“First of all, if justification proceeds by way of negation, then the judgment is indeed universal and all causes are relativized. This flows from the very nature of the gospel and cannot be compromised.
“Secondly, for Luther’s theology, it seems to me that the only way from such universal negation back to the concrete is the way of freedom….The Kingdom of God indeed comes by God’s power alone, and thus one is turned back into the world for the time being to serve the neighbor….If we are to remain true to the gospel, we must realize that there are no levers here. If the movement is not one of freedom, all is lost. Moralists, social reformers, ideologues, revolutionaries, and even just plain zealous religious people may no doubt find this frustrating and maddening, but it is of the very essence of the matter. Whenever a cause is exempted from the negation, so as to exert a pressure which destroys this freedom, we come to a serious parting of the ways.”[1]
“The Gentiles are not obligated to obey Moses. Moses is the Sachsenspiegel for the Jews” (LW 35:167).
“Indeed, we would make new decalogues, as Paul does in all the epistles, and Peter, but above all Christ in the gospel” (LW 34:112).
“Take Christ out of the Scriptures and what will you find left in them?”
(LW 33:26).
[1] Forde, “The Viability of Luther Today: A North American Perspective,” Word & World 7 (1987) 29.