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The Conversion of Martin Luther
"A man's heart deviseth his way: but
the LORD directeth his steps"
(Proverbs 16:9).
by Tom Stewart
hough Martin Luther (1483-1546) came from the household of a simple working man; his father,
John Luther-- a German miner by trade-- saw to it that Martin had the opportunity
of education. With great diligence on the part of the young Luther, he eventually
attained graduation from Erfurt University as a Doctor of Philosophy (1505). "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his
steps" (Proverbs
16:9). Since Luther had taken the opportunity
to avail himself of the University's library, he came into his first contact with
the Bible-- an all but inaccessible Book to the common man-- still, It is "able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Timothy 3:15). His attraction
and fascination for the Scriptures caused him to be convicted of his own sin. "He was returning to Erfurt, and was now near the city
gate, when suddenly black clouds gathered overhead, and it began to thunder and lighten
in an awful manner. A bolt fell at his feet. Some accounts say that he was thrown
down. The Great Judge, he thought, had descended in this cloud, and he lay momentarily
expecting death. In his terror he vowed that should God spare him he would devote
his life to His service" (James
A. Wylie, "The History of Protestantism"
---New Window, Volume
1, Book 5, Chapter 2 ---New
Window). "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing
thereof is of the LORD" (Proverbs
16:33).
Martin Luther described his life-- prior to his ordination into the priesthood of
the Roman Catholic Church (1507)-- as an Augustinian monk (1505-1507), thus: "If ever [a] monk could obtain
heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been entitled to it" (Wylie, "THOP",
Vol. 1, Book 5,
Chapter 3 ---New Window). "Therefore
by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for
by the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). James Wylie
described Luther's monkish struggle to find peace with God: "He shrank from the sight of his own vileness... he trembled
when he thought of the holiness of God. It was not the sweet promise of mercy, but
the fiery threatening of the Law, on which he dwelt. 'Who
may abide the day of His Coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth?' [Malachi 3:2]" (Wylie, "THOP", Vol.
1, Book 5, Chapter 4 ---New
Window).
John Staupitz, the Vicar-General of the Augustines in Germany, was unique in that
he was one who understood God's Simple Plan of Salvation; and providentially, God
led him to counsel Luther concerning that "plain
path" (Psalm
27:11) of salvation. "'I cannot and dare not come to God,' replied Luther, in effect,
'till I am a better man; I have not yet repented sufficiently.' 'A better man!' would
the Vicar-General say in effect; 'Christ came to save not good men, but sinners.
['They
that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick' (Luke 5:31).]
Love God, and you will have repented; there
is no real repentance that does not begin in the love of God ['We love Him, because He
first loved us' (1John
4:19)];
and there is no love to God that does not take its rise in all apprehension of that
mercy which offers to sinners freedom from sin through the blood of Christ.' 'Faith
in the mercies of God!' ['Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost' (Titus
3:5).]" (Wylie, "THOP",
Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4). Before Staupitz
departed from Luther, he gave him the gift of a Bible. Staupitz said, "Let the study of the Scriptures be your favorite occupation" (Wylie, "THOP",
Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4). "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Wylie continues the account of how Martin Luther came to salvation in "full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). "Luther's faith was
as yet but as a grain of mustard-seed. After Staupitz had taken leave of him he again
turned his eye from the Savior to himself; the clouds of despondency and fear that
instant gathered; and his old conflicts, though not with the same violence, were
renewed. He fell ill, and in his sore sickness he lay at the gates of death. It pleased
God on this bed, and by a very humble instrument, to complete the change which the
Vicar-General had commenced. An aged brother-monk who, as Luther afterwards said,
was doubtless a true Christian though he wore 'the cowl of damnation,' came to his
bedside, and began to recite with much simplicity and earnestness the Apostle's Creed,
'I believe in the forgiveness of sins.' Luther repeated after him in feeble accents,
'I believe in the forgiveness of sins.' 'Nay,' said the monk, 'you are to believe
not merely in the forgiveness of David's sins, and of Peter's sins; you must believe
in the forgiveness of your own sins.'"
"['12
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of
the inheritance of the Saints in Light: 13 Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom
of His Dear Son: 14
In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins'
(Colossians 1:12-14).]
The decisive Words had been spoken. A ray of
Light had penetrated the darkness that encompassed Luther. He saw it all: the whole
Gospel in a single phrase, the forgiveness of sins — not the payment,
but the forgiveness" (Wylie, "THOP",
Vol. 1, Book 4, Chapter 5). "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for
ever, because He delighteth in mercy" (Micah 7:18). "In this cell
at Erfurt died Martin Luther the monk, and in this cell was born Martin Luther the
Christian, and the birth of Luther the Christian was the birth of the Reformation
in Germany" (Wylie,
"THOP", Vol. 1, Book 4, Chapter 5).
The Kingdom of God that flowered from that Reformation in Germany "is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast
into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged
in the branches of it" (Luke
13:19).
(The above was excerpted from a series of articles,
"Babylon the Great" ---New Window.)
Related Topics:
The Conversion of
Abraham Lincoln ---New Window
by Rev. James F. Jacquess
"There is written evidence that Abraham Lincoln became a Christian in 1839
in Springfield, Illinois."
The Conversion of C.
H. Spurgeon ---New Window
by Henry Davenport Northrop
Of his conversion Mr. Spurgeon spoke on every fitting
opportunity, hoping thereby to benefit others.
St. Patrick's Confession ---New Window
by Patrick (373-465 AD)
"I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful
and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late
Potitus, a presbyter, of the settlement of Bannaven Taburniae; he had a small villa
nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age.
I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with
many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God,
we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our presbyters who used to
remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being
and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my
smallness, am now to be found among foreigners." --Patrick
---New Window
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