Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Judges 19:1-20:48 John 3:22-4:3 Proverbs 14:22-23

“The Chief Sin”

“Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
[Romans 7:20]

This is the original sin, or the sin of the nature or the sin of the person – the chief sin. If this did not exist, there would be no actual sin. This sin is not done, like all other sins, but it exists, lives, and does all sins. It sins not for an hour or longer, but where sinners exist, there is this original sin. This sin can be driven away by no law, by no punishment, even if there were a thousand hells; but only by the grace of God. God alone who has created us , is the only One who can take it away. Therefore, He give us the Law, by which we recognize sin, and thirst for grace; then afterward He gives the Gospel and we live in forgiveness of our sin.