“ To hide in caves and dens, to have a bony body, to wear the hair long in the mistaken idea that such departures from normalcy will obtain some special regard in heaven is not the holy life. A holy life is to be baptized and to believe in Christ, and to subdue the flesh with the Spirit. ”
Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535). copy citation
| Author | Martin Luther |
|---|---|
| Source | Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians |
| Topic | heaven hiding |
| Date | 1535 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Theodore Graebner |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1549/1549-h/1549-h.htm |
Context
“Not the kind of saints the papists admire, but the kind of saints Christ wants. I am sure I am one of Christ's true saints. I am baptized. I believe that Christ my Lord has redeemed me from all my sins, and invested me with His own eternal righteousness and holiness. To hide in caves and dens, to have a bony body, to wear the hair long in the mistaken idea that such departures from normalcy will obtain some special regard in heaven is not the holy life. A holy life is to be baptized and to believe in Christ, and to subdue the flesh with the Spirit. To feel the lusts of the flesh is not without profit to us. It prevents us from being vain and from being puffed up with the wicked opinion of our own work-righteousness. The monks were so inflated with the opinion of their own righteousness, they thought they had so much holiness that they could afford to sell some of it to others, although their own hearts convinced them of unholiness.”
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