Protestant Spiritual Exercises. Joseph D. Driskill

opposition with significant power bases within the church.

      In the midst of this turmoil in early 1518, Luther, a scholar of the scriptures, was studying Romans 1:16–17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’” Luther had been taught that from God's righteousness comes punishment for the unrighteous. Romans 1:18, for example, contends that God's wrath is revealed from heaven to punish the unrighteous. These passages troubled Luther considerably. “Despite his irreproachable life as a monk, he felt himself a sinner before God and was therefore extremely disturbed in his conscience. He was unable to trust that he could placate God through his own works of satisfaction. He therefore was not able to love God, but rather hated the righteous God who punishes sinners.”⁸

      Then, although allowing himself to express his rage toward God in the midst of his ongoing study of these passages, he attained a new theological insight. Suddenly he experienced his own sense that one did not have to earn the approval of God, the stern judge. Luther recognized that God's saving love was offered as a gift to believers. His fear—reinforced by the phrase “the righteousness of God”—now was viewed in the context of the earlier phrase, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” With that change in focus Luther's experience of God and his theology were transformed. Luther no longer believed he had to earn God's favor; it was a gift granted with faith. His earlier preoccupation with moral purity was eclipsed by his experience of God's saving grace. No longer did Luther fear the inscrutable judgment of a severe and demanding God. He knew from his encounter with the text that God's love and acceptance were offered to those who had faith.