We are invited to entrust everything to the one who accomplished what we could not: living and bleeding and dying and rising again, so that “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). To put it another way, when it comes to the kingdom of God, there’s no room for DIY’ers. Best leave it to the professionals.
We live in the “already” but “not yet”. Peace is already ours but not yet. The resurrection is already ours but not yet. Justice is already ours but not yet. Until then be comforted by the fact that you are reconciled in Christ on account of his life, death, and resurrection.
Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.

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You are free from allowing anyone to cast doubt on your salvation based upon your political preferences. And free from causing anyone else to question their faith due to what Christian convictions they may have to compromise to vote in one direction or the other.
Faithful preachers should remain steadfast in the biblical categories and terminology and preach the reality of death.
Mindful that the pagans’ understanding of death is a finality, Paul says, “NO!” Death is not the end of humanity in God’s new world.
God uses the fifth commandment to protect us from selfishness, prevent us from only thinking about our needs, and to drive us to Christ and our neighbors.
Jesus will strengthen and encourage us because he is true life, and life has defeated death.
We now stand holy and blameless before our Heavenly Father as his own dear children, and we are set free to serve our neighbor in love.
Christians are in a unique position to show the world something truly other-worldly. We are free from living in our world as if it contained all there is.
Christ crucified is at the heart of both our freedom from sin and death and our freedom to serve and love our neighbor.
Our freedom as Christians is not a form of independence. Our freedom in Christ comes from our dependence on him.
You who would be a law unto yourself, Christ is the gospel unto you, proclaiming you forgiven.
This is an excerpt from Adam Francisco’s conclusion in “The Freedom of the Christian” written by Martin Luther and translated and edited by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2020). Pgs. 57-59.
Understanding that I am completely free in Christ allows me to read the injunction to “love my neighbor as myself” as a promise instead of a threat.