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Martin Luther: Lessons From His Life and Labor
We are beggars. This is true.
Those were the final words Martin Luther scribbled on a piece of paper just before he died on February 18, 1546. His last words echoed the life-changing truths he'd unearthed in the Scriptures — first life-changing, then civilization-altering.
Beggars, indeed, because God justly demands a righteousness sinful humans cannot produce. A righteousness, in fact, that if we could produce would nullify the grace of God and make Jesus's death be for no purpose (Galatians 2:23). Embodying deep devotion to the Scriptures, Luther came to understand that we need an alien righteousness for divine acceptance — a righteousness given to us by another.
And this life-changing revelation came in no small part by means of study. Luther gave himself to the Book, which he later explained as the primary actor in the Reformation. The legacy of his dying words in 1546 find their roots in this conviction — a conviction that was beginning to emerge when he crafted 95 theses and nailed them to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, and a conviction that continued to grow and change the world in the Protestant Reformation.
John Piper says we have much to learn from Luther. Originally delivered as the biographical message at the 1995 Conference for Pastors, this new ebook features five chapters that present a sketch of Luther's life and distill relevant lessons for not only pastors and leaders, but all Christians.
Those were the final words Martin Luther scribbled on a piece of paper just before he died on February 18, 1546. His last words echoed the life-changing truths he'd unearthed in the Scriptures — first life-changing, then civilization-altering.
Beggars, indeed, because God justly demands a righteousness sinful humans cannot produce. A righteousness, in fact, that if we could produce would nullify the grace of God and make Jesus's death be for no purpose (Galatians 2:23). Embodying deep devotion to the Scriptures, Luther came to understand that we need an alien righteousness for divine acceptance — a righteousness given to us by another.
And this life-changing revelation came in no small part by means of study. Luther gave himself to the Book, which he later explained as the primary actor in the Reformation. The legacy of his dying words in 1546 find their roots in this conviction — a conviction that was beginning to emerge when he crafted 95 theses and nailed them to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, and a conviction that continued to grow and change the world in the Protestant Reformation.
John Piper says we have much to learn from Luther. Originally delivered as the biographical message at the 1995 Conference for Pastors, this new ebook features five chapters that present a sketch of Luther's life and distill relevant lessons for not only pastors and leaders, but all Christians.
46 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2012
149 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,628 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 7, 2022
This short (and free!) book from Piper served as my introduction to Martin Luther. I can see why he is a big dog of the Faith; the man was intense! I should've figured he'd be intense considering he had the chops to hammer his 95 Thesis on the front door of a Wittenberg like a gangster. And on Halloween no less!
I do not carry with me the authority nor the knowledge to comment on the state of the Church as it is right now, but I can say with confidence that She would be in far better shape if more of us revered the External Word as Luther did. He loved God's Word (for real!) and he was wise and humble enough to depend on the Holy Spirit to illuminate Scripture for him. That is something to be admired.
My greatest takeaway came as a result of reading this quote:
We are like men who study the signposts and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished by their writing, to lead us to the Scriptures, but we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.
This was Luther speaking to those who were elevating the words of commentators/church fathers above the biblical text itself. In the 21st century, those people are the ones who would rather watch their favorite sermon, scroll up and down their favorite Christian website in the morning, and read a book about how Martin Luther reads Scripture than actually read Scripture themselves. OBVIOUSLY those are all things that should not be discouraged. However, I know I am in the camp that needs to lessen those extracurriculars and meditate on the unadulterated Law myself. I hope to follow in the way of a modern philosopher who once said, "I'm just 'bout that action, boss." In this case, "that action" is the B-I-B-L-E! Word up!
I do not carry with me the authority nor the knowledge to comment on the state of the Church as it is right now, but I can say with confidence that She would be in far better shape if more of us revered the External Word as Luther did. He loved God's Word (for real!) and he was wise and humble enough to depend on the Holy Spirit to illuminate Scripture for him. That is something to be admired.
My greatest takeaway came as a result of reading this quote:
We are like men who study the signposts and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished by their writing, to lead us to the Scriptures, but we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.
This was Luther speaking to those who were elevating the words of commentators/church fathers above the biblical text itself. In the 21st century, those people are the ones who would rather watch their favorite sermon, scroll up and down their favorite Christian website in the morning, and read a book about how Martin Luther reads Scripture than actually read Scripture themselves. OBVIOUSLY those are all things that should not be discouraged. However, I know I am in the camp that needs to lessen those extracurriculars and meditate on the unadulterated Law myself. I hope to follow in the way of a modern philosopher who once said, "I'm just 'bout that action, boss." In this case, "that action" is the B-I-B-L-E! Word up!
October 28, 2016
A very short book, but packed with principles for living. Some of my takeaways:
God's Word above all...
Luther cherished God's word:
"He wrote in 1533, "For a number of years I have now annually read through the Bible twice. If the Bible were a large, mighty tree and all its words were little branches I have tapped at all the branches, eager to know what was there and what it had to offer."
He cherished God's word above any commentators and, while he was well versed in the commentaries, he leaned towards using God's word alone:
“He who is well acquainted with the text of Scripture," Luther said in 1538, "is a distinguished theologian. For a Bible passage or text is of more value than the comments of four authors.”
"The Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil."
“Instead of running to the commentaries and fathers he says, "I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted." This was not an isolated incident.
He told his students that the exegete should treat a difficult passage no differently than Moses did the rock in the desert, which he smote with his rod until water gushed out for his thirsty people.41 In other words, strike the text. "I beat importunately upon Paul." There is a great incentive in this beating on the text: "The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst.”
In everything we are called to work hard. Especially in reading God's Word and talking with God:
“Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture. . . The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well. . . The devil. . . the world. . . and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent. . . This evil. shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring.”
And finally, we shouldn't look upon suffering as something bad:
“An indispensable key to understanding the Scriptures is suffering in the path of righteousness.
Thus Luther said: "I want you to know how to study theology in the right way. I have practiced this method myself ... Here you will find three rules. They are frequently proposed throughout Psalm [119] and run thus: Oration, meditatio, tentatio (Prayer, meditation, trial). And trials (Anfechtungen) he called the "touchstone." "[They] teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God's word is: it is wisdom supreme."”
We are beggars. This is true.
God's Word above all...
Luther cherished God's word:
"He wrote in 1533, "For a number of years I have now annually read through the Bible twice. If the Bible were a large, mighty tree and all its words were little branches I have tapped at all the branches, eager to know what was there and what it had to offer."
He cherished God's word above any commentators and, while he was well versed in the commentaries, he leaned towards using God's word alone:
“He who is well acquainted with the text of Scripture," Luther said in 1538, "is a distinguished theologian. For a Bible passage or text is of more value than the comments of four authors.”
"The Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil."
“Instead of running to the commentaries and fathers he says, "I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted." This was not an isolated incident.
He told his students that the exegete should treat a difficult passage no differently than Moses did the rock in the desert, which he smote with his rod until water gushed out for his thirsty people.41 In other words, strike the text. "I beat importunately upon Paul." There is a great incentive in this beating on the text: "The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst.”
In everything we are called to work hard. Especially in reading God's Word and talking with God:
“Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture. . . The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well. . . The devil. . . the world. . . and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent. . . This evil. shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring.”
And finally, we shouldn't look upon suffering as something bad:
“An indispensable key to understanding the Scriptures is suffering in the path of righteousness.
Thus Luther said: "I want you to know how to study theology in the right way. I have practiced this method myself ... Here you will find three rules. They are frequently proposed throughout Psalm [119] and run thus: Oration, meditatio, tentatio (Prayer, meditation, trial). And trials (Anfechtungen) he called the "touchstone." "[They] teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God's word is: it is wisdom supreme."”
We are beggars. This is true.
November 1, 2016
"The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst."
In honor of Reformation Day, I decided I would read a short exploration of Martin Luther by a pastor who I hold in very high regard, John Piper.
This small book is an observation of Martin Luther's humility regarding work ethic, devotion to study, tireless commitment to preaching, translating, writing, and correspondence. He suffered greatly and considered it a fulfillment of understanding the wisdom of scripture to do so. He was tireless, performing hundreds of sermons per year, writing hundreds of written works, and translated the New Testament into German, essentially standardizing the German language in the process.
"I still have not overcome the bad habit of overworking. Nor shall I overcome it as long as I live."
This was a very insightful, inspiring, and an excellent read highlighting several key qualities of a man who gave his all for God, and through whom God did miraculous things.
At 3:00 AM on February 18, 1546, Luther died. His last recorded words were, "Wir sein Bettler. Hoc est verum." "We are beggars. This is true." God is free - utterly free - in His grace. And we are beggars - pray-ers. That is how we live, and that is how we study, so that God gets the glory and we get the grace.
In honor of Reformation Day, I decided I would read a short exploration of Martin Luther by a pastor who I hold in very high regard, John Piper.
This small book is an observation of Martin Luther's humility regarding work ethic, devotion to study, tireless commitment to preaching, translating, writing, and correspondence. He suffered greatly and considered it a fulfillment of understanding the wisdom of scripture to do so. He was tireless, performing hundreds of sermons per year, writing hundreds of written works, and translated the New Testament into German, essentially standardizing the German language in the process.
"I still have not overcome the bad habit of overworking. Nor shall I overcome it as long as I live."
This was a very insightful, inspiring, and an excellent read highlighting several key qualities of a man who gave his all for God, and through whom God did miraculous things.
At 3:00 AM on February 18, 1546, Luther died. His last recorded words were, "Wir sein Bettler. Hoc est verum." "We are beggars. This is true." God is free - utterly free - in His grace. And we are beggars - pray-ers. That is how we live, and that is how we study, so that God gets the glory and we get the grace.
December 30, 2021
Luther was a machine preaching several times a week, writing correspondence and books, as well as reading the Bible twice over annually for a period of ten years? Dang impressive! This was my first introduction to Luther other than history class and the odd tidbit here and there over the years. Definitely a man worth further study. Initially I thought this would be more like a condensed biography as well as theological stances it turned out to be mostly the latter. No matter, Piper did well in presenting the theology and explaining a bit of the history of the church at the time. Be prepared for some time jumps back and forth between the 1510-1540’s. My biggest take away is
“All our study is futile without the work of God overcoming our blindness and hard heartedness. At the heart of Luther’s theology was a total dependence on the freedom of God‘s omnipotent Grace rescuing powerless men from the bondage of the will.”
“All our study is futile without the work of God overcoming our blindness and hard heartedness. At the heart of Luther’s theology was a total dependence on the freedom of God‘s omnipotent Grace rescuing powerless men from the bondage of the will.”
January 5, 2019
In this slim volume, Piper attempts to answer the question, "What does Luther--his life, writings, and sermons--have to say today to preachers (as well as teachers, like myself)?" Luther's admonition: be people of the Book, people of Christ as preached in the Word. Sola Scriptura; God's Word is sufficient for the full life of soul, strength, and mind. Sola Christus; Christ preached in Scripture is the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. Luther reminded the faithful and the world that God spoke sufficiently through a book: the God-breathed Scriptures stand as the ultimate authority. He declared, "For God wants to give you his Spirit only through the external Word." So, be readers, but especially readers of the Word, to know God and, just as importantly, to be known by him.
December 14, 2018
This is the first book I have read about Luther, and I thank God that he has given me a balanced look at this Protestant Reformer, of whom I have heard more bad things than good. Now I see the good, and it's really good. Pastors should learn from him.
November 28, 2012
This short was inspiring and challenging. I was especially struck by Luther's exaltation of Scripture over all other books, his earnest approach to study, and his perseverance through trials. Great reading!
October 31, 2012
I read this in honor of Reformation day. It was a quick read, and it really highlights Luther's dedication and devotion to the Word of God. Inspiring!
November 2, 2017
I read this to celebrate Reformation Day. It is a short read that focuses on the influence that the study of the Bible had in shaping Martin Luther rather than a detailed study of the reformation.
May 13, 2013
Brief. I think these books come from the manuscripts of Piper's biographical messages he does at his conferences-- still really good though.
September 10, 2013
A short read, but well worth it. It caused me to examine my own duties in the study of the gospel and prayer. Somewhat humbling, to say the least.
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October 31, 2013Nice, short little read on reformation day.
September 29, 2014
Very brief. But in classic Piper fashion there were some sweet lines and phrases.
September 28, 2016
I loved this look at Martin Luther. It is an introduction, but one that really inspired me. I want to learn more about Luther, but I also am inspired to take my Bible study more seriously.
November 6, 2017
Highly motivational. An excellent application.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews