Martin Luther's Large Catechism, translated by Bente and DauLuther, Martin
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Martin Luther's Large Catechism, translated by Bente and Dau
Luther, Martin
Lutheran Church -- Catechisms -- English
This article (as I have said) I cannot relate better than to
Sanctification, that through the same the Holy Ghost, with His office,
is declared and depicted, namely, that He makes holy. Therefore we must
take our stand upon the word Holy Ghost, because it is so precise and
comprehensive that we cannot find another. For there are, besides, many
kinds of spirits mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, as, the spirit of
man, heavenly spirits, and evil spirits. But the Spirit of God alone is
called Holy Ghost, that is, He who has sanctified and still sanctifies
us. For as the Father is called Creator, the Son Redeemer, so the Holy
Ghost, from His work, must be called Sanctifier, or One that makes
holy. But how is such sanctifying done? Answer: Just as the Son obtains
dominion, whereby He wins us, through His birth, death, resurrection,
etc., so also the Holy Ghost effects our sanctification by the
following parts, namely, by the communion of saints or the Christian
Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the
life everlasting; that is, He first leads us into His holy
congregation, and places us in the bosom of the Church, whereby He
preaches to us and brings us to Christ.
For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on
Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and
granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the
Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and
gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc.
But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it
would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie
buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go
forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this
treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is
nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which
we could not attain of ourselves.
Learn, then, to understand this article most clearly. If you are
asked: What do you mean by the words: I believe in the Holy Ghost? you
can answer: I believe that the Holy Ghost makes me holy, as His name
implies. But whereby does He accomplish this, or what are His method
and means to this end? Answer: By the Christian Church, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. For,
in the first place, He has a peculiar congregation in the world, which
is the mother that begets and bears every Christian through the Word of
God, which He reveals and preaches, [and through which] He illumines
and enkindles hearts, that they understand, accept it, cling to it, and
persevere in it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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