The Goods of the Right Hand

I really shouldn't post this quote, for, to take it out of it's context (Luther's lectures on Romans) is to strip it of much of it's power. However, I found this little quote so true and convicting, that I thought I should post it. Read through it all very slowly, especially towards the end where Luther talks about the right and left hand (see the footnote to understand what he is talking about) and be humbled.

Luther on the Book of Romans

But now Christ wants our whole disposition to be so stripped down⁶ that we are not only unafraid of being embarrassed for our faults and also do not delight in the glory and vain joys of our virtues but that we do not feel called upon to glory before men even in that external righteousness which comes to us from Christ. Nor should we be cast down by sufferings and evils which are inflicted on us for His sake. A true Christian must have no glory of his own and must to such an extent be stripped of everything he calls his own that in honor and in dishonor he can always remain the same in the knowledge that the honor that has been bestowed on him has been given not to him but to Christ, whose righteousness and gifts are shining in him, and that the dishonor inflicted on him is inflicted both on him and on Christ. But to obtain such perfection we need much practice, to say nothing of the special gift of grace. Even though a person with all his natural and spiritual gifts may be wise before men and righteous and good, God will not on that account look upon him as such, especially if he regards himself so. Therefore we must in all these things keep ourselves so humble⁷ as if we still had nothing of our own. We must wait for the mercy of God, who will reckon us righteous and wise. This God will do if we have been humble and have not anticipated God by justifying ourselves and by thinking that we are something, as we read in 1 Cor. 4:3–5: “I do not even judge myself.… It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, etc.” To be sure, there are many who for God’s sake consider the goods of the left hand,⁸ that is, temporal goods, of no value and gladly give them up, as the Jews and the heretics are doing. But there are few who for the sake of obtaining the righteousness of Christ consider the goods of the right hand, the spiritual goods and righteous works, worth nothing. This is something the Jews and heretics cannot do. And yet, nobody will be saved unless this takes place. For people always wish and hope that their own works will be accepted and rewarded by God. But this statement stands firm (Rom. 9:16): “It depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy.”

6 Expressions like “to strip off” (exuere) and “to be stripped of” (nudus) were commonplace in the language of various medieval writers whose works Luther studied. These expressions signified complete separation from everything objectionable. The Weimar editor cites a number of instances in which Luther adopts such phrases.

7 “Humility” is the nt note throughout these lectures and the early lectures on the Psalms as well. In fact, Luther is ready to say that “humility” is the theme of all of Scripture. “What else does all of Scripture teach but humility, in which we are subject not only to God but also to every creature!” he writes below on Rom. 2:11. A typical statement is humilitas … est nihil aliud nisi obedientia et tota iustitia (W, IV, 406, 5). “Pride” (superbia) is the very opposite, the root of all evil. Cf. n. 2 above. See also Luther’s comment on Is. 40:3: “Prepare the way of the Lord,” Luther’s Works, 17, pp. 8–9.

8 The phrases “of the left hand” and “of the right hand,” in the general distinction of “unfavorable” and “favorable” or “mundane” and “spiritual” respectively, were among Luther’s favorite devices, and he used them in a variety of ways.

Luther, M. Luther's Works, Vol. 25 : Lectures on Romans. Ed. J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann. Luther's Works. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1972.

The words of Paul in Romans are, when you really think about it, stunning. Paul is completely stripping us of all worth (or, more accurately, he is merely telling us what we really look like) and is commanding us to totally forsake any reliance on our own merits. What could possibly be more unnatural for us? This is unheard of!

It is only when God, by His grace, reveals the worth of Himself to us, that we then can truly see what we and all our righteous works are - worthless.

But praise be to God for showing us to be worthless! For when we are weak, Christ is strong. When God humbles us, it leaves us with no place to go but into the arms of Christ. And when we run to Christ and are saved by Him, we cannot help but praise and glorify God for His mercy and grace!

And that is what it is all about.

Pslam 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
(Psalm 51 ESV)