erefore thou art
entered into this holy order in vain, and all thy good works are
unprofitable. But if then I had rightly understood these sentences of
Paul: 'The flesh lusteth contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit
contrary to the flesh; and these two are one against another, so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would do,' I should not have so
miserably tormented myself, but should have thought and said to myself,
as now commonly I do, 'Martin, thou shalt not utterly be without sin,
for thou hast flesh; thou shalt therefore feel the battle thereof.' I
remember that Staupitz was wont to say, 'I have vowed unto God above a
thousand times that I would become a better man: but I never performed
that which I vowed. Hereafter I will make no such vow: for I have now
learned by experience that I am not able to perform it. Unless,
therefore, God be favorable and merciful unto me for Christ's sake, I
shall not be able, with all my vows and all my good deeds, to stand
before him.' This (of Staupitz's) was not only a true, but also a godly
and a holy desperation; and this must they all confess, both with mouth
and heart, who will be saved. For the godly trust not to their own
righteousness. They look unto Christ their reconciler who gave his
life for their sins. Moreover, they know that the remnant of sin which
is in their flesh is not laid to their charge, but freely pardoned.
Notwithstanding, in the mean while they fight in spirit against the
flesh, lest they should FULFILL the lusts thereof; and although they
feel the flesh to rage and rebel, and themselves also do fall sometimes
into sin through infirmity, yet are they not discouraged, nor think
therefore that their state and kind of life, and the works which are
done according to their calling, displease God; but they raise up
themselves by faith."[67]

[67] Commentary on Galatians, Philadelphia, 1891, pp. 510-514
(abridged).

One of the heresies for which the Jesuits got that spiritual genius,
Molinos, the founder of Quietism, so abominably condemned was his
healthy-minded opinion of repentance:--

"When thou fallest into a fault, in what matter soever it be do not
trouble nor afflict thyself for it. For they are effects of our frail
Nature, stained by Original Sin. The common enemy will make thee
believe, as soon as thou fallest into any fault, that thou walkest in
error, and therefore art out of God and his favor, and herewith would
he make thee dist