thought of Luther's is
repeated as follows: "If the matter [our salvation] were to depend upon
our merits, the promise would be uncertain and useless, because we never
could determine when we would have sufficient merit. And this
experienced consciences can easily understand [and would not, for a
thousand worlds, have our salvation depend upon ourselves]." (CONC.
TRIGL. 145, 84; compare 1079, 45f.)

243. Truth of God's Majesty Serves God's Gracious Will.

Luther regarded the teaching that everything is subject to God's majesty
as being of service to His gracious will. We read: "Two things require
the preaching of these truths [concerning the infallibility of God's
foreknowledge, etc.]; the first is, the humbling of our pride and the
knowledge of the grace of God; the second, Christian faith itself.
First, God has certainly promised His grace to the humbled, _i.e._, to
those who deplore their sins and despair [of themselves]. But man cannot
be thoroughly humbled until he knows that his salvation is altogether
beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will, and works, and depends
altogether upon the decision, counsel, will, and work of another,
_i.e._, of God only. For as long as he is persuaded that he can do
anything toward gaining salvation, though it be ever so little, he
continues in self-confidence, and does not wholly despair of himself;
accordingly he is not humbled before God, but anticipates, or hopes for,
or at least wishes for, a place, a time, and some work by which he may
finally obtain salvation." (E. 153. 133; St. L. 1715. 1691.) "More than
once," says Luther, "I myself have been offended at it [the teaching
concerning God's majesty] to such an extent that I was at the brink of
despair, so that I even wished I had never been created a man,--until I
learned how salutary that despair was and how close to grace." (E. 268;
St. L. 1850.)

Of the manner in which, according to Luther, the truth concerning God's
majesty serves the Gospel, we read: "Moreover, I do not only wish to
speak of how true these things are,... but also how becoming to a
Christian, how pious, and how necessary it is to know them. For if these
things are not known, it is impossible for either faith or any worship
of God to be maintained. That would be ignorance of God indeed; and if
we do not know Him, we cannot obtain salvation, as is well known. For if
you doubt that God foreknows and wills all things, not contingently, but
necessarily