righteous, holy, a good man, a prophet, or even the greatest one. Rather, the Father’s revelation from heaven must be added: that He is Christ, the Son of God – that is, that He is true man and true God, and that He is the promised King and Priest. And in these few words is encompassed the entire doctrine of the Christian faith. For the fact that He is the Son of the living God means that He is true God, which Scripture elsewhere demonstrates at greater length. However, the fact that He is also man is evident in and of itself since, He was found as a man (Philippians 2:7), and as He Himself says here: “Who do they say the Son of Man is?”